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Robert Reiter

I am a co-founder of the Storefront Safety Council. I consult with industry, with companies, and as an expert in litigation involving the foreseeability and preventability of vehicle-into-building and vehicle-into-pedestrian crashes nationally.

CNN Interview

Deliberate vehicle attacks are NOT unusual and there are many methods of reducing the threat or preventing the event.

Rob Reiter, co-founder of the Storefront Safety Council, discusses why these incidents happen, legal implications, and how businesses can prevent them.

Inside Edition -- Convenience Stores

7-Eleven’s recent $91 million settlement for an accident in its forecourt highlights an alarmingly common — and potentially hazardous — issue.

Read the interview with expert Rob Reiter: Why do storefront crashes happen so often at convenience stores  — and what can retailers do to prevent them

Inside Edition --
Gas Pump Crash

Gas pumps are struck every day in America -- and more than once a week, a crash results in a fire and explosion.  Here is an Inside Edition Report on the Caballes case in Florida -- a tragic incident that resulted in a landmark settlement.

This report examines the most common causes, the role of prevention, and what businesses and cities can do to improve safety.

Most Frequent Locations

Retail Store                                     24%

Restaurant                                     19%

Commercial Building                 12%

Office                                                  8%

Convenient Store                           6%

Government Building                   3%

All other locations                       32%

Driver Age Distribution

Under 30                                      29%

30-60                                             33%

60+                                                 38%

Most Frequent Causes

Operator Error                            22%

Pedal Error                                   17%

DUI                                                   15%

Traffic Accident                          12%

Medical                                             6%

Ramraid / Crash and Grab       9%

All other causes                           21%

100

Times a day

16k

Injured Anually

2600

Killed Anually

And it doesn't have to be this way...

Our Storefront crash statistics are the most complete ever assembled for accidents of this type. As of 2022 our database contains more than 25,000 analyzed accidents and an additional 15,000 additional accidents collected but not analyzed (and not included in our statistical reporting). Analysis includes statistics on causation of crashes, age of drivers, and types of buildings or businesses most frequently struck by vehicles.  â€‹We have cooperated with the Texas Traffic Institute at Texas A&M University.  More and more trends seem to be developing and becoming more clear. 

Rob and Congressman and Jake at SIA event 10 May 2018_edited.jpg

ABOUT ME

In July of 2003 tragedy struck the Santa Monica Farmer's Market.  A 4500 pound Buick driven by an 86 year-old man became a weapon of mass destruction, killing 10 people and injuring 63.  Shortly after this incident I was contacted by the press and attorneys who asked if I could help explain how this might have been prevented...

Featured Article

Read the interview with expert Rob Reiter: Why do storefront crashes happen so often at convenience stores  — and what can retailers do to prevent them

7-Eleven’s recent $91 million settlement for an accident in its forecourt highlights an alarmingly common — and potentially hazardous — issue.

7-Eleven’s recent $91 million settlement for an accident in its forecourt highlights an alarmingly common — and potentially hazardous — issue.

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LATEST NEWS

My work and experience

Our Storefront crash statistics are the most complete ever assembled for accidents of this type. As of June 2022, our database contains more than 25,000 analyzed accidents and an additional 15,000 additional accidents collected but not analyzed (and not included in our statistical reporting). The analysis includes statistics on the causation of crashes, the age of drivers, and types of buildings or businesses most frequently struck by vehicles.  â€‹We have cooperated with the Texas Traffic Institute at Texas A&M University.  More and more trends seem to be developing and becoming more clear. 

We believe that our storefront crash statistics are the most extensive for private property accidents of this type. While accidents at such sites (shopping centers, strip malls, storefront  locations) are very common, neither
Federal or State agencies or local law enforcement departments are set up to gather such statistics.

 

In April 2022 we completed an exchange of data and methodologies with an arm of Lloyd’s of London, the largest insurance market in the world.  In exchange for the use of our data for their own risk assessment and risk profiling purposes, Lloyd’s agreed to review and audit our data and collection methodologies, the accuracy of our data, and the value of our data on an ongoing basis.  Lloyd’s found that our data was valid and credible and that our collection methodology gave them such high confidence that our collection of data concerning vehicle-into-building / storefront crashes should be used by researchers and risk managers as “source data” given the lack of any other available data sets involving private property accidents in the United States.

Lloyd’s concluded in their remarks that our data, as complete as it is, reflects only a fraction of the total of storefront crashes that occur every single day:  At the most conservative, it appears that the SSC database captures 1 in 12 incidents (8.33%).   Using the data that we have collected and using Lloyd’s audit and documentation, we can make the following statements:
 
Storefront crashes occur more than 100 times per day

46% of all storefront crashes result in an injury

8% of all storefront crashes result in a fatality

Each year in the US, as many as 16,000 people are injured and
as many as 2600 are killed in vehicle-into-building crashes.


We believe that this information will be very useful to researchers, underwriters, risk managers, and other safety professionals who will be advising agencies on building codes and product specifications to increase safety where Americans live, work, play and shop.​​

Rob Mug Shot.jpeg

Articles by Rob

In July of 2003 tragedy struck the Santa Monica Farmer's Market.  A 4500 pound Buick driven by an 86 year-old man became a weapon of mass destruction, killing 10 people and injuring 63.  Shortly after this incident I was contacted by the press and attorneys who asked if I could help explain how this might have been prevented...

TESTIMONIALS

"Based on your expertise and advice, I was able to achieve a significant settlement for my client who was severely injured in this incident. I hope we can work together on another case in the near future."  Read entire letter.

Attorney, Richmond, VA

Thomas M

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