Convenience Store News Spotlights Crash Problem

"Thanks" to Convenience Store News for publishing "Is Your Store Prepared for Pedal Error?" this evening on its website. According to the publisher, Convenience Store News is the c-store industry's #1 print & online publication and the "highest-trafficked website in the industry," with 81,700 unique visitors (Aug. 2012).

The article was co-authored by Rob Reiter and me to help generate c-store industry awareness and engagement. The piece uses some of the stats generated by Texas A&M University from its research into the issue this summer. Let us know what you think.

100-Year-Old Driver Backs into Crowd

Photo: AP via Daily Mail

A 100-year-old driver accidentally hit 11 pedestrians on a Los Angeles sidewalk August 29, 2012, apparently while trying to back out of a parking space. Nine of the victims were children. Some were trapped under the car, according to news accounts.

News links: Daily Mail | San Francisco Chronicle

Follow-ups: Car examined (L.A. Times) | He'll stop driving (L.A. Times)

Thanks to Marc Silverstein of Rockville, Maryland-based On The Marc Media and Beverly Hill of Abbey, Weitzenberg, Warren & Emery law firm in Santa Rosa, California, for the heads-up to this story.

[KTLA video]

New ASTM Standard on Low Speed Barriers Coming

In a move that will help local jurisdictions as well as specifying architects and engineers, ASTM International is developing a proposed new standard for testing low speed vehicle barriers to be installed to protect storefronts and other pedestrian areas from errant vehicle crashes.

This is a big deal, because ASTM International standards are used by manufacturers, engineers, architects and others in designing, building and specifying thousands of products and materials used in the built environment that the rest of us in everyday life just take for granted.

Formerly known as the American Society for Testing and Materials, ASTM International develops international voluntary consensus standards "to improve product quality, enhance safety, facilitate market access and trade, and build consumer confidence."

With 12,000+ standards already in use around the world, an ASTM standard for testing barriers will give confidence to designers, property owners, and municipal and building officials who want to specify barrier products that will be both cost effective and completely dependable for the protection of the public wherever they live, work, eat, play, and shop.

ASTM International Committee F12 on Security Systems and Equipment is developing the proposed new standard, ASTM WK13074, 'Test Method for Low Speed Barriers for Errant Vehicles'. The standard is under the jurisdiction of Subcommittee F12.10 on Systems Products and Services.

Dean Alberson, Ph.D, P.E., a research engineer with Texas Transportation Institute at Texas A&M University, co-chairs Subcommittee F12.10 along with Storefront Safety Council co-founder Rob Reiter.

See the whole story in ASTM International's Standardization News.

Creating a Team

Well, we're in for quite a ride.

One of the suggestions that emerged from the roundtable discussion in Phoenix last month: Focus this effort through a single entity, a primary identity, to avoid confusion and simplify engagement. Folks there also liked the Storefront Safety Council name over alternatives we tossed around.

So, I'm collaborating with others to form the Storefront Safety Council — which until now was only 'virtual' as a LinkedIn group — into an actual organization. That will most likely mean incorporating, filing with the IRS for non-profit status, creating a distinct Web presence, and — most importantly — building a team.

If you have already signed up on this site to automatically receive new posts (thanks!) then you're already part of the team. You're an informed ambassador who can help educate others about vehicle-into-building crashes. Consider the new Storefront Safety Council a tool to help you do that even more effectively — and a way to make common cause with others who want to help.

A lot of behind-the-scenes work will be needed to establish the Council, and I'll keep you posted via this site as specific milestones are achieved.

Once the Council has its own website and email system up and running, I will probably put 'storefrontcrashes.com' on life support and leave it as an archive. The new domain name has been purchased, but the site needs to be designed and populated with content — so I'll announce the new URL once it's ready for prime time.

While this is, obviously, a serious initiative aimed at solving a serious safety problem — there's no reason we can't have fun working together. As this train chugs out of the station and heads into the first of what will be many hills and curves...feel free to scream, wave your arms, and feel the excitement. Oh, and bring your friends, too.

— Mark

Five Injured in Dunkin Donuts Crash

A driver described as an 'elderly woman' accelerated while pulling into a parking spot in front of a Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, Dunkin' Donuts and crashed through the entrance today, injuring five people, according to LehighValleyLive. The driver's car came to a rest inside the shop in front of the cash registers.

While the injuries from this crash were reportedly not deemed serious, LehighValleyLive noted that two fatal vehicle-into-building crashes had occurred in the area:

• "On Nov. 21, 2006, a 59-year-old woman was killed when a car crashed into the front of an Allentown jewelry store. Joan E. Zamborsky, of the 900 block of North St. Lucas Street, Allentown, died shortly after being struck by a car at Bixler's Jewelers in the 3100 block of Tilghman Street. Three other customers were hospitalized. The driver, 82-year-old Sung Yeung Kam, of Allentown, and store employees were uninjured, police said."
• "On Feb. 25, 1999, Chantal Rodriguez, 2, of Whitehall, died after an automobile crashed into La Fontana restaurant at 960 Broadway, a Fountain Hill pizza shop owned by her father, Chavez "Chance" Rodriguez. Two other restaurant patrons were injured in the crash."

