Bad Driving Skills Can Be Expensive

In this video you see what was nearly a very expensive mishap caused by a few poor parking decisions. Elsa was travelling through the parking lot of a local shopping plaza when her good driving skills and alertness made for a good ending. The parking lot is a unique microcosm of complex and puzzling human behaviours. These wide open spaces are ironically some of the most cramped feeling, and driving at 3-6 miles per hour can make people feel as though they’re speeding. What’s worse, parking lots are full of obstacles; shopping carts, other cars, light posts, pedestrians, community fundraiser BBQ’s - you name it. This can make it difficult to navigate, let alone park safely… or properly. Parking is an important part of driving, and sometimes our parking lot etiquette lags behind our capabilities as drivers.
They paint the lines on the ground for a really great reason; they’re guides for your vehicle. Don’t park in between two spaces, or put the front bumper of your vehicle into the parking space in front of you. Do your best to park properly in a space that can accommodate your vehicle. If you’re driving a one-ton pickup truck with a crew cab and a long box, or a large commercial vehicle like the one in this video, consider parking near the back of the parking lot to ensure you don’t damage or inconvenience others or protrude out into the traffic lanes. Spatial sense is key and parking is mostly about patience and finesse, rather than break-neck speed and efficiency. Parking involves a certain spatial sense about your vehicle so you can make good parking decisions meaning this truck driver possibly could have made better parking spot choices…. away from the main congestion. That choice definitely would have reduced the chance of the near collision in this video. Above and beyond location choices, backing in is also a great decision that could have been made, driving straight out forward gives a much better option for seeing oncoming traffic. Thanks to the alert driver of the Mini, a collision was avoided, a very good driving habit: be alert!