Parking lot facts for kids
A parking lot (or car park) is an area where cars and other vehicles are parked and left temporarily. They are usually flat. The surface is usually made of asphalt, concrete, or gravel. Some lots may be bare earth. The paving material in a parking lot can heat quickly in the sun. A parked car can get hot, too. Children, older people, and animals such as dogs and cats should not be left in a parked car. They can die in a hot car.
Lines are put on paved lots to create the outlines of parking spaces. People leave their cars in these spaces while they go shopping, go to work, or do errands. Some spaces are set aside for disabled drivers or disabled passengers. These spaces are clearly marked. A disabled driver needs a special badge or insignia issued by the government to use these spaces. Disabled spaces are usually close to the front of a lot. Drivers who are not disabled can be fined or their cars towed if they use these spaces.
Parking lots are usually near businesses, hospitals, government buildings, schools, zoos, etc. If many people go to these places, then the parking lots will be large. If not too many people go to these places, then the parking lots will be small. Small lots are usually unsupervised. Large lots are usually supervised by an attendant stationed in a small booth at the lot's entrance. He may issue a pass to a vehicle's driver that is stamped with the vehicle's arrival time. He will collect a fee from the driver when the vehicle leaves the lot.
At a rural event such as a county fair, concert, auction, barn sale, corn maze, or pick-your-own strawberry patch, a parking lot may be nothing more than a large area of bare earth or a meadow that has been mowed for parking. Ropes or bales of hay may be used to mark the area for parking. An attendant may or may not be present. If present, he or she will advise a driver where to park in the lot and may or may not collect a fee.
Related pages
Images for kids
-
Diagram of example parking lot layout with angle parking as seen from above.
-
A parking lot in Manhattan, New York City, in 2010, with its capacity increased through multiple level stacked parking using mechanical lifts.
-
A subterranean parking lot of a Brazilian shopping mall taken in 2016.
-
A sign at the entrance to an underground parking garage in March 2007, warning drivers of the maximum height clearance, in this case, roughly 2 meters (6.5 feet).
-
Car park with drop arm in Dazaifu, Fukuoka
-
Parking lot outside of a shopping mall in Collégien, France, demonstrating the design of prioritizing spaces for cars over spaces for people.
-
Car occupying two parking spaces, often frowned upon in many countries
-
Rural parking lot, Gotland, Sweden
-
Parking, 5 cents a day, Hollywood, United States, 1949.
-
Barrier can be installed so that parking is not possible without payment.
-
Sensors above each lot in this indoor parking lot determine if a car has already taken the lot
-
Parking lot landscaped with trees, 2009.
.jpg)
See also
In Spanish: Estacionamiento para niños
