Car Safety Tips: How to Keep Your Car Safe When Parking on Busy Streets

Your car is your ticket to anywhere in the country, including shopping, tourist destinations, and more. No matter where your adventures take you, you need to park safely and avoid damage to your car. Even if you drive and park carefully, your vehicle is vulnerable when it is left unattended. Busy streets pose a particular challenge for parking safely, especially if you drive a luxury car. In addition to accidental damage, you may be at risk for theft or vandalism.

Desperate thieves can suddenly target even areas with low crime, and tourist-heavy areas experience break-ins regularly. Although you can’t account for every possible risk, there are some proactive steps you can take to keep both accidental and deliberate damage to a minimum. Here are our best tips for car safety when parking on busy streets anywhere you go.

Check Your Mirrors and Distance from the Curb

Whether you’re parallel parking or using a back-in spot, part of your car’s safety hinges on it being fully contained by the parking spot. If any part of your car sticks out too far into the street, it may be more at risk for side-swiping. Get in the habit of double-checking your distance from the curb every time you park. It’s better to get back in and re-park than leave your car poorly parked and vulnerable to damage. It’s common for drivers not to stop and leave a note or try to contact you if they scratch your car, so you would end up on the hook for damages.

Also make sure to look in your mirrors before opening either the driver or passenger side doors. Bicyclists may come up behind you suddenly and are hard to spot from a distance. Even if they are supposed to bike in the street, they may unexpectedly end up on the sidewalk. If you’re parking on a particularly narrow street, fold your mirror inward toward the door frame. This reduces your car’s overall footprint and limits damage from sideswipes.

Secure Your Car Fully

Locking your car with the handheld remote control takes care of the immediate risk of someone opening your car doors and stealing things inside. However, double-check to make sure the alarm on your car is activated once you lock it. Look closely at your car keys for a special button that may turn the alarm on or off, or read the owner’s manual for specifics.

Roll up all your windows as well, even if it’s summer and you don’t want the interior to get hot. If you have a Jeep or SUV with rear windows or flaps that open manually, double-check that these are secured shut as well. You can use a car cover to keep the interior as cool as possible while you’re gone. At CarCovers.com, our Platinum and Deluxe Shield car covers are embedded with a UV-protective coating and feature a reflective surface that minimizes sun damage to the exterior and keeps the interior cool.

Park Near Businesses or Light

Parking on a busy street reduces the risk of theft or vandalism, as thieves are much more comfortable working on secluded side streets with fewer people driving by. After dark, the risk of theft on side streets goes up even more. In tourist areas or areas with lots of wealthy customers, thieves may be brazen enough to work on busy streets. Parking near businesses, light poles, or other light sources helps reduce the risk of a thief targeting your car. Thieves are less likely to make their move when others can see them. The level of protection goes up further if the business has an outdoor video camera that at least partially faces the street.

Use a Car Cover

Car covers provide protection from bird droppings, seeds and berries from trees, and minor scratches from passing cars or bicyclists. The best car covers use polyester or polypropylene to create a surface that is both breathable and strong. A cover with fleece lining on the inside gives even more protection against scratches to your paintwork. Car covers come in multiple styles, and the best one for you will partly depend on your budget and intended use. However, universal car covers are a poor choice due to their loose fit. A strong gust of wind can pull one off easily, and the hem of the car cover can rub on your paint job if it is too loose.

Semi-custom car covers are better for keeping your car protected without the risk of blowing away. You can get SUV car covers designed to fit specific larger models, as well as individual models for trucks, compacts, and other vehicles. Fully custom car covers are the ultimate in car protection, as you can have them made to fit over cargo racks, front grilles, and other accessories. Pair one with a locking cable for strong protection and security when parking at home or away. You’ll find that a car cover comes in handy in a wide variety of situations, especially if your area experiences severe weather like high winds or blizzards.

For even more protection, apply a thin layer of wax to your car regularly. This helps provide an additional layer of protection between your car and anything passing by or falling onto it. Make sure to only apply wax after thoroughly washing and drying your car.

Shop Our Entire Selection of Car Covers

Hide All Items Inside

Car break-ins are often less about the car itself and more about the objects inside. Even seemingly worthless objects like loose change and books may be attractive to a desperate thief trying to make a few dollars. Stuffing them under a seat can help, but, often, even a glimpse of an object will pique a thief’s curiosity.

Placing all items in the trunk of the car or inside the glove compartment helps deter would-be thieves. A car cover also works well for this purpose, especially if you have items that won’t fit in the trunk. It’s also wise to avoid storing objects in your car, in general, since prolonged exposure to extreme heat or cold can damage them, so clean out your car once a month.

