Top Tips for Parking Your Car Safely

Your car is one of your prized possessions so you must keep it safe while it’s parked. Luckily, vehicle safety is on the rise with more technological advancements and parking places being built. However, it is still important to ensure that you know how to keep your car safe from any wrongdoers.

 

There are plenty of places designed for safe parking and methods you can use yourself that will prevent anything bad from happening to your vehicle. The chance of anything bad happening is very low, but there is no harm in taking those extra steps to ensure that your vehicle is parked safely at all times.

 

In this article, we will run through some of the most effective ways that you can ensure that your car is parked safely at both the day and night.

Seek Secure Parking

Secure parking is the best way to ensure that your car is safe, especially for overnight parking. Private car parks, sheltered car parks and garages are some of the safest places to park your car to avoid any theft or unexpected damage taking place. Some car parks have been specifically designed for security and protection, such as the car park in Leeds. These places are too high risk for anyone to attempt to approach your vehicle.

Parking in your driveway can also be a secure place to park your car, especially if you have removable bollards in place. These are great for secure parking as you can drive your vehicle in your driveway and then put up the bollards so that your vehicle cannot be removed. However, if this isn’t an option for you, finding a secure car park that is a five or ten minute walk away won’t be too much trouble for you.

Park Close

If you don’t have a driveway or garage available at your property, and the nearest secure car park is too far away from your home, the best alternative is to park on the street. As a general rule, you should park somewhere that is in view from your living room window. This allows you to see your vehicle at all times and be able to spot anything suspicious that might be going on.

Alternatively, if you are out for the day and need to go to an appointment, such as going to the dentist in Collingwood, there should be on-street parking close to the business so that you can keep an eye on it.

Good Lighting

Parking your vehicle in a well-lit area is a good way to keep your car safe, as more people will be able to see the vehicle and notice anything that might happen. You should try to park your vehicle close or directly underneath a street lamp. Even if it isn’t dark when parking your vehicle, you should still aim to do this if your vehicle will still be in the area when the sun goes down.

 

Good lighting also makes it easier and safer for you to enter and exit your vehicle.

Find a Legal Parking Spot

A key part of safe parking is finding a legal spot to park with designated parking areas being the ideal places. You should avoid any parking spaces, such as no parking signed spaces, double yellow lines or any suspended parking bays. If you do any of these things, you run the risk of getting your vehicle clamped, receiving a parking fine or getting it towed to a different location.

You should also avoid parking on single yellow lines during restricted hours or in a disabled parking bay unless you own the correct disabled blue badge that allows you to park in these bays for several hours.

In addition to this, never park anywhere that might block the flow of traffic as you could end up damaging your vehicle from oncoming traffic.

Purchase a Tracker

Sometimes you might want extra protection for your vehicle even if you are parked in a safe place. One way you can do this is by purchasing a tracker and having it fitted to your vehicle. You should have a phone application to go with this. This means that in the worst case scenario, you will be able to relocate your vehicle if it disappears from where you parked it.

If your vehicle is showing in a different place on the tracker, giving the location to the police would be your best option so that they can locate your missing vehicle. It also saves you from having to locate the vehicle and putting yourself in potential harm’s way.

 

Install an Alarm

Modern cars are usually already installed with an alarm system that will alert you if anything touches your vehicle in a significant way. If your vehicle doesn’t have an alarm system, you should get one installed so that it can be parked safely. Having an alarm system installed will also give you peace of mind so that you can worry less about anything happening to your vehicle.

Install Immobilisers

Another security method you can install to ensure safer parking are immobilisers. These stop your vehicle from turning on without the use of the correct key. You can either purchase an electronic engine immobiliser or a physical immobiliser, such as a security lock that goes across your steering wheel. If the wrong code is entered or someone tries to hotwire your vehicle, the immobiliser will stop the action.

Install a Dash Cam

A dash cam is primarily used for incidents on the road so that you have proof and evidence of what happened. What some people might not know is that dash cams with a parking mode feature allow users to monitor their vehicle when it is left alone for an extended period of time. It can also act as a visual deterrent for anyone who might approach your vehicle.

Park with Other Vehicles

Parking your vehicle where there are plenty of other vehicles is a smart way to keep your vehicle safe. If there are more vehicles in an area it means that more eyes will be on them, which can stop any suspicious activity. Whereas, if your vehicle is parked in an area with no other vehicles nearby, it can increase the potential of something bad happening.

Remove Your Valuables From The Vehicle

There is more to safe parking than just finding somewhere to park or installing protection devices. It’s also important to remove your valuables from the vehicle in the off chance that your vehicle is lost. If you are not able to remove your valuables, you should at least hide them so that they can’t be seen from outside the vehicle.