PARKING LOT SAFETY
for WOMEN:
Outsmarting Criminals
FAQ

This is what you need to know about parking garage and parking lot safety for women. You deserve to move through the world with confidence. While the advice on this page is sobering, it provides the blueprint for outsmarting criminals and taking control of your personal space.

Do NOT feel guilty for assuming someone might be dangerous and treating him coldly. Get over it. The Golden Rule of Safety: Never prioritize a stranger's "hurt feelings" over your own intuition. A decent person will understand your caution in a vulnerable location. See intuition and "Set Your Boundaries" at facing danger. 

HIDING SPOTS

Parked cars provide hiding spots for a crouching, stealthy criminal to close in on you unless you’re especially aware of your surroundings at all times. That means you should NOT be talking on a cell phone or listening to music with your ear-pods. Criminals prefer those who are distracted and unaware until you're face-to-face and less ready to use your pepper spray or personal alarm noisemaker.

Also beware of cars cruising the lanes - predators can drive by you and reach out to grab your purse-strap, then drag you until you finally let go - or can suddenly stop and jump out to rob or kidnap you.

Stay ALERT and PREPARED

• ALWAYS keep warily scanning all around you (NO ear-pods, cell phones, or other distractions). 

•And always remember: 14-21% of all violent criminals are female (sometimes working with a male accomplice).

• Carry pepper spray and a personal security alarm (noisemaker or screamer) very visibly at the ready. Or if you’re near your car, you can push your car key’s emergency button – setting off your car’s horn (but if your car is far away, bystander's attention will be drawn toward your car - not to where you're being attacked). Either a personal alarm or your (nearby) car’s horn will spoil a predator’s secrecy but a personal alarm is more useful overall. Also see purse snatching FAQ.

Parking Lot & Garage Safety

While parking a car, most people are thinking about their shopping list or their next appointment. A criminal loves your distraction. By staying present and recognizing lures, you remain a "hard target."

►Keep your alarm and pepper spray on a wrist strap for immediate reach.
►Back in, drive out. Whenever possible, back into your parking space. This allows for a "quicker exit" if you’re approached while leaving.
►Scan Around You: Before you exit your car or open your trunk, take a 360-degree look to see if someone is loitering nearby. If so, keep a hand on your alarm and spray.
►Keep your purse on your body rather than setting it in the cart or on the seat while loading.
►Lock, then leave. As soon as you’re inside your vehicle to leave, don't dawdle with odds and ends - just lock the doors and go.

Parking Garages: The Extra Risk

In a parking garage in Tampa FL, a man attacked a woman. A security guard, one level below, heard nothing. The garage owners said they couldn’t afford security cameras or to pay someone to sit and watch the monitors. And even if parking garages do have surveillance equipment, it’s often obsolete and out-of-service.

Parking garages offer criminals isolation, muffled sound, and multiple hiding spots. If you must use one, change your "path of travel" to take away their advantage.

The "Trap" Zones: Better to Avoid Them
►Stairwells & Elevators: Avoid unless you are with a strong group. These are "closed-box" environments. They isolate you, kill your escape routes, and dampen the sound of a personal alarm or scream.
►Surveillance Camera Myths: Never assume someone is watching. Even if cameras are present, they are often unmonitored or have "blind spots" between pillars.

The Pro-Active Path: Better to Use Them
►Use the Ramps: Walk in the center of the driving aisles and ramps. Walk facing oncoming traffic (just like on a road). This ensures no vehicle can "creep up" behind you without you seeing it.
►Better Visibility: You can see further ahead and behind you.
►Multiple Escapes: You aren't trapped in a narrow concrete tube.
►Sound Travel: Your personal alarm or a shout will carry much farther on an open ramp than a sealed stairwell.
►Visible Deterrent: Carry your pepper spray and personal alarm in your hand or on a wrist strap, not in your pocket. Having your tools visible tells a criminal: "I am aware, I am prepared, and I am a hard target."

Criminals’ 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 her surroundings (while walking OR sitting in a car).
• Someone unaware she's being followed until she's isolated and face-to-face.
• Someone parking close to trucks that prevent witnesses from seeing you.
• Someone “handcuffed” with both arms loaded with packages or a child. For better parking garage and parking lot safety, insist that a store security guard escort you.

Common Parking Lot Lures

You may not want to seem rude, but you do not owe a stranger an explanation for why you’re prioritizing your own safety. Remember that "No" is a complete sentence. Or use polite but firm language.

►Someone asking for money or help with a "problem." Simply say, "I’m sorry. I'm on a strict schedule." (Keep walking toward your car or the store). Or "I’m sorry. I can’t help you personally, but I’ll go notify security/police for you. Stay right there."
►Someone walking toward you while you're at your car. Raise your hand like a stop sign and say, "Stop right there. I can't help you. Please step back."
►Someone wanting to start a conversation: Simply say, "I’m sorry, I’m very. busy right now. Have a safe day." (Immediately continue your task while keeping them in view).
►Someone trying to give you something (a flyer or a "free sample") to get you to roll down your window or stop walking. Again, simply say, "I’m sorry, I’m very busy right now. Have a safe day." (Immediately continue your task while keeping them in view).
►Someone calling out to you (as you’re leaving your car) to say that something is broken with your car and urging you to come look. Simply say, “Thank you. I’ll ask security to help me check it out.”

If You Have a BABY With You

If you have a baby with you while loading groceries into your car, keep your car keys (with pepper spray and a personal alarm) on a wrist-strap for quick access. If loading into the trunk, have a convex mirror (available at auto parts stores) affixed inside your trunk lid so you can watch behind you.

To load your baby into your car: 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, exit the car (and lock the doors), then re-enter into the driver's door, again lock the doors, and immediately drive away. 

Or ask for a male employee to escort you and stay until you drive away.

Parking Lot Safety SUMMARY

• ALWAYS keep warily scanning ALL around you (NO ear-pods, cell phones, or other distractions) - even in "low-crime" areas. 

• According to USDOJ and FBI crime data, 14–21% of violent criminals are female. She may be suddenly hostile, or she may act friendly while asking for help – and luring you for a male accomplice. You must stay focused on actions and intent rather than gender.

• Walk while holding pepper spray and a personal security alarm (noisemaker or screamer) raised and ready, in full view of any criminal looking for a target.

• Lock your car doors the instant you enter and keep windows closed – then immediately drive away. Always keep your car locked – even if you’re just running a quick errand.

• To avoid carjackings: always be aware of your surroundings and have an escape route. If a suspicious person approaches, blare the horn and/or drive away. If it's too late, give up your property without resistance. See Avoiding Carjacking as well as:

• Purse Snatching FAQ

• Street Crime FAQ

• Child Safety Tips: Kidnapping Escape - Lifelong Skills for Kids, Teens, and Adults

Crime-Safety-Security > Car Security Overview > Parking Lot Safety

Enjoy this page? Please pay it forward. Here's how...

Would you prefer to share this page with others by linking to it?

  1. Click on the HTML link code below.
  2. Copy and paste it, adding a note of your own, into your blog, a Web page, forums, a blog comment, your Facebook account, or anywhere that someone would find this page valuable.