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| Photo: KMOV.com |
I'm gathering stories to be featured in articles and other materials—and I'd like to hear from you.
First...a little background:
Any ground-level business located near moving vehicles arguably carries some risks. That's just one of the many reasons businesses carry insurance, right?
But let's say the parking spaces for a business—maybe it's a store, a salon, a deli, a drycleaner, whatever—are situated so that vehicles pull in directly toward the doors or windows. That appears to be a scenario for a nasty surprise: One of those vehicles can go out of control and crash through the doors, through the windows, and through anyone in the way.
In the Blink of an Eye
It can happen in mere seconds. It can happen so fast and so unexpectedly that customers, employees or pedestrians in the wrong place at the wrong time can be hit before they even have time to react.
Best-case scenario: The driver stops just in time. The accident results in minimal property damage. The experience shakes everybody up, but all go home with only frazzled nerves and a heck of a story to tell family and friends. Insurance coverage takes care of any repair costs.
Worst-case scenario: Someone dies. (It really happens. Scan the weekly crash roundups for examples.)
A host of other possibilities span those two scenarios: Maybe massive property damage and product loss—but thankfully no injuries. Or, just some broken glass—but two customers go to the hospital with broken bones and an employee is treated at the scene for abrasions.
Got Answers? Let's Talk.
These crashes happen week in and week out. Which begs the question: WHY? Actually, such crashes beg a bunch of questions. Among them: Do businesses understand these risks? Do shopping center developers or their architects know such crashes happen, but choose to ignore the possibilities when designing their own properties? Why are so many storefronts completely exposed and vulnerable to out-of-control vehicles?
If you happen to be a business owner, a store manager, a commercial real estate pro or an architect—you might be in a position to answer some of those questions.
The answers are truly important. Not to lay blame, point fingers or find fault. But to address potential solutions and explore prevention strategies. To examine existing trends. To figure out the who, what, why, where and when of these incidents.
Your Perspective Counts
Whatever your frame of reference might be, I'm very interested in hearing—and telling—your story. Getting information out about vehicle-into-building crashes can raise awareness—which might help save lives and save limbs.
That awareness might even save some small businesses. A large company likely has a risk management program in place to deal with the losses involved in a serious crash. But smaller businesses can be pushed to the brink or wiped out completely by one such accident.
So, please drop me an email — mark [at] storefrontcrashes [dot] com — or pop a comment into the field at the end of a post on this site. (If you do the latter, be sure to precede it with the words 'Do Not Publish' if you want it to be private.)
Thanks in advance for sharing your experience, your lessons learned, or any comments you might have.
–Mark Wright