I can't help noting the two bollards in front — set so far apart at the far sides of the shop's entrance that, well, a vehicle could drive straight between them.  'Just sayin'....

Photo: LehighValleyLive

Thanks to Rob Reiter for the heads-up on this accident.

NHTSA: Gas Pedal Accidents More Common Among Older Female Drivers

Photo via Google Images

A National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) study's findings about pedal confusion generated a flurry of news stories April 13 2012 after the Associated Press reported that the study concluded 'older female drivers are more likely to have gas pedal accidents'.

"Accidents in which drivers mistakenly hit the gas instead of the brake tend to involve older female drivers in parking lots, a new government study has found," reported AP's Joan Lowy.

"One of the study’s most striking and consistent findings was that nearly two-thirds of drivers who had such accidents were female. When looking at all crashes, the reverse is true — about 60 percent of drivers involved in crashes are male, the [NHTSA] study noted. Another finding: Gas pedal accidents tend to occur more frequently among drivers over age 76 and under age 20. ..."

Pedal confusion is frequently cited as a factor in news accounts of storefront crashes.

Here's the full NHTSA study report (PDF).

Parking Education to Get Push

The International Parking Institute (IPI) announced a new partnership January 3rd with the Mid-Atlantic Foundation for Safety and Education (MAFSE), which is affiliated with AAA Mid-Atlantic, “to collaborate on the development of parking education programs for drivers.”

“Being knowledgeable about parking is an essential and often undervalued part of being a good driver,” explains Shawn Conrad, executive director of IPI.

I was especially interested to read that the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety says “parking-related crashes account for more than 20 percent of automobile insurance claims.”

Read IPI's full announcement here.

International Parking Institute Puts 'Pain in the Glass' on August 2011 Cover

Thanks to the International Parking Institute's publications staff for making the article I wrote for the August issue of The Parking Professional their cover story! They put a catchy headline on it—“Preventing a Pain in the Glass”—and worked up an eye-grabbing cover image.

The visibility helps educate a lot more people—especially those who are in a position to implement solutions. I'll be sending article reprints to a variety of stakeholders and decision makers with a letter seeking their assistance.

Most IPI members and subscribers have received their hard copy of the magazine in the mail by now. The online version will no doubt appear on IPI's website—Parking.org—before long.

Google's Blogger platform doesn't have a place to host the file here, so just email me (mark 'at' storefrontcrashes.com) if you'd like a PDF copy, or visit the 'samples' page of my business website (WrightsContent.com) to download the PDF (3.5MB) directly.

Image: International Parking Institute

Drivers Sentenced After Two Horrific Crashes

Two drivers, one in California and one in Washington, D.C., recently received jail time as a result of DUI and other charges filed after they injured and killed pedestrians while crashing into restaurants.


A driver who ran over three teenagers and two adults before crashing into Cass Street Cafe & Bakery in La Jolla, California, last August was sentenced earlier this month to almost 17 years in prison. He was under the influence of marijuana at the time of the crash. Details: 10News

The drunk driver who struck and killed a pedestrian before crashing into Keren Restaurant in Washington, D.C., last September was sentenced to three years and four months in jail May 16, 2011.
Details: dcist | Washington Post

Image: U.S. Bureau of Prisons

Unintended 'Lunging' Prompts Ford Freestyle Investigation

If you own a 2005-2007 Ford Freestyle—or you're walking past one that's maneuvering into or out of a parking space—be extra careful. Reports of unintended acceleration have spurred a federal investigation.

According to Automotive News, "The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration is investigating about 170,000 Freestyles, representing model years 2005 through 2007, after 18 crashes attributed to the defect, including one that resulted in a minor injury, the agency said [May 11, 2011] in a posting on its website."

Photo: Edmunds.com

Do Parking Curbs Protect Against Vehicle Intrusion?

Today's crash of a small car into a St. Louis, Mo. area restaurant should raise a big question for storefront business owners: "Do I want to trust the safety of my customers and employees to a parking curb?"

Source: KMOV.com

The car in today's story rolled right over the parking curb in front of this business and burst through the glass storefront. A News 4 viewer posted three on-scene photos to KMOV.com: http://bit.ly/cunOZ0.

These photos show the classic parking arrangement for a small strip shopping center. Cars pull straight in toward the building. A parking curb is all that stands between each vehicle and the store in front of it.

This news account provides no details about what might have led the young driver's Kia Soul to suddenly go forward. (The station might update the report as it learns more.) But does the cause really matter in this instance?

The big take-away for businesses—and customers—in shopping centers like this one is pretty simple: Open your eyes to the danger facing you.

Most drivers manage to stop properly when pulling in to park. But when they don't—pray you're not in the way.