Public Parking

Have you ever gotten into a wreck in a public parking lot? 

In the past week, I’ve had 3 friends who were involved in a collision in a parking lot.  None of them knew how to handle the incident and how to decide who was responsible.

Excerpt from the Houston Chronicle…

The Texas Department of Public Safety is responsible for highway patrols and accident investigations in rural or unincorporated areas of the state. But with parking lot accidents accounting for 17 percent of all wrecks in Montgomery County, the department is testing a plan that requires vehicles owners to file self-reporting forms with the state for minor accidents.

The DPS troopers will continue to investigative parking lot accidents with injuries requiring an ambulance, involving drunken drivers or those with extenuating circumstances, such those that escalate to fights.

We are spending 17 percent of our time on wrecks that were in parking lots," said Capt. Patrick Mulligan of Texas Highway Patrol in Conroe, which covers an 11 county area. In this area, there are a lot of parking lots."

Investigations are being suspended in parking lots to allow troopers to focus on the high volume of crashes that occurs on public roadways. A total of 1,251 accidents were investigated by state troopers in The Woodlands area alone in 2009.

Vehicle operators are required to file the reports with the state within 10 days of the accident. The C-2 blue form is available from any local law enforcement agency or on-line from the Texas Department of Transportation at www.dot.state.tx.us.

Since parking lots are private property, traffic violations can’t be issued in those facilities. In addition, troopers can t issue citations on private property for lack of insurance, Mulligan said.

You may not need the course for ticket dismissal, but you can refresh your driving knowledge by taking DefensiveDriving.com’s online driver safety course.  You will even receive a Certificate of Completion to turn in for discount for auto insurance.

Drive Safely!