“Defensive driving” is a term that anyone who has a driver’s license should know, but defensive parking is a different story. Simply put, defensive parking means positioning your vehicle in such a way as to minimize the risk of theft or damage. This damage comes from either intentional vandalism, or from your car getting struck inadvertently by things like shopping carts and car doors. While there’s never any guaranteed way of preventing damage or theft, even with anti-theft devices in place, parking your car strategically does greatly reduce your risks and helps protect your vehicle.

Location

Always try to park in areas with moderate foot and vehicle traffic. The more witnesses nearby, the less likely a thief or vandal will try to damage or break into your car. Park in a space that does not have a car on both sides whenever possible. Other cars do act as a barrier, and experienced thieves will use nearby cars as a shield to prevent people from seeing them as they pry open your door or break a window. Parking in a spot with some space around it also helps reduce the risk of your car getting hit by someone else’s car door.

Avoid parking next to shopping cart corrals whenever possible. People often aren’t careful with shopping carts and just push them in the general direction of the corral. This leaves your car in a vulnerable position to be damaged by a rolling cart. Avoid parking at the bottom of a slope in a retail parking lot for the same reason. Carts rolling downhill can badly dent or ding your car’s finish.

Parking Garages

Park next to a pillar when you can, since it provides protection on that side of the vehicle against another car hitting it.

Try not to park right next to fire escapes, stairs or exits, because this makes your car more attractive to thieves. The stairway gives them an easy exit, so they can steal something from your car and be gone before anyone realizes what happened. Avoid parking on an empty level of the parking garage as well, unless you have no other choice. While this reduces the risk of another car hitting yours, it also reduces the number of potential witnesses nearby. If your car is an island and no one else is around, it’s a better target for a car thief.

Lights

Park as close to a street lamp or overhead light as you can when parking at night. The more light around your car, the less attractive it usually is for thieves. Cars do get broken into in broad daylight at times, so extra light is not guaranteed to protect your car. However, it does make a difference at night when other cars nearby are shrouded in darkness.

Bad Habits

Never take up more than one parking spot for your vehicle, even in a parking lot that isn’t that busy. Some people do this in the interest of protecting their vehicle, with the rationale being that parking over the line prevents other cars from coming too close to the car. However, the potential backlash is vandalism. Taking up multiple spaces enrages other drivers, especially if parking is difficult to find. As a result, your car is more likely to be vandalized in retaliation.

Avoid parking a large truck or van in a space marked for a compact car as well, unless you have no other options. Those spaces are smaller, so your vehicle is more likely to be dinged by car doors next to you as people get in and out of the car or hit by a careless driver who isn’t paying attention to the fact that your vehicle is sticking out of the space more than the others around it.

It’s easy to just snag the first parking spot you see when driving into a lot, but a few seconds of strategy can save you thousands of dollars and a lot of stress. There’s times when you don’t have many options to choose from when parking, and you shouldn’t leave your vehicle paranoid about what condition it will be in when you get back. Just do the best you can to minimize your risks, and enjoy improved peace of mind as a result.