Grocery Industry Has Been On Notice – Now It’s Time to Do More
In March 2013, I wrote a blog post about a series of storefront crashes involving grocery stores. There had been recent crashes involving...
Robert Reiter
Your expert in perimeter security and retail and pedestrian safety
I am a co-founder of the Storefront Safety Council. I consult with industry, with companies, and as an expert in litigation involving the foreseeability and preventability of vehicle-into-building and vehicle-into-pedestrian crashes nationally.
Most Frequent Locations
Retail Store 24%
Restaurant 19%
Commercial Building 12%
Office 8%
Convenient Store 6%
Government Building 3%
All other locations 32%
Driver Age Distribution
Under 30 29%
30-60 33%
60+ 38%
Most Frequent Causes
Operator Error 22%
Pedal Error 17%
DUI 15%
Traffic Accident 12%
Medical 6%
Ramraid / Crash and Grab 9%
All other causes 21%
100 times a day, over 16,000 injured annually, as many as 2600 killed each year!
And it doesn't have to be this way...
Our Storefront crash statistics are the most complete ever assembled for accidents of this type. As of 2022 our database contains more than 25,000 analyzed accidents and an additional 15,000 additional accidents collected but not analyzed (and not included in our statistical reporting). Analysis includes statistics on causation of crashes, age of drivers, and types of buildings or businesses most frequently struck by vehicles. We have cooperated with the Texas Traffic Institute at Texas A&M University. More and more trends seem to be developing and becoming more clear.
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ABOUT ME
In July of 2003 tragedy struck the Santa Monica Farmer's Market. A 4500 pound Buick driven by an 86 year-old man became a weapon of mass destruction, killing 10 people and injuring 63. Shortly after this incident I was contacted by the press and attorneys who asked if I could help explain how this might have been prevented...
My work and experience
Our Storefront crash statistics are the most complete ever assembled for accidents of this type. As of June 2022, our database contains more than 25,000 analyzed accidents and an additional 15,000 additional accidents collected but not analyzed (and not included in our statistical reporting). The analysis includes statistics on the causation of crashes, the age of drivers, and types of buildings or businesses most frequently struck by vehicles. We have cooperated with the Texas Traffic Institute at Texas A&M University. More and more trends seem to be developing and becoming more clear.
We believe that our storefront crash statistics are the most extensive for private property accidents of this type. While accidents at such sites (shopping centers, strip malls, storefront locations) are very common, neither
Federal or State agencies or local law enforcement departments are set up to gather such statistics.
In April 2022 we completed an exchange of data and methodologies with an arm of Lloyd’s of London, the largest insurance market in the world. In exchange for the use of our data for their own risk assessment and risk profiling purposes, Lloyd’s agreed to review and audit our data and collection methodologies, the accuracy of our data, and the value of our data on an ongoing basis. Lloyd’s found that our data was valid and credible and that our collection methodology gave them such high confidence that our collection of data concerning vehicle-into-building / storefront crashes should be used by researchers and risk managers as “source data” given the lack of any other available data sets involving private property accidents in the United States.
Lloyd’s concluded in their remarks that our data, as complete as it is, reflects only a fraction of the total of storefront crashes that occur every single day: At the most conservative, it appears that the SSC database captures 1 in 12 incidents (8.33%). Using the data that we have collected and using Lloyd’s audit and documentation, we can make the following statements:
Storefront crashes occur more than 100 times per day
46% of all storefront crashes result in an injury
8% of all storefront crashes result in a fatality
Each year in the US, as many as 16,000 people are injured and
as many as 2600 are killed in vehicle-into-building crashes.
We believe that this information will be very useful to researchers, underwriters, risk managers, and other safety professionals who will be advising agencies on building codes and product specifications to increase safety where Americans live, work, play and shop.
Articles by Rob
Read a number of articles authored and co-authored by Rob that cover problems and costs and solutions for vehicle-into-building crashes. These articles have appeared in national magazines and online aimed at audiences in the parking, safety, restaurant, and retail industries.
TESTIMONIALS
"Based on your expertise and advice, I was able to achieve a significant settlement for my client who was severely injured in this incident. I hope we can work together on another case in the near future." Read entire letter.
Attorney, Richmond, VA
Thomas M