In October of 2015, a vehicle crashed into the HEB grocery store in the Gulfgate neighborhood of Houston, Texas. 8 people were struck in that incident, and one of them was killed. In January of 2021, just a little over 5 years later, another crash into a Houston grocery store, this time at the Fiesta Mart in the Sunnyside neighborhood. 8 more people struck in this latest incident, some seriously injured.
16 people struck by vehicles crashing right through the front doors of two grocery stores in the same city. The two stores are less than 7 miles apart. As you can see in the photo, the front entrance of the Fiesta Mart was completely UNPROTECTED. No safety barriers were installed to protect employees and customers, even though five years before there was a very high profile accident 7 miles away at a similar store.
We add 3,000 to 4,000 vehicle-into-building crashes to our database every year. We estimate that the actual number of storefront crashes is well over 20,000 per year. A large number of them involve supermarkets (like these two incidents) and some larger and many smaller grocery operations. Frequently, they occur at busy stores full of people, where the registers are placed very close to the front of the stores, and where there are lots of windows for people to see in and out. All grocery stores have parking lots, and it is usually a vehicle from the parking lot that crashes through the front doors. Every major chain has had a number of such crashes, with some responding with measures to protect customers and employees, and some failing to take any action at all.
The grocery industry has for many years been ON NOTICE that storefront crashes are a very real risk to employees and customers, that they happen every week in the United States, and that the cost of claims and settlements can be in the millions of dollars. HEB and others have already learned that lesson, and Fiesta Mart is about to. The accidents are foreseeable to both property owners and business operators and given that there has been notice, failure to take action to prevent future accidents and injuries will be seen as negligent.
Prevention of accidents is ALWAYS a better business decision than deciding to take no action at all.
We add 3,000 to 4,000 vehicle-into-building crashes to our database every year. We estimate that the actual number of storefront crashes is well over 20,000 per year. A large number of them involve supermarkets (like these two incidents) and some larger and many smaller grocery operations. Frequently, they occur at busy stores full of people, where the registers are placed very close to the front of the stores, and where there are lots of windows for people to see in and out. All grocery stores have parking lots, and it is usually a vehicle from the parking lot that crashes through the front doors. Every major chain has had a number of such crashes, with some responding with measures to protect customers and employees, and some failing to take any action at all.
The grocery industry has for many years been ON NOTICE that storefront crashes are a very real risk to employees and customers, that they happen every week in the United States, and that the cost of claims and settlements can be in the millions of dollars. HEB and others have already learned that lesson, and Fiesta Mart is about to. The accidents are foreseeable to both property owners and business operators and given that there has been notice, failure to take action to prevent future accidents and injuries will be seen as negligent.
Prevention of accidents is ALWAYS a better business decision than deciding to take no action at all.
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