Municipal Supply & Sign Co. is a nationwide supplier of parking lot signs for shopping malls, schools, municipal parking lots and garages, businesses and private developments. – PowerPoint PPT presentation
2 How a Parking Lot Sign Is Much More Important than You Thought
One of my biggest pet peeves is the haphazard way in which most suburbanites drive in parking lots. The rules of the road are clearly defined and understood by all...well most of us. However, when it comes to parking lots, people tend to have a way of forgetting all logic and reason on which normal driving principles are based.
Lane marking lines are ignored, directional indicators are viewed as mere suggestions, and a parking lot sign signifying an area of restricted parking may as well not even be there it seems. It's almost as if people stop thinking about the world around them, which is fundamental to operating any moving vehicle, and shift their focus solely to the tasks at hand in their own world. The moment the vehicle leaves the public road and crosses into the private parking lot, the ONLY thought that remains in many of our minds is, "how do I get into the store (or school, or gym, or etc.) as quickly as humanly possible". Forget about pedestrians, lanes, and even other cars in my way, because in a parking lot, none of that stuff matters right?
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The quick change of driving behavior in parking lots can be attributed to the lack of consequences. For many drivers, there is no reason to drive responsibly or to simply be considerate in a parking lot because there is no one to tell them otherwise. Except for a few unique circumstances, people do not get tickets for ignoring a parking lot sign or driving through marked lines. Many of us are willing to accept the risk that comes with parking in restricted areas because, in most cases, we'll be gone before anyone notices or has time to respond.
One parking lot sign that doesn't get ignored too often is the "Tow Away Zone" sign. Usually, it only takes one encounter with a stealthy tow truck driver and his non-sympathetic supporting cast to make one extremely leery of these signs. Again, this is only because of the extreme consequence that comes with the posting. If not for the threat of towing, the sign would be ignored just like most others.
Therefore, the key to producing an effective parking lot sign and ensuring safety in and around your property is to be sure that the warning or mandate posted in the sign is one that can and will be enforced. If a lane is truly intended or required to be a one-way, use barriers and landscaping to encourage compliance.