[Tejas Ingle]

This mishap took place last week in a corporate office parking in Pune. The upper deck of a mechanical parking lowered itself without any human intervention and rested onto the roof of a Seltos parked on the lower deck. Then it stopped working completely. The deck was heavy enough to compress the suspension of the car almost completely.
Luckily there was no car on the upper deck; hence the damages were minimal. Only scratches on the roof rails. The deck was lifted by several people and the car was driven out.
Usually there are sensors and systems in these parkings to prevent these type of incidents. This one seems to be a combination of multiple system failures.

[luvDriving]

Originally Posted by Tejas Ingle

This mishap took place last week in a corporate office parking in Pune.

I had it happen to my car several years ago in the multi-level parking on JM road. My car suffered some damage to the roof. After some follow up with the owner of the parking, I got 8k as compensation which was enough to fix the roof of my Indica.

Since that incident I always park my car in such systems and say a little prayer for it to be safe.

[audioholic]

Our new office campus is filled with three level stack parking systems and it's been a nightmare. First, the slots are narrow due to which you have to move in almost straight and the driveway is narrow. The answer to this is valet parking which makes it time consuming and also a horror to watch. The width is so less that the Innova has to be driven mirrors closed. After these episodes, I took the parking manager to task and now get open slots only or ones where my car goes on the upper palette without side pillars.

Now these failures are another thing to worry about. I was of the opinion that the upper pallete is locked into place and the lock won't get released when there is a car below. Looks like this system has been faulty and the pallete hydraulics malfunctioned. And this is the same brand as what is in our office parking

[Brumby]

We have a stacked parking system as a car park given by the builder in our apartment complex. As far as I know these are supposed to be fail safe systems. For the systems which operate on hydraulic pressure (electro-hydraulic ram-type systems), there is a mechanical lock to prevent lowering of the upper deck in case the hydraulic pressure is lost. Usually a single fault will not cause such failure. It has failed due to a double fault. This system will fail, when the mechanical lock is not free on its axis or damaged & failed to engage AND in this condition if the hydraulic pressure is lost, the upper deck will start to lower at a speed at which the oil is being lost or returning back to the system due to internal leak.

For systems, where a screw is driven in clock wise or anti-clockwise direction for hoisting and lowering, using an electrical or hydraulic motor, the upper deck cannot come down unless there is a physical damage to the hoisting/lowering system. The car workshops usually use screw type hoisting systems, preferably with manual chocks or locks (pin type) for additional safety. The screw type systems are like the screw type jack provided with the cars and will not lower by themselves.

The following link will provide some more information on the car lift safety systems.

https://www.bendpak.com/best-car-lif...owered%20state.

Since it is a commercial parking space, there must be a contractor/firm hired for maintenance. They may be held responsible for any losses depending on the terms and conditions agreed upon.

[sunikkat]

Honestly I dont trust these stack parking, not because of the machinery or brand itself but mainly due to lack of maintenance. No matter how much ever good the machinery is unless its maintained well these are bound to fail.

[Tejas Ingle]

Originally Posted by RedTerrano

How are they supposed to work when they are stacked with two cars?
Does the bottom car slide out so the top car can be released?

In this particular system the lower car either slides out sideways or lowers further below underground. There's another system where the lower car needs to be driven out to release the car above. The later is usually used as a private parking for people with 2 cars.

In most stalk parkings I've seen a laser beam and a sensor mounted on diagonally opposite pillars of the lower deck to detect anything present there. So if the beam is interrupt, the system knows that something is there. I didn't see any such sensor here.

[GTO]

I think the brand also makes all the difference. I have huge respect for Wohr; parent in Germany with huge Indian presence. Any such installation must have fail-safe measures. I remember the Wohr guys explaining how such an incident is almost impossible to happen in their machines.

Most of the authorised dealer workshops in Mumbai (including BMW) use Wohr only.

[jkrishnakj]

This was my biggest nightmare for me, every time I had to visit one of our offices at Bangalore. It used to be more like a once a week visit to this location and I always struggle. Turning is hard, the parking approach is too narrow, the space in the ramp is just about enough to hold the car and therefore you can’t have a lot of tolerance on any side.

I always fear that something from above will land on my car roof. And sometimes, just watching the attendant move the equipment to get your car down to basement level is scary. I almost always look the other way.

This office is in one of the crowded locality and I don’t blame the facilities people for this arrangement, but it used to worry me quite a bit.

[vidyanand]

While these systems (sliding or manual drive out) do achieve the space saving, I have seen huge inconsistencies on the sizes they have installed in various places in Bangalore. E.g. D-mart has wide enough space to park and the side skirts (not sure what is the correct term) is low enough that even my old i20 does not scrape even if slightly off angled. Plus they have enough space to align your car for entry. While in Forum Mall the skirts are too high and to add, the space is very narrow to align the car. Some places the width of the unit itself is so narrow that you end up stepping out on the adjoining parking.

Mantri Mall has again different dimensions for their old sliding system.

There should be a guideline on minimum standard size and space around it to install and operate.

[chaitanyakrish]

Any mechanical device can fail and parking admin has to ensure, all are in working conditions.

I had seen in Lulu Mall, Bangalore, where a Hyundai Aura got deep scratches on the left doors, as the driver didn't had enough space to turn and enter.

It looked like driver's fault but there is lot of scope for errors, as space is already cramped and every object can cause a minor damage.

Also, they have separate sections for sedans, sub 4m cars, and heavier SUVs.

We need to park carefully according to the dimensions and the way, these things move is another thing to be afraid of.

[CEF_Beasts]

Hiranandani has installed several of these stack parking slots in their Thane properties and they are an absolute nightmare to park in!

I have seen an Innova Crysta’s rear bumper being ripped off by the fixed structure of the stack parking. The sensors should’ve ideally sensed that the car was protruding out a bit and not allowed to move but it still did and damaged the car.

Neither the operator was willing to pay for the damage to the car nor the driver willing to admit his fault of leaving the car protruding out a bit…

Our Creta barely fits in the stack parking, not before reversing and re-entering the stack at the perfect angle a minimum of 3-4 times.

[amit1agrawal]

This stacking style of parking is one of the reasons I take my Santro to the office location instead of a bigger car that has these types of parking. Somewhere, I never felt safe parking in these parking lots but in the office, one doesn't have a choice. The other issue is that valets are employed to park the cars, who are casual with your car, and it takes time for them to get the car especially if your car is one on the upper floor. I like to park my car & would want to get in and simply drive out without any hassle.

[rkw]

Yes, I always felt these are not user friendly to such an extent that I avoid going altogether with my car to places with stacked parking. But I was under the impression that these have multiple fail-safe mechanisms & it is very unlikely for all to fail simultaneously.

[VNair]

Stacked parking is my last option always. Glad that nothing serious happened, this would be a nightmare for folks with panoramic sunroof on their cars.

[dhanushs]

Damn, looks like a scene from the Final Destination movie.

I think any equipment like these, needs to have basic failsafe mechanisms built in, for them to be certified to get installed anywhere..