Parking lot safety a big concern Published June 22, 2012 By Steve Serrette 72nd Air Base Wing Safety Office TINKER AIR FORCE BASE, Okla. -- Recently, a hazard report was generated through the Base Safety office by a concerned member of the Tinker community -- one who was almost struck by a vehicle within the designated pedestrian walking area north of the flagpole at Bldg. 3001. The complaint resurfaced a very dangerous and continuing trend on Tinker -- the issue of vehicle operators speeding through the parking lots. To be more specific, dangerous driving still persists in the parking lots of Bldg. 3001. As you may or may not know, the first parking lot was created in Fort Wayne, Ind., and since then the exposure has grown exponentially for a vehicle accident as well as being involved in an accident as a pedestrian. Off base, traffic laws are usually non-existent in parking lots as most lots are private property. Hence, drivers often roll through stop signs, travel against the directional arrows, cut between parked cars or speed through or across the lots. Many drivers drop their guard and become less vigilant once they turn off the street and into a parking lot. Upon entering a parking lot, most drivers are usually focused on seeking a parking spot, becoming oblivious to other vehicles and pedestrians. The Tinker parking lots are no different as some of the same complications from vehicle operators who refuse to comply with the rules are experienced here. The only difference is there are actual speed limits in Tinker's parking lots -- it is a law, and the law restricts the parking lot speed to 5 mph. Let's say that you as a vehicle operator ignored the 5 mph limit, and struck someone in the Bldg. 3001 parking lot. How would you feel? How would you feel if the person died because of your lawbreaking? How would you feel if the person ended up in a wheelchair for the rest of their life because of your negligence in the parking lot? What if someone was speeding in the lot and struck you or one of your co-workers, or even struck your spouse or child? How would you feel if you had to cancel a leave or reschedule your personal plans to work extra shifts to cover an injured co-worker who was struck by a speeding driver in the Bldg. 3001 parking lot? Now, imagine if you were a commander, first sergeant or supervisor who had to cancel a co-worker's leave in order to meet the mission because someone was struck in the Bldg. 3001 parking lot by a speeding driver. You then had to figure out how to keep others from being struck by speeding drivers in the parking lot, and possibly have to explain to a family member why the military let their loved one get hurt on base -- and in a parking lot by a speeding driver, no less. Here's what you need to do as a vehicle operator in all of Tinker's parking lots: · Move very slowly. There are simply too many people, vehicles and objects to identify and respond to. · Remember that slow speed in the parking lot buys the time needed to safely see, think and do. · Get the "big picture." Constantly scan front, rear and side-to-side. Many times motorists fail to see a threat coming from one direction because they are fixated on just one view. · Remember that the speed limit in Tinker parking lots is 5 mph, no more. So, putting all this together, it's very clear the danger doesn't end once you reach the parking lot from your home commute. Just about everyone's had either an accident or a close call in a parking lot and if you think about it, they are almost always preventable. If you as a speeding driver strike someone, and especially in a parking lot's designated pedestrian walking area, life as you know it will become very uncomfortable from that point (e.g. legal issues, license revocation, etc.) Operating a vehicle on a government installation is a privilege, not a right.