PARKING LOT SAFETY
FOR WOMEN
FAQ

This is what you need to know about parking garage and parking lot safety for women. Lessons from crime victims teach you how to stay safe.

A man pointed a gun at a woman in the parking lot of an Arizona restaurant and ordered her into his vehicle, but she ran into the business and called the police.

A petite woman was getting into her car in a California parking garage when a man came up to her, put a knife to her throat and told her to get in the car. She knew that whatever harm he’d do to her in a parking lot would be worse if she went with him. She pushed the knife away but he put it back. The woman shoved her purse at him and ran for help. The man jumped into her car and sped out of the garage.

Parked cars provide ideal hiding spots for a crouching, stealthy predator to close in on you unless you’re especially aware of parking lot safety. Also beware of cars cruising the lanes; they can suddenly stop and jump out to attack or rob you.

Basic parking lot safety is to Stay Alert and Be Prepared:

1. ALWAYS keep warily scanning 360 degrees around you (NO ear-pods, cell phones, or other distractions) and,

2. Carry pepper spray and a personal security alarm (a.k.a. noisemaker or screamer) very visibly at the ready. Both can be carried beyond the parking area as well. Or if you’re near your car, you can push your car key’s emergency button – setting off your car’s horn. Either a personal alarm or your car’s horn will spoil a predator’s secrecy. Also, you’ll further deter him/them by making it obvious that you’re carrying pepper spray held at shoulder height and very ready to spray. Also see Purse Snatching FAQ.

3. What if a gunman orders you to go with him? See Survival Options - Kidnapping.

Some women may feel guilty for assuming someone might be dangerous and treating him coldly. Get over it. An innocent and decent man easily understands a woman's parking lot safety concerns in a vulnerable location. If you become the victim of crime, you'll wish you'd been impolite before a threat escalated. See Criminal Minds - Intuition and SET YOUR BOUNDARIES at Outdoor Safety - Facing Danger.

It’s so easy to get distracted from Parking Lot Safety

Dru Sjodin disappeared from a parking lot while talking on her cell phone to her boyfriend as she was leaving work at a mall in Grand Forks ND. He remembered her saying something like "OK, OK," before she hung up. He tried calling back repeatedly. He got a call from her cell phone hours later, but heard only static and a beeping noise. Paroled kidnapper/rapist Alfonso Rodriguez Jr. had abducted Sjodin at knife-point, bound her, drove her into the night, then raped and murdered her.

Her mother's court statement is at Compassionate Friends.

Parking Garages Are Even Worse for Parking Lot Safety

In a parking garage in Illinois, a man pushed a woman into her car, then punched and raped her. A security guard, one level below, heard nothing. The garage owners say they couldn’t afford security cameras or to pay someone to sit and watch the monitors. If parking garages do have surveillance equipment, it’s often obsolete.

Forget parking garage stairs and elevators – they benefit predators. Instead, walk in the middle of the aisles and ramps (with your pepper spray and noisemaker visible and ready) until you reach your destination. Again, see SET YOUR BOUNDARIES at Outdoor Safety - Facing Danger.

PREDATORS’ FAVORITE TARGETS
• Someone looking friendly, timid, lost, absent-minded, or intoxicated – thus more easily manipulated.
• Someone wearing earphones or distracted with a cell phone – unaware of surroundings.
• Someone unaware she's being followed until she's isolated.
• Someone parking close to trucks that prevent witnesses from seeing you – predators seek that kind of cover.
• Someone “handcuffed” with both arms loaded with packages or a child. For better parking lot safety, insist that a male store employee escort you.

A woman had parked her car when Orlando Gonzalez called out to her that something was wrong with her car and told her to come look. She stepped toward him and he forced her to get back in her car. He kept grabbing at her and asked if she wanted to get stabbed. She started kicking him. That was when it hit her that the unbelievable was happening. Yet she kept fighting him until he gave up and left.

She fell for his lure and “stepped toward him” rather than running away. But then, instead of surrendering and putting herself fully at the mercy of a possible serial killer, she valiantly fought off her attacker. See Outdoor Safety - Friendly Predators.

Increase your parking lot safety by carrying pepper spray and a personal security alarm (a.k.a. noisemaker or screamer) raised and ready, in full view. Also keep your finger on your car key’s emergency button to sound your horn alarm to attract attention and scare off the predator/s.

After helping William Porter carry his groceries to his car, Abraham Varns pulled a handgun, robbing and forcing Porter to drive him across town.

Beware of Good Samaritans. Mr. Porter is lucky to have been released unharmed – see Survival Options - Kidnapping.

Parking Lot Safety while Loading Your Car

A kidnapping and rape began as an Idaho woman was loading groceries into her car in the parking lot when a van drove up, and three men forced her inside.

A routine trip to the store turned harrowing for a New Mexico woman when a man hiding in her unlocked van kidnapped her when she returned and climbed inside. She was in a low crime area.

The serial rapist-carjacker targeted mothers because they were distracted while placing children in car safety seats. The abductions occurred in Louisiana outside church day-care centers, a church school, and a pediatrician's office.

IF YOU HAVE A BABY WITH YOU

To load your baby into your car (after loading the groceries, the baby goes in last), get into the rear seat with your baby, lock the doors, and buckle your baby into the safety-seat. Now look around, have pepper spray in hand, get out of the rear seat and into the driver's seat, again lock the doors, and immediately drive away. Always use this routine and it'll become second nature.

But for better parking lot safety, have a male store employee escort you and stay until you drive away. A tip of a dollar or two is well worth your safety.

Parking Lot Safety SUMMARY

Pages Related to Parking Lot Safety:
Driving Safety Tips | Best Pepper Spray | Personal Security Alarm | Emergency Button | Street Crime | Victims Options - Overview | Survival Options - Kidnapping | Outdoor Safety - Friendly Predators | Outdoor Safety - Facing Danger | Purse Snatching |

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