On Notice! Wheel Stops. Do. Not. Stop. Anything!

These pages have mentioned Starbucks any number of times.  Few large chains do so little to protect customers and employees from vehicle incursions -- the record of crashes and injuries and legal claims continues to pile up.  Eventually, action will be taken, but not yet apparently.

While Starbucks is only peripheral to this discussion, I want to call your attention to a recent crash at a Starbucks in Vestavia Hills, Alabama injured three people inside the store.  Nothing unique about the crash, the injuries, or the cause.  What I wanted to point out is that in this case was a very clear photo of the scene which clearly illustrates how useless wheel stops are.  Dangerous, ADA non-compliant, and useless -- why does anyone ever install wheel stops?

Wheel stops do not stop.  No car is stopped by a wheel stop.  If you are a store owner or a restaurant owner or a parking lot owner, if you think you are solving a problem by installing them you are wrong.  First of all, they are ineffective.  Second, they are dangerous and cause more trip and fall claims than anything else in a parking lot.  Third, they act as little launching pads so that if a car hits them at speed, the front of the car is lifted up and onto the sidewalk at a higher speed than if the curb was struck directly.

Thanks to WNCT 9 for their coverage.  See the coverage and additional photos HERE

So Starbucks -- and every other retail and restaurant chain -- please take a look at the facts.  Three people were injured at this store who were completely unprotected by wheel stops.

And it didn't have to be that way.