By Ahrahm Joo
Women’s-only parking zones have become popular in countries like Germany and Korea.
First introduced in Germany in the 1990s, women’s-only parking zones were developed due to many of the country’s parking structures being located underground, where it could be dangerous for women to travel to alone.
In comparison to regular parking zones, some of the differences are that women’s-only zones have more space to park. They are also closer to entrances and are area monitored by CCTV, which is also being monitored by police and security guards everyday for 24 hours a day.
Women are not required to use these spots, but it is an amenity available for them to take advantage of so that they could feel safer.
The idea of women’s-only parking zones has also become controversial in some countries. This is because with the spaces being bigger, it could be being implied that women are bad drivers.
In response to this controversy, the government has stated that women’s-only parking zones are built wider so that women can have more room for taking kids out of their vehicles as well as not have to walk far with their children.
Some men seem to hate this because it seems like women are getting special treatment as many argue that women are not the only caretakers out there.
To help resolve this conflict, Seoul city officials said in February that they were in the process of converting women’s-only parking zones into family zones.
Long Beach State students have also shared some of their opinions on this topic.
One student feels that the implementation of women’s-only parking zones could be potentially dangerous, as some people would be able to wait around the parking lot to easily find their next victim.
“It will make us more of a target,” said Sarah Millers, an aerospace engineering major. “People with bad intentions will know where to wait for us.”
Other students, like Scott Caros, a mechanical engineering major, feel like women’s-only parking zones could be a good option.
“I view it as an nice option,” said Caros. “As they’d probably be more accessible, have better lighting and be closer to the elevators.”
