I've spent nights at
Walmarts out of convenience but this may end it. :-[ :-[
https://www.yahoo.com/news/sisters-asleep-minivan-burned-alive-171500335.html
I mean, it's tragic, but it seems a lot more 'freak accident caused by individual negligence' than it does 'unsafe Wal-Mart lots' to me. Of course, I've always made a point of parking way in the back of the Wal-Mart lots where it's very unlikely someone's going to pull up right alongside me either.
These kind of lawsuits will end the parking at Walmart.
What was the underlying cause of the fire!?
Quote from: dtcerrato on August 11, 2022, 07:56:33 PM
What was the underlying cause of the fire!?
Bonehead van-lifing in a minivan cooked breakfast in the back lot, then tossed the still-hot stove back in the van before driving up to the front of the lot where everyone else parks. So, sheer stupidity and laziness was the cause.
oh. Walmart should have posted a sign warning ppls not to put hot stoves back into vehicles. New signs coming.
No amount of supervision of those camping at Walmart would have prevented this. It didn't even occur near where the guy was camping. No different than if he had camped at a nearby campground and did the same stupid thing putting a hot stove in his vehicle.
Tragic situation for the family, but I can't see how Walmart allowing camping had anything to do with it.
Same old classic story of stupid people ruining a kind gesture for everybody. Certainly can't blame WALMART since they are nice enough to allow people to park there overnight but if people can't behave and follow the simple rules, then the heck with them.
Quote from: CrabbyMilton on August 12, 2022, 04:21:46 AM
Same old classic story of stupid people ruining a kind gesture for everybody. Certainly can't blame WALMART since they are nice enough to allow people to park there overnight but if people can't behave and follow the simple rules, then the heck with them.
True, but this doesn't even involve Walmart being nice and letting people stay in their lots overnight. This involves an idiot putting away a stove while hot and causing his vehicle to catch fire. How is Walmart responsible for this?
Suing and collecting are two seperate things,,, and not likely to happen..>>>Dan
Unfortunately you can't fix stupid.
Jim
I'd like to say WM does noit change it's position on their store by store overnight parking policy. They already acknowlede varying circumstances affect the suitability of accomodating travellers and leave that to the store and regional management.
In this case, there is no mention that the mother of 6 and 9 year old children left them unattended in a parking lot, vulnerable to all sorts of perils. That will be surely a position in the defense. As to the careless driver, it appears he was found guilty, so that puts blame on him no WM. It wasn't mentioned but there is surely legal action to take against the fire driver but being homeless, highly likely he is not insured.
It is a tragic incident but the army of WM attorneys will put this in the pile of the daily complaints they receive daily. This is just news bait to get some eyeballs.
Quote from: richard5933 on August 12, 2022, 05:58:24 AM
True, but this doesn't even involve Walmart being nice and letting people stay in their lots overnight. This involves an idiot putting away a stove while hot and causing his vehicle to catch fire. How is Walmart responsible for this?
Oh I wasn't blaming WALMART at all. The fools that did that are to blame. I'm just saying that WALMART would get blamed since people are looking to deflect responsiblity.
It doesn't even have to be WalMart,, it could be anyone with deep pockets for the ambulance chasers to pursue..>>>Dan
Walmart has been trying for years to get away from overnighters with RV's and trucks,some of their stores have areas away from the store to park,The truck lanes leading to the docks is the only heavy duty pavement in the parking lots,trucks and heavy RV's really do a job on the light duty paving and it cost Walmart big bucks to maintain those areas that is why most leased stores do not allow overnighters
Quote from: windtrader on August 12, 2022, 06:37:17 AM
In this case, there is no mention that the mother of 6 and 9 year old children left them unattended in a parking lot, vulnerable to all sorts of perils. That will be surely a position in the defense.
Agree with Don on that the mother left her children unattended early in the morning where there are many things that could have happened with all the perverts, freaks, and wackos out there these days, then this and they want to blame WM. Wow so many people (Lawyers) today trying to make a buck one way or the other.
If it wasn't for the lawyers in DC this would be a great country,the difference is the ones in DC rob you while you are watching cutting out the judicial system
I wouldn't worry about Walmart. Lawsuits are just a cost of doing business for them, and it's included in the price of every pair of socks they sell. I would imagine that they could settle this for something that would save them some bad PR. It wouldn't look that great for multibillionaires just to hold the line saying too bad about your dead and disfigured daughters, but we really don't care. It might be better to be able to boast about helping the surviving child even if they don't have to.
As much of problem that lawyers greed is, it is probably no worse than the many other manifestations of greed in our society. Also, when it comes to holding businesses, individuals and government to account for various maleficence lawyers are part of the quiver. Remember, our system is driven by greed which motivates all sort of innovation. We generally point to this fact when talking about the repeated failures of socialist experiments. Hence, lawyers are another cog in our imperfect by generally functional machine.
Never have stayed at one, always used a 50 amp RV site but This will kill overnight parking for sure.
