Road Signage & Car Park Signage

What are car park signs and how important are they?

Car park signs are signs that indicate rules and regulations, way finding and potential hazards in carparks.

Did you know that carparks are one of the most accident prone (vehicle-pedestrian) facilities in Australia? Every day there is minor bumps, crashes and accidents. Unfortunately, every year there is some serious accidents in carparks resulting in fatalities.

It is extremely important that carparks are well marked out and have adequate car park signage. Simply installing stop signs, no right turn/no left turn signs, give way signs and, importantly, speed signs in your carpark can make the difference between an accident or no accident at your facility.

Size and placement of carpark signs is also very important. Signs in a carpark should be large enough to read but small enough not to create a hazard to pedestrians walking past them. Placement considerations would include questions such as:

• Is the signage high enough or low enough to read from the driver’s seat of the vehicle?
• Could vehicles or pedestrians obscure the sighting of any signage?
• Is the carpark used at night and is the signage outside? (therefore requiring reflective signage)
• Is signage placed in such a way that it is providing adequate warning prior to the hazard/exit/restriction etc?

Another area to consider when installing new carpark signage is to ensure that there is no conflicting or confusing messages. Drivers of vehicles often get confused in situations where there is: multiple restrictions on parking i.e. disabled, parents with prams etc; changes in traffic flows i.e. dual direction to one-way; turning & exiting restrictions i.e. no left turn, no right turn, no exit, no entry, exit only, entry only etc.

For further assistance and guidance on what car park signage size, placement and messaging is best for your facility, contact Area Safe Products 1300 889 821, [email protected] or www.areasafe.com.au