Auto repair shop offers tips on holiday shopping mall parking lot safety

This time of year, there’s a good chance you’re planning to head out to the mall. After all, you may very well have gifts to buy for loved ones naughty or nice.

As the season is often hectic, there’s a tendency among shoppers to think about their shopping before they enter the stores. In fact, the closer we get to the store, the more likely we are to feel distracted from our driving while contemplating just the right present for Aunt Susie or whether there’s something better than a necktie we can pickup for dad.

For some drivers, once they enter the mall’s parking lot, their driving is virtually on autopilot. In reality, the parking lot is a place where we’re best to heighten our senses. Pedestrians are often as distracted as drivers. That means, as we move through the aisles looking for a place close to the door, we need to keep an eye out for the person who walks into our path without looking, not to mention the driver who backs out of a spot unexpectedly.

Once we park, we join the ranks of the pedestrians. Now it’s our turn to watch out for distracted drivers.

“Even before you park, it’s a good idea to give some thought to where you’re parking,” said Denny Norton, owner of the Ringwood based Performance Unlimited auto repair shop. “Make sure you park somewhere you feel safe. It’s a good idea to make sure the area is well lighted. After all, moving vehicles aren’t the only potential threats in a parking lot.”

As if to accentuate that risk, recent reports tell of a new scam by carjackers. They’re purported to put a sheet of paper in the back window of a car. Drivers get in, start the car and then notice the paper. Leaving the car running, and the door open, they step out to remove the paper from the window. While out of the car, the carjacker, hidden nearby, jumps out of hiding and into the car.

Norton offered a few parking lot safety tips:

· Write down or otherwise note where you’ve parked so you don’t spend unnecessary time walking through the lot looking for your car.

· Stride confidently and purposefully to your vehicle.

· Don’t look other pedestrians directly in the eye but don’t nervously look away, either. Those up to no good can often smell fear.

· Have your keys in your hand ready to open the door when you arrive back at your car but don’t open the door with the key fob so soon that someone can jump in when you’re not looking.

· Keep your eyes open and aware of anyone acting suspiciously.

You may even want to invest in some pepper spray or a self-defense course. The point is that, with proper precautions, you can have a safe and happy shopping experience.

Comments

Is your antifreeze safe from freezing this Richmond winter

You still have time to have it checked Well, there’s no denying it – winter tends to get chilly here in Richmond. We have to deal with snow and ice on the roads, scraping the same off our windows and windshield, and staying warm while we drive. Of course, you had your antifreeze checked before winter rolled into town. What?! You didn’t have your antifreeze checked before winter clamped down on Richmond? So, how’s your antifreeze doing? If you haven’t had it checked, there’s really no way of knowing, is there? This car has overheated in the middle of a Richmond winter. But, on the other end of the spectrum, the antifreeze can also freeze if it's not up to its job. Hopefully, you haven’t had a serious problem with your antifreeze already. If you did, you’d probably know. When antifreeze fails, it’s a potentially catastrophic condition for your vehicle’s engine. You could have hoses that have burst because of freezing antifreeze. Worse than that, your engine block may have crac...

Blocks of ice falling from cars in McHenry could cause accidents or damage

We’ve all seen those blocks of snow falling from behind the rear tires of a car when the snow rolls into McHenry . Fortunately, they’re just packed snow that will disintegrate under your vehicle’s tires as you simply drive right through them, right? Don’t count on it. Those blocks of snow are often packed so tight, condensed by the thaw-and-freeze cycle, that they’re anything but oversized snowballs . They’re often more like boulders. Hit one of those blocks and the collision between the block and one of your tires could send you careening off the road or into oncoming traffic. In some cases, they’re so solid you could pound them with a sledgehammer with little effect. They truly can represent a serious road hazard. The problem is that it’s difficult to tell how solidly they’re packed when you see them on the road, left their unwittingly by another driver. Either way, your best bet is to try to avoid them. But you want to be careful dodging blocks of ice in the road, too. You need...

October 20 Hootenanny will benefit veterans with PTSD

Been to a Hootenanny lately? When you read that question did you ask, “What?” Well, if you have gone to a Hootenanny in a while, or if you don’t know what a hootenanny is, we have an event for Oct. 20 that will clear up either question. From 6 p.m. to Midnight, Saturday, Oct. 20, MC3, the McHenry Area Chamber of Commerce business networking group, is helping to host an inaugural Veterans R&R Wild Horse Hootenanny at Beyond Stable Farm (11129 Rte. 176, Woodstock). The event will benefit Veterans R&R Operation Wild Horse. Operation Wild Horse serves veterans with PTSD (Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder). Working with the horses has proven to have an incredibly calming effect on the veterans. And, it’s good for the horses, too, rescued wild mustangs. This means that the hootenanny is for a very good cause. But, it’s also a lot of fun. So, what is a hootenanny? According to a Google search, a hootenanny is “an informal gathering with folk music and sometimes dancing.” The V...

Performance Unlimited Blog

Search This Blog