A Warning About Parking Lots and Small Children

[shanagirl]

I have to share this. For years whenever I have been out and have small or young children with me in the car, whenever we are getting out of the car I have said, "OK, remember a parking lot is just like a street, stay close to me and no running." I always just had 'a feeling' about this. With cars getting bigger and higher it occured to me that most children just can't be seen when cars are backing out. Anyway, dd is 8 now but I still say it.

So yesterday we were out shopping at the mall and we parked in a parking garage. As we were walking back to our car, we were walking between two cars to get to ours on the other side. DD was in front of me and we were talking, lost in our conversation when out of the blue, with no sound or warning, a big SUV streaked by us going at least 45 mph, and accelerating. DD jumped and screamed like I have never heard her, and was shaking for about 5 minutes after. Everyone around just stared and exclaimed they couldn't believe what we had just seen. It shook us all up and none of us had heard or seen it coming.

So, I just want to share with everyone who has small children since there is a lot of shopping going on these days...REMEMBER A PARKING LOT IS JUST LIKE A STREET!

[meowmix]

Oh my, how scary! It drives me crazy, people who speed through parking lots like that. : My daughter HATES holding my hand in the parking lot, and when I am carrying baby, bags, and two kids in tow, I am always SOOO nervous one is going to run in front of a car or some crazy driver will be rushing through the parking lot like some maniac. grrr.

Many times I load them into the cart and just take the cart to the car with me, even if I only have one bag. I feel safer with them all contained (plus the are more receptive to holding onto the cart rather than my hand if they don't wish to ride).

[frowningfrog]

thankfully your DD nor anyone else was harmed..
It is unfortunate that peopel drive like maniacs in such small places. I always make sure my 9yr old looks before even opening the door...many times we have gotten out of the car and the driver beside us will back out not even caring to look where we were and had we even gotten out of our car yet...

[OakBerry]

Omg, I'm glad you and your dd weren't harmed! People are so oblivious...
I am very paranoid in parking lots, people tend not to follow the road, cutting across spaces and not looking. Especially in the holiday crowds.
My ds is 3 and I never let him go for a second from the time he is out of the car, either that or I carry him into the store, or he goes right from the car to the stroller. You are right, you can't be too careful!

[beaches1098]

Thank goodness nobody was hurt. I also tell my 3 1/2 year old as we are getting out of the car the same thing. Stay close to me cars drive fast just like the road. He is a runner and is getting better if I compare it to the street.

[CurlyTop]

Soo scary! I am also profoundly alert in parking lots, and yet once I was putting my baby twins into the car from the stroller and a guy walked right up to me and said something - I jumped out of my skin! He was RIGHT BESIDE ME and I hadn't heard him at all. He had some flyer he wanted me to have but my shriek and "Get Away!" must have gotten through. I kept thinking, I put one baby in the van while the other waited in the stroller - OMG!

My girls are 3.5 now and we have been saying "Hands on the van!" whenever we get out of the car. They are allowed to walk around to where I am getting the other out if their hand is on the van - that way I know they are not running out into the parking lot. I also make them get out on the same side if we are on a street.

Thanks for the reminder........

[lisac77]

Yup, this is a hard and fast rule with me, too. I always have a hand on DS when we're in the parking lot.

One time I was at Target and I was putting DS into the car when I saw a boy of about DS's age (2.5 years) running by himself in the parking lot. I called out to his parents and his father was like, "Yeah, I'll take care of it," but he was still putting stuff into his trunk. Meanwhile this kid is dancing around the parking lot unattended. The dad grabbed a plastic hanger and starts chasing after the kid, who runs even farther, still unattended, still in great danger of being hit by a car. The dad finally caught him and proceeded to beat the crap out of him with the hanger. I was so disgusted, mainly because it wasn't the kid's fault, it was his parents' fault! I assure you that my DS would never be running like that in a parking lot because I have told him over and over and over again how dangerous it is. That boy's parents obviously never told him that - I witnessed entire scene and not once was danger ever mentioned to the child. Oh, it pissed me off, I tell you.

[Boobiemama]

I am always saying the same thing. People should have more brains and slow down...

[shanagirl]

Yeah, I know I got it from the times I would walk with my sister, whom I love dearly, but who was very blase about letting my nephew run ahead of us in parking lots. I was always uneasy, and I think she thought I was an overprotective worrywart.

[Mizelenius]

Scary! I think parking lots are even worse than streets!!

[momma2mingbu]

parking lots

Last Friday I took my girls to McDonalds : for a special treat. As we were crossing the parking lot to go inside, a pickup truck comes streaking around the corner of the building FAST coming straight at us. I quickly got the girls out of the way and held my arm out to the guy in the "STOP" position. He just gave me a dirty look like *I* was the one doing something wrong to be crossing the parking lot with my kids!

[kazmir]

Everyone is in a hurry these days! I feel the same way about parking lots. I think most car accidents involving hit children occur in them.

