By Laura Quarantiello
© Tiare Publications Group
| Laura Quarantiello is the author of "On Guard! How to Win the War Against the Bad Guys" |
All across the nation parking lots are high crime areas. Especially while
traveling, you are vulnerable in these places, so you need to be aware and
alert. Traveling, on business or on vacation, your mind is apt to be
concentrating on something else besides the dangers which might be hiding right
beside you.
Here are some strategies
to help assure your safety in strange parking lots.
Be alert. Stay Alive!
Scan the area as you return to your car.
You should be watching your car as soon as you can see it to note if anyone is hanging around your car, sitting in a nearby vehicle or lurking between the rows.
Take the shortest route when you are walking back to your vehicle but avoid shortcuts that put you between cars and out of the general view.
Carry a flashlight at night and check the cars you pass on the way back to yours. Flash the light up and down rows and on your car as you approach it. Pay special attention to what may be along the sides of your vehicle and underneath.
| Just as soon as you get to your car, set any bags or parcels on the hood or roof so that your hands are free. Once the key is inserted, or if you have keyless entry as you reach for the door handle look ahead, left, right and behind you. Observe other people in the area. | Always, always, check the back seat before
you slide into the driver's seat because the backseat is a popular hiding
place.
Load your packages quickly, get in and IMMEDIATELY lock the doors before you do anything else. |
Remember that just being inside
a car
does not give you ironclad protection.
If your car should be blocked or if anyone tries
to accost you while
you're in your vehicle, turn on the lights and sound the horn long
and loud. If this does not produce results quickly enough, turn on your
flashers too then race your motor and stomp your brake repeatedly to make the
brake lights flash.
The more noise you make and the more attention
you attract the quicker the criminal will abandon you for easier prey.
(End)
Laura Quarantiello is the author of "On Guard! How to Win the War
Against the Bad Guys" a vitally important manual that will help keep
you and your family from becoming crime victims and away from all the creeps and
crazies out there. More info at: http://www.tiare.com/onguard.htm
