A parking operator uses strategic signage to protect patrons and limit liability.
By Mark Pratt
Liability in a parking facility is front of mind for any operator. Gate arms, in particular, can pose liability concerns, even when operators take pains to warn patrons not to walk in the vicinity of operating gates. However, proper signage, including well-placed floor graphics, can go a long way toward addressing liability concerns, as illustrated by the experience of my company — One Parking, a parking management and mobility solutions company headquartered in West Palm Beach, Florida.
Litigating liability
Roughly two years ago, an elderly woman walked under a gate arm in one of our facilities and it descended upon her head, causing her to fall to the ground. Given her elderly state, she sustained substantial injuries.
This accident occurred despite the presence of the typical “Do Not Walk” sticker on both sides of the gate housing and the gate arm, which also had foam along its bottom edge. Meanwhile, a clearly marked walkway ran behind the gate, which would have kept her out of harm’s way had she used it.
Despite these precautions, the woman stepped into the drive lane and proceeded to follow a car that was exiting through the gate. When the gate arm tried to close as it should, unfortunately it came down on top of her head. Even though the gate was equipped with the safety edge feature and its auto-reverse function worked as intended, the elderly woman fell to the pavement.
Subsequently, the woman hired a personal injury attorney and proceeded to sue One Parking, the owner of the property, and the property management firm. In the opinion of One Parking and our insurance carrier, we had taken all the necessary precautions. Perhaps not surprisingly, the personal injury attorney saw things differently, contending that we remained liable for the plaintiff’s injuries and that we owed her $1 million on account of her resulting pain and suffering.
Refusing to settle, we litigated the case. In the end, we spent $100,000 in legal fees and settled the case while admitting no wrongdoing. The small settlement meant that the plaintiff received very little for her efforts. The experience amounted to a lot of time and money wasted for both sides.
Stepping up safety with lane graphics
After the case concluded, I met with our insurance carrier to review the case and to ask if we should have done anything else differently to lessen our liability. We decided to install small signs saying “Walk Here” on the wall of the walkway. Otherwise, we’d follow the normal precautions.
However, I still wasn’t satisfied. Realizing that we had not included signage on the drive lane itself, I began designing and developing a lane graphic that said something along the lines of, “Don’t Walk Here, Knucklehead, and If You Do and Get Hurt…It’s Your Fault, Not Ours.” Of course, this language was a bit over the top. Eventually, we decided to use the image of a crossed-out pedestrian to indicate that walking is prohibited in the drive lane. The sign also included the words “Caution! Cars Only” along the top and bottom and the words “No Pedestrians” along the sides.
We worked with the parking consulting and property services firm Wayne Companies to design, produce, and test this lane graphic. In spring 2022, we tested the first version of the graphic in our facilities in West Palm Beach and, alas, it didn’t hold up. On the first version, we used a reflective foil-like material that was bonded to the base material, which was a sticky rubberized foundation. However, in short order the reflective material began peeling away.
We redesigned the graphic, using a composite vinyl facing instead of the foil facing. This second version, which cost $196, held up wonderfully. By placing the graphic in the lane between the wheels of passing cars, rather than in the path of the wheels, we have found that most graphics last 1 to 2 years.
One Parking believes that roughly $100 per gate per year is a small price to pay to provide this added layer of liability protection. Today, One Parking mandates the installation of this floor graphic in every gated lane in its facilities.
Prevention and legal protection
Once we installed this lane graphic, we felt we had done all in our power to warn people to stay out of the lane and out from under gate arms. Unfortunately, the graphic has not resulted in a 100% reduction of gate arm incidents. However, the graphic does appear to have worked in our favor in terms of how these incidents were resolved.
In one case in West Palm Beach, Florida, we were conducting site inspections through a lens of structural and liability concerns. In a valet-only parking area that abutted a public parking area in a garage, we determined that members of the general public could walk from the transient area through the valet area and attempt to walk around the gates to get to the public venues. Therefore, we installed the floor graphics under the entry and exit gate arms.
A mere 9 days later, a parker did just what we thought might happen and walked under the exit gate arm that had risen to allow a valet vehicle to exit. Unfortunately for the oblivious parker, the gate arm functioned normally and descended on her head, knocking her to the ground.
Luckily for us, a nearby manager of ours hurried to the site of the incident while the parker was still on the ground, lying right on top of the floor graphic. The manager was able to snap a photo, which proved highly useful soon thereafter when we received notification from the injured shopper that she expected compensation for her pain and suffering. We simply sent her the photo of her lying on top of the floor graphic warning her not to do the very thing she had done, along with an eloquent response along the lines of “Really!?!?” Since then, the case seems to have disappeared. This instance alone made the entire installation program worthwhile.
Parking operators with gated facilities should consider the use of these or similar lane graphics to improve public safety while also protecting themselves and their clients from future litigation. The expense is well worth it.
Mark Pratt is the president and chief operating officer of One Parking. He can be reached at mpratt@oneparking.com.