I do not let my children walk in back of my vehicle in a parking lot, they have to go around front as it is more out of traffic. I also have them stand next to the back tire while I get things in and out of the van. I was told that is a safe spot for them. Hands always held or on the cart now that DD is 5 and DS is in the cart or on me. It is a scary world out there with the bigger vehicles and not being courteous about pedestrians.

[Wolfmeis]

I literally attacked a car once. It was stupid but there was no conscious thought involved.

My dh was holding the then-baby and I had our dd with me. He was walking ahead of me. The driver had just passed him as she walked to her car, but then promptly tried to back over him as she hurried out of her parking space. She missed him by scant inches, literally. He never saw her coming, but I was panicked and next in her line-of-driving. I pushed dd behind me and started kicking the car, screaming at her that she tried to kill my baby. She stopped for THAT. I was a little crazy but held it together for dd. Dh turned and saw me, but like I said, he'd no clue what had happened.

Not my proudest moment, but still gets me anxious.

[angelpie545]

Originally Posted by Wolfmeis

I literally attacked a car once. It was stupid but there was no conscious thought involved.

My dh was holding the then-baby and I had our dd with me. He was walking ahead of me. The driver had just passed him as she walked to her car, but then promptly tried to back over him as she hurried out of her parking space. She missed him by scant inches, literally. He never saw her coming, but I was panicked and next in her line-of-driving. I pushed dd behind me and started kicking the car, screaming at her that she tried to kill my baby. She stopped for THAT. I was a little crazy but held it together for dd. Dh turned and saw me, but like I said, he'd no clue what had happened.

Not my proudest moment, but still gets me anxious.

Wow! Way to go! Some people need that kind of wake up call! I would done EXACTLY the same thing! I've had countless experiences of people almost hitting me, my kids or my car. We have a rule: Everybody must hold an adult's hand while crossing the parking lot and we have to stay together. You can never be too careful. It is truely frightening to see how careless and thoughtless some people can be.

[afishwithabike]

I am such a stickler for that I always remind DD to look both ways with me. I carry her in the parking lot still, but I think it is a good habit to get into.

[Bekka]

Originally Posted by lisac77

Yup, this is a hard and fast rule with me, too. I always have a hand on DS when we're in the parking lot. ...

lot because I have told him over and over and over again how dangerous it is. That boy's parents obviously never told him that - I witnessed entire scene and not once was danger ever mentioned to the child. Oh, it pissed me off, I tell you.

The scene you described is appalling. However, please don't assume b/c there is a toddler around 2 or 3 running away in the parking lot, that the family doesn't talk about it. I have an almost 2 year old who I chased down through 2 parking lot rows b/c he thought it was funny to run away, and we say "hands, cars will hurt you, etc." all the time. He has 2 older sisters who model very well. Same kid will climb to the back of the sofa, fall off, be sad, and proceed to do the same thing again. He plays with knives and sticks, says bang, bang, and he seems to take pleasure, almost, in bothering me about it. I "fake" a fall off the table to scare him a bit, where I let him fall then "brake" and he just DOESN"T GET IT. He'll prob. have to have a broken leg or something to make me crazy to start to get it.

[shanagirl]

Wolfmeis- I loved your post. It's funny (I'm the OP) and after the damn trucky SUV raced by and DD was shaking, she said, "What would you have done if it hit me, Mom?" And before I could think, I said, "I would have torn that driver to pieces." There was no rationality in my brain at the moment.

[jaclyn7]

I just wanted to say how relieved I am that no one was injured. Sadly, it happens every day and we must take every effort to protect ourselves but sometimes it still won't be enough (both my parents were hit by vehicles, one a motor home and the other a car, on seperate occassions, resulting in serious injuries) and I can totally understand the anger that can arise in such situations, not your proudest moment maybe but sometimes its all a bit much.

[loon13]

Sadly, it's not only the drivers who are irresponsible, it's some pedestrians, too.

I check my mirrors and over my shoulder a million times before I pull of a parking space, because there are some people who walk through the parking lot without looking to see if cars are coming.

But it still boils down to that parking lots are not sidewalks for strolling. There are cars moving in there!

[ceilydhmama]

Originally Posted by Wolfmeis

I literally attacked a car once. It was stupid but there was no conscious thought involved.

My dh was holding the then-baby and I had our dd with me. He was walking ahead of me. The driver had just passed him as she walked to her car, but then promptly tried to back over him as she hurried out of her parking space. She missed him by scant inches, literally. He never saw her coming, but I was panicked and next in her line-of-driving. I pushed dd behind me and started kicking the car, screaming at her that she tried to kill my baby. She stopped for THAT. I was a little crazy but held it together for dd. Dh turned and saw me, but like I said, he'd no clue what had happened.

Not my proudest moment, but still gets me anxious.

My dh attacked a car the other day. The woman was on her cell phone and only missed dd and I because I jumped back and yanked dd along. The woman sort of did this rude wave when I screamed. Dh kicked a big dent in her door. She still didn't stop or aknowledge that she blew through a cross walk with people in it.

I have an issue with drivers on cellphones because my car was totalled by one when dd was 5 months old. Add a cellphone to parking lot travel and it gets deadly...