Double-Check Posted Signs

Although most areas are lenient and may only give you a ticket for parking in the wrong place, some municipalities will tow your car for parking in the wrong place at the wrong time. This is most common for areas with high amounts of rush hour traffic, bus lanes, or loading zones directly in front of businesses. You need to look for signs indicating resident-only parking times as well.

When done properly, towing is not a direct threat to your vehicle’s surfaces or infrastructure. However, tow companies sometimes drive unsafely or do a poor job parking your car in their lot, causing damage. It’s difficult to prove that the towing company caused the damage, so you will usually end up having to pay for it out of pocket or with your own insurance.

Also pay close attention to how cities enforce their towing policies during snow emergencies. In some cities, busy streets are a high priority for plowing, and cars parked overnight in these areas may be towed. Even if your vehicle isn’t targeted for towing, it could be damaged by a passing snowplow.

Avoid Alleys and Driveways

Alleys and driveways tend to require minimum clearance from the bumper of your parked car to the edge of the curb. This minimum clearance is painted yellow on the curb in many localities, but it’s not always clear. This makes them deceptively difficult to park near and can increase your risk of being towed.

Even if the spot itself is technically legal, it may be more vulnerable to getting hit by turning vehicles. Service entrances and alleys are especially risky, as delivery trucks may turn down them frequently. Unless there’s plenty of room for turning cars, it may be best to drive around the block and find another spot.

Stay Away from Construction Sites

Construction sites constantly let off dust and debris from incoming trucks, grinding equipment, saws, and more. Even if you’re nowhere near the site entrance, you may notice minor dirt and damage on your car after parking near a construction site for even a short while.

In-demand busy shopping areas tend to be prime real estate and may see frequent renovations, expansions, or new construction projects happening on the street. Sometimes it may seem like parking near a building or road that’s under construction is your only option, but it’s best to spend the extra time looking for a better spot.

Debris can fall a surprisingly far distance from construction sites, especially on windy days. Although a car cover can help protect your car from lightweight objects, heavier objects will inevitably do some damage. Since proving that the construction site was the cause of the damage is difficult, you are unlikely to recover damages if you file a claim against the construction company.

Choose Parallel Parking Spots Wisely

Squeezing between two cars in a crowded city is second nature to many of us. However, many people still struggle with parallel parking, especially if they drive a larger car or rarely drive in the city. When you find an open parallel parking spot, make sure to look at how much space the cars in front and behind have. If the car in front of you has less than 6” of space between them and the next car, that increases the chance of them backing into your vehicle when trying to squeeze out.

If the open spot is comfortably large, then the space between other cars around you may not be an issue when others try to leave. When in doubt, look for another spot or pay to park in a parking garage if possible. The damage and stress caused by a dented bumper isn’t worth the hassle, especially if you’re driving a luxury car.

Avoid parking behind very large cars with poor visibility behind them. Although backup cameras are becoming more common, it’s difficult to tell whether or not a car has a working backup camera just by looking at it. Large trucks, in particular, may misjudge the distance between your cars when they’re parallel parked close together.

Protect Your Vehicle’s Exterior with a Car Cover

Get a Steering Wheel Lock

Modern vehicles have effective theft prevention built-in, but skilled car thieves can still steal them. It’s easy for your car to be stolen if you’ve left an extra key fob inside it by mistake or placed an extra key in an obvious hiding spot like a wheel well. Although steering wheel locks take extra time to get on and off, they are worth the extra effort if parking for several hours or overnight. A steering wheel lock isn’t a failsafe theft prevention method. However, it may be more effective on busy streets because a thief is in much more of a hurry to run off with your car. Thieves look for cars with the least security possible to increase their chances of a quick getaway.

Engage Your Emergency Brake

Another way to keep thieves at bay is to put on your emergency brake, even if you’re not parked on a hill. Engaging your emergency brake makes it much more difficult to push your car, and it keeps your vehicle from rolling as much if it is hit. Thieves sometimes prefer to push a car to a less busy side street to hotwire it or strip it for parts, especially if it’s not late at night yet. By engaging the emergency brakes, you’re implementing a powerful deterrent that could drive the thieves away entirely.

Car Protection Specialists

Protecting your car in any environment requires paying close attention to all potential hazards. Vandals and thieves usually avoid drawing attention to themselves, so, by taking precautions on busy streets, you’ll discourage them from spending much time on your car. Additional protections like car covers and careful parking can help prevent the types of minor damage that chip away at your car’s value over time.

CarCovers.com provides a massive range of semi-custom and custom car covers. We have four main material options to choose from, ranging from a Black Satin indoor-only to our Platinum Shield fleece-lined polyester that will provide optimal protection anywhere you go. We even provide a free storage bag with our covers to make it easier to take the cover with you.

We also make custom floor mats, jet ski covers, truck covers, and much more. If you’re in a pinch and need a cover for temporary use, we even have disposable covers. Check out our full listings and pick out a strong and durable cover that fits your make and model.