Tired of abandoned shopping carts?

By: TIM ALLEN - For the North County Times | Saturday, September 2, 2006 5:45 PM PDT ∞

A shopping cart lies abandoned on Pomerado Road near Poway Road in Poway in November 2005.
WALDO NILO Staff Photographer
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The city of Escondido should be commended for its efforts to eliminate the shopping cart problem.

We all know that shopping carts are business equipment; therefore, isn't it the responsibility of each business to secure these carts on their property for the safety, security and well-being of the community?

I have personally been involved in this quest within the city of San Diego for more than five years. Some cart owners claim to be innocent victims of residents who are taking their carts. But it is important to point out that retailers know that their carts have been and will continue to be taken and abandoned, yet most do nothing to prevent it. This phenomenon is even built into their business plans. They purchase more carts than needed, and budget for a cart retrieval service, as they know that a certain percentage of their cart inventory will accumulate in our neighborhoods.

While there are laws to prosecute the individuals who take and abandon these carts, the cart owners usually refuse to sign official complaints. These businesses generally feel that prosecuting the offenders is not worthy of their time or that they would lose customers by doing so. Without the cart owner's willingness to prosecute, these laws are unenforceable.

It is important to note that there are a wide range of systems and procedures available to help insure the carts do not leave the business premises. Unfortunately, the vast majority of cart owners have opted to choose the cheaper route of maintaining part of their cart inventory dispersed throughout the community, paying a small fee to have these carts regularly retrieved.

Hopefully, with the effort of San Diegans Against Abandoned Shopping Carts, the city of San Diego will see this problem resolved soon.

SDAASC, formed after years of battling the shopping cart problem, has identified that carts dispersed throughout the city present the following:

- An obstruction and danger to vehicular traffic when abandoned in the street.

- An obstruction and danger to pedestrian movement when abandoned on sidewalks.

- An obstruction and danger especially to the physically challenged (and a potential liability under the Americans with Disabilities Act) when abandoned on public walkways and specifically constructed ramps to facilitate the physically challenged.

- A hazard to children who regularly play with and frequently ride in or on the abandoned carts in our parks, sidewalks, streets and canyons.

- A potential liability to the city of San Diego when abandoned on city property.

- Costly repairs when the carts crash into buildings and equipment on both public and private property.

- A hazard to the environment when abandoned in canyons, open space and wildlife habitats.

- An obstruction when abandoned in waterways and drainage systems.

- An unsafe and time-consuming delay when abandoned carts hinder quick access to fire hydrants by firefighters.

- An eyesore and community blight, resulting in reduced property values.

Based on its research, SDAASC has submitted a proposal to the city of San Diego identifying 13 key points that, if included into a cart ordinance, will result in efficiently and effectively resolving this serious problem.

I fear that the Escondido ordinance is far too weak and requires the city to take legal action against the individual business that violates the ordinance. For Escondido to enforce this ordinance will require the enforcement to be juggled along with all the other priorities in the city attorney's office. Unfortunately, shopping cart enforcement will probably end up on the back burner.

SDAASC is proposing that the city of San Diego enact an ordinance that will take very little effort on the part of the city, yet encourage business to retain their equipment on property or face even heavier financial consequences.

Mira Mesa resident Tim Allen is a member of San Diegans Against Abandoned Shopping Carts, a group whose mission is to "motivate the city of San Diego to enact a zero-tolerance ordinance designed to eliminate the serious problem of abandoned carts dispersed throughout the city."

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16 comment(s)[-]Go to Top

Why can't we just wrote on Sep 4, 2006 9:03 AM:ARREST the people who take the carts. If a police officer sees someone pushing a grocery cart, stop, arrest them take them to jail, put the children with them in child protective services. It would only have to happen once or twice and it would get the word out and stop.

Tim wrote on Sep 4, 2006 9:35 AM:I would be happy if the biggest problem in my life was abandoned shopping carts. Get a life, man! Tackle a serious problem, like world hunger or AIDS. Save this issue for budding high school political activists!

Daren wrote on Sep 5, 2006 10:32 AM:There are preventative measures available to prevent this problem. Charge a monetary deposit for using a cart in the store that is refunded upon returning the cart. There are also "pop-out" wheels that fit under the cart. When the front wheels of the cart are elevated, the wheel pops out and the cart will only turn in a circle and not roll forward. Stores need only to implement these simple measures to eliminate this problem quickly and easily.