My only experience with Walmart campers comes from my days as a LEO. Our dept responded daily to disturbing the peace calls among the campers along with many UI calls which were frequently quite confrontational. Our city population is around 300,000 so we are considered a medium size community in Ca. Eventually the City Council passed several no camping in parking lots ordinances which directed the PD to move overnight campers on and arrest those who didn't comply and impound their rigs. Good or bad? Not for me to say but personally I wouldn't "camp" at Walmart or any other such venue unless I knew there was some sort of on site security and that camping was not only allowed by the retailer but condoned by the local authorities. While it might not be any safer camping in a government sponsored campground or a private park like KOA at least I know I have specific legal rights and protection when I do. Jack
We stay at a few WM when traveling, we never stay at any going across New Mexico on I 10 or I 20 because the Indians are always panhandling about any place you stop beating on your door in New Mexico other than a RV park, WM[does have good security in their parking lots though, the average store has about 75 cameras watching the parking lot,the kicker is they only have 2 to 4 bodies watching the screens. A lot of WM's have a outside security company now taking care of the parking lot telling you where to park for your safety ,24-hour a day WM's are going away so am thinking overnight parking will too
i stay at WM when between points of travel and staying just to sleep, usually pulling in after dark. On more than one occassion after taking a cruise around the full lot and nearby neighborhoold I keep on going. Sometimes what is more scary is the area around the WM than the WM itself. Maybe the dark makes it seem more spooky but do take a wider scan when deciding if that's the place to park.
Truck stops and related service staion areas are always a fair bet. The other area I will scope out is industrial areas. Often trucks pull into areas where they wait for loading times, so you see some big rigs, and surprisingly they seem quiet and safe and no hassle. often good lighting and free of rif-raf. but that was before the homleless explosion
I understand WM not wanting camping,in Bullhead now there is a travel trailer that has been gutted on their parking lot and left for WM to have towed from their lot, happens all the time people doing engine work on a rv and leaving a mess for WM to deal with
I guess there are jerks everywhere. But when we full timed for a year in an Allegro bus, we stopped there a few times if I got tired of driving short of where we thought we'd make it. I always asked the manager where they wanted us to park and thanked them. One manager said they like it, especially on a weekend because it is an extra set of eyes in front of the store and it keeps the high school kids from spinning their wheels in the lot. We also buy food and lots of RV stuff, but the liability always seemed not worth the purchases we make.
Same with Cabela's and others. Parked a few times behind Cracker Barrel. Never ate there and felt a little guilty, but it was nice. We liked the benefit but I always thought "Why do they do that?".
The Wallmart in Whitehorse YT Canada used to be a great place to park overnight. But no more. In 2016 we rolled in and it looked like a huge KOA LOL. It was right next to a huge Canadian Tire super store (a great place for purchasing CF2 mono grade oil) and there is a Petro fuel station right on that corner with lots of room, diesel pumps, propane filling station, dump station, potable water fill, etc. etc.
On.our 2019 road trip through there we got a notice on the rig to move on while shopping in walmart! Bummer! The Petro station was still a life saver so to speak. This 2022 road trip through there it was the worst. We were able to get some Walmart & Canadian tire shopping done & diesel fill up but the LP filling station, waste dump, and potable water fill was all closed. Yep that welcome mat wore out... But on a positive note - in the great white north pullovers from small parking areas to full rest areas with pit toilets & overlooks are plentiful and non restrictive for overnight parking. We don't travel with a dog anymore (bitter sweet) do pack shotguns & bear repellent. :^ stay safe!
My brother-in-law and I were driving my new to me bus (my '74 MCI) from Vallejo CA up to the southern Oregon Coast area (around 2017?) and stopped in Eureka CA for the night. We purposely looked for a WM there and found one that had almost all the lights off in the building, the parking lot was dark, and they had a strange amount of shopping carts sitting at what appeared to be strategic locations throughout the lot. We looked at the rest of the neighborhood around the building and it was pretty sketchy. While looking in shock and awe, my brother-in-law googled the place and it turns out they had had a shooting there the night before. We instantly moved on to a shopping center near an In and Out Berger place. After that, we ended up staying at a WM the next night in Eugene OR. That one turned out ok.
I often wondered why you would want to stay at WM, always seems to be a focal point for sketchy activities in the wee hours of the night. Plan your trips acordingly that you are off the road and parked in a safer location. For all the Road Warriors burning the midnight oil, truckstops rest areas even an occasional on/off ramps would do.
Quote from: Van on August 17, 2022, 12:17:55 PM
I often wondered why you would want to stay at WM, always seems to be a focal point for sketchy activities in the wee hours of the night. Plan your trips acordingly that you are off the road and parked in a safer location. For all the Road Warriors burning the midnight oil, truckstops rest areas even an occasional on/off ramps would do.
All depends where the WM is. We've been to some in great areas where we felt safe walking to the nearby restaurants or just out for a stroll, and we've been to others where we didn't feel safe even going in to buy supplies for a few minutes and then drive off.
Why stop at a WM? Sometimes it's the only port in a storm, so to speak. In some parts of the country there just aren't campgrounds or rest stops convenient or available without adding an hour or more of driving. We stop at WMs for the same reason we once stopped at a Bob Evans for the night in Penn. It's possible to do this safely, but you've got to check ahead of time to know what the area is like.