When businesses establish retail or commercial properties, they also must plan for adequate parking with a properly laid out parking lot. There are quite a few considerations involved, like parking for customer cars, employee vehicles, delivery transport, emergency vehicles, taxis, motorbikes, and visitors on foot. If left unmanaged, it would lead to a chaotic and potentially hazardous situation. Some common parking lot signs that can help the parking lot can remain orderly and safe:
No Parking
Certain places on the premises, such as the entrance and exit, need to be kept free of obstructions, which is why you cannot allow any vehicle to park near them. Additionally, you must not allow any vehicle to park in places reserved for firefighting or emergency vehicles or obstruct fire hydrants. No-parking signs may be displayed in places that are likely to obstruct the smooth movement of traffic or pose a hazard to people.
Directional
The last thing you will want is an accident in your parking lot. In addition to bad publicity, you may also be liable for damages and compensation if the accident has happened due to poor planning and traffic flow management of the parking lot. You can easily prevent accidents by establishing safe traffic routes inside the parking lot with the help of directional signs and arrows. With these parking lot signs positioned for high visibility, drivers are less likely to make mistakes that endanger life and limb.
Handicap Parking
The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) requires owners of parking lots to comply with rules and regulations for the convenience of people with disabilities. According to ADA National Network, you must reserve parking lots for disabled patrons according to a specific formula. The Act also specifies that you need to display a reserved parking sign for each handicap-parking slot. While you must use the Federal Highway Administration-designed handicap parking sign, you must also comply with ADA-compliant designs carrying supplemental messages mandated by some states. These signs must be located on the shortest possible route from the parking area to an accessible entrance. If the premises has buildings with several accessible entrances with adjacent parking, the reserved parking spaces must be spread out near the accessible entrances.
Fire and Emergency Lane
Fire trucks, ambulances, and other emergency vehicles must be able to access your premises unhindered. To do this, you need to mark fire and emergency lanes appropriately with high visibility signs that people can see in low-light conditions.
Customer / Employee Parking
Owners of offices or shops may like to reserve certain areas for their customers. Signs indicating reserved spots can help avoid the chaos that usually follows indiscriminate parking and prevent businesses from using spaces designated for other businesses. Parking spaces may also be kept reserved for employees to enable them to attend their workplaces.
Conclusion
It is evident that a typical parking lot needs a variety of signs to regulate traffic, prevent accidents, and enable easy and unhindered access for emergency vehicles, in addition to reserving space for the handicapped, customers, suppliers, and employees. You can also display signs to disallow parking in specific areas and provide directional instructions.