Matt wrote on Sep 5, 2006 11:44 AM:People take note. There is a very simple solution. On the TV show CSI, the actor Grisom was investigating a crime at a laundry place where a couple of boys were playing around in the dryer. Anyway, the laundry business owner had installed a sensor and a locking mechanism on all of his carts. If someone tried to steal a cart, it would lock the wheels when it reached the boundary set up by an invisible infrared barrier. Yes, this is similar to the dog training collar that keeps dogs from straying out of an open yard.

JEFF wrote on Sep 7, 2006 6:41 AM:I LOAD THE CARTS IN MY TRUCK AND RETURN THEM TO THEIR PLACE. IF I DON'T WANT SOMETHING IN MY NEIGHBORHOOD I TAKE CHARGE AS BEST I CAN. YOU CAN TOO INSTEAD OF SITTING IN YOUR BUTTS. POLICE HAVE ENOUGH TO DO.

To Jeff... wrote on Sep 7, 2006 8:15 AM:Jeff - can I have your ph#? I don't have the arm strength or a truck to load these in to and deliver back to the shopping places. Seems like you have both... and some extra time on your hands as well. I'll send you a daily report of where extra carts are lying around if you'd like.

Dave wrote on Sep 7, 2006 9:44 AM:Jeff, I commend you on your initiative. However, the stores are taking advantage of your goodwill. The stores should be forced to be responsible neighbors and take care of their business property. If that means investing in new carts that have theft prevention devices, then they should make the investment. I would suspect that the investment would pay dividends (goodwill, lower insurance, fewer non-recovered carts, etc.).

My 2 Cents wrote on Sep 7, 2006 1:42 PM:Granted there are solutions the stores could implement, but why should they have to be the ones to foot the bill for someone else's bad & criminal behavior? What needs to happen is that people need to learn how to act, clean up after themselves and leave what doesn't belong to them alone!

Foot the bill? wrote on Sep 7, 2006 7:12 PM:Why should they have to be the ones to foot the bill for someone else's bad & criminal behavior? Good question. Why do you and I foot the bill for door locks, home security and why is my sleep desturbed by those blasted car alarms? Could it be that people need to do what they can to protect their investments. Not having your property leave without you is a way to save money in the long run.

Why We Foot The Bill wrote on Sep 7, 2006 8:24 PM:We foot the bill for door locks, etc. to protect our own interests of our own free will. No one tells you you have to lock up your stuff ... you do it because you believe that someone somewhere is out to take what isn't theirs. It's called being proactive by choice. The stores can do the same thing if they want to. The problem is that they shouldn't be told they have to so that we (as a society) don't have to deal with the actual problem at hand ... scummy people who can't keep their hands off what isn't theirs to begin with!

Warren wrote on Sep 11, 2006 2:52 PM:Lets face it folks, if I left my desk or chair on the sidewalk, in the street, or in a local park, the city would pick it up and dump it. It wouldn't matter if my name and address were on it or not, it doen't belong there. When it comes to the shopping carts, they are proposing to do the stores one better, forewarn them that they can not allow thier equipment to go off thier property and if it does, give them a chance to get it back. The retailers know they are being taken and will not even use the law to stop the thieves. It is thier problem, lets make them pay for it and not us by having to look at them every day!

Kat wrote on Oct 13, 2007 5:01 PM:Sure wish Tim was still involved in this.

Kozmo wrote on Dec 5, 2007 12:12 PM:I too pick up the carts and bring them back to the shopping centers but I take them to the wrong ones so they have to deal with it!

tony wrote on Apr 16, 2008 4:39 PM:From what I understand of the ordincance, the retailers have to press charges against their customers in order for criminal action to take place.
I agree with the locks on the carts. Retailers complain about having carts returned to them that are damaged or no longer usable. The locks would keep the carts on the property and give them a better chance of survival.

Jack wrote on Apr 18, 2008 11:57 PM:Retailers should not be obligated pay for expensive "blocking" technology the cost of which they'll pass on in the form higher food prices. Fact is, in the North County, EVERY cart I've ever seen wheeled off a parking lot was commandeered by an elderly Asian man or woman. This particular people group is responsible for abandoning virtually all shopping carts. Educate this group and their families and the problem will largely disappear.

tony wrote on Apr 28, 2008 11:17 PM:Jack,
Lets be careful about racial generalizations.
I've seen a few crackers take carts as well.
The point is that the retailers could care less because their insurance covers the loss of these items. Meanwhile we, the community are left with the blight.
There is a shopping cart retrieval service based out of LA but they don't frequent our neck of the woods all that often. I think it might be a good business proposition for someone to take this over for the San Diego area. Just drive around, pick up carts and sell them back to the retailers. The hard part is creating an ordinance mandating that the retailers take them back.

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