Thursday, May 14, 2015

Miniature Parking Spaces

The local Indianapolis Zoo must have an arrangement with several city auto body shops to send them repair business.  Those who have visited the zoo know from experience that the majority of the parking spots were drawn to fit a Volkswagon Beetle not the huge family cars that caravan to the zoo daily.  In a recent trip I witnessed many SUVs and even trucks trying to cram into parking spots not designed to accommodate them.  I even thought I heard the sound of metal scraping against metal as I saw some cars attempting to park.   I witnessed the aftereffects of one misguided parking attempt resulting in a two inch gap left between one car's passenger door and the driver's door of a neighboring car.  I could imagine that driver's surprise when they returned to their car and had to figure out how to get back into their car.

Twelve years ago my car was scraped in the zoo parking lot by someone trying to park.  It was my mistake for parking in the lot when it was obvious that the spaces were not designed for SUVs.  The zoo hasn't taken any steps to widen the parking spots since then.  Maybe when more complaints come the zoo will take some action.  It does seem like spaces designed for bigger vehicles are located in a lot further away from the zoo.  Making a big sign that large vehicles should park in that area would save car owners grief and money from having to take their car to a body shop for repair of scratches and dings.

The zoo is a place where families come.  Families come in SUVs and other large vehicles.  So you would think the zoo would design family parking spaces for family sized cars.  The zoo of course likes to attract business.  But until the parking spots get larger the zoo may encounter more negative feedback than positive.  My other recommendation is for the zoo to post a large sign at the entry driveway to the zoo, "Warning:  Park at Your Own Risk.  Damage to Cars Are not Our Responsibility".

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