Cite that they cost more?
Geez pull your brain out of first gear here.
Spikes do not require any electricity
Spikes do not require any routine maintainence.
Spikes don’t break preventing the use of a driveway.
Spikes do not require an attendent
Spikes are not damaged if a driver attempts to thwart them (think of what would happen to a rolling chainlink fence if a driver hit it.
Spikes do not have any delay for activation
Spikes are not affected by power outages, brownouts, tornadoes, rain or any other natural disaster. (yeah maybe an earthquake, but you probably have bigger problems at this point.)
Name me one other deterrent that has all of these advantages, a lower installed, and ongoing costs.
Looks like about $500 for the simplest ones: http://www.westcoparking.com/spikes.htm
I suspect the people who own and maintain parking lots and other facilities have researched the costs very carefully.
I agree that they probably are the cheapest method, but will also note not all parking lots have these. Others choose to go for the added expense of the fence or barricade arm. Sometimes the cheapest method is not always the best, customer service wise.
I don’t get the customer service angle, I really don’t. 99% of the people using the parking lot are going to follow the signs, obey the rules of traffic, use the sense God gave them, and never have a problem with the spike strips. The only people who have a problem are those who are either (a) intentionally attempting to exit the lot the wrong way or (b) too stupid to see the signs or the strips. This is not a high proportion of your customer base.
You hope, anyway. 
I’m late to the discussion, but just how problematic does Wee Bairn think these strips are? They aren’t located directly behind a parking spot, are not generally hidden around a blind corner, and very rarely would it be necessary to back over them right after they are crossed.
I just don’t see that many opportunities for a genuine accident to occur - there would need to be negligence or inattentiveness by the driver for this to ever be a problem.
It seems that quite a lot of people I know and work with are mildly annoyed by these spikes, but not enough to actually get into a tither about it.
Do you folks think it’s easy asking people you know questions like this face-to-face? :o
Anything for science.
mangeorge
They do. We go ahead and do it because we want to fuck up your car. We get off on watching dumb fucktard asshuffer needledicks rip their tires to shreds 'cause they can’t read or follow instructions… Really. It’s a blast.
Happy now? You were right, it is a sinister plot to fuck up your life. Go ahead, you rebel, you… Fight the power, and let’s see how that works out for you.
Well, yes. I think we have a difference of perspective here. You appear to be of the opinion that getting distracted and forgetting about something that’s right in front of you is no big deal and happens to everyone. For me, it’s what’s most likely to turn my daily commute by bicycle into an extended stay in intensive care. From my perspective, if an expensive repair job is what it takes to get a driver to start paying attention to their surroundings before hitting the gas, then it’s a good thing.
All the parking lots I’ve seen that use these strips have combined extensive signage with a layout that quickly makes it obvious to an attentive driver which way they are supposed to go. If a driver is too stupid or inattentive to notice these things, then they are too stupid or inattentive to be controlling a vehicle, and I would much rather they be stopped by a blown tire than by a collision with a car coming the opposite (i.e., the correct) way or worse, with a pedestrian.
Man, I gotta get off my ass and find one of these things.
All this passion. I feel left out.
Peace,
mangeorge
I’m glad to hear Pat’s doing better.
What does this have to do with spikes, or Sublight’s quoted post?
Inattentive drivers?
Return a rental car at SFO, OAK or SJC. You’ll see 'em.
Moderator caution. I know this one has dragged on, but don’t forget what forum you’re in. General Questions. Your response was out of line for this forum. Don’t do it again.
To others: this is an interesting debate, and I’m not convinced it belongs in GQ. But we’re getting some GQ info, so for now, I’ll leave it. But don’t count on it being here tomorrow.
Carry on, in a civil manner.
samclem GQ moderator
I take Bart to SFO and OAK. I don’t remember the last time I flew out of San Jose.
I am such a damned liberal.
The voice of civility. Much appreciated. 
*I assume by this, Sublight means having to buy new tires.
Detail, read for detail.
The driver of the truck that hit Pat wasn’t paying enough attention, look at the result.
So “Inattentive drivers” was the link. Seems a stretch, linking a bicycle-truck mishap to spikes in a parking lot.
Reminds me of that train wreck many years ago where the conductor tested positive for trace amounts of marijuana metabolites and they blamed the wreck on that. Or tried to.
Wee, have you been into my stash? 
I still haven’t found an account of someone actually backing over these spikes in a parking lot in an effort to evade fees. In fact, I haven’t found any account at all.
Oh, well.
I’d say that the warning would be the police pursuit in and of itself 
Joe
No stretch at all. Wee Bairn claims that an inattentive driver could back over the spikes (well, actually he claims that someone could fail to see the spikes and back over them, but as most have pointed out, to do that you’d have to be inattentive). To hammer home how bad being an inattentive driver can be, the accident is cited, where an inattentive driver caused someone some serious injuries.
An inattentive driver can cause death. Tire spikes at parking lots are the least of your worries if you are inattentive as a driver. :eek: