When Tailgates Turn Tragic

For many, the term “Tailgating” carries a double meaning. On the one hand, it refers to those terribly annoying, slightly dangerous drivers riding on your back bumper, the car’s “tail.” And it refers to the few hours before a football game or concert when you and your friends get liver-splittingly, unabashedly wasted. Tailgating is a gathering held in a parking lot around the tailgate of a vehicle before an event. Usually people have food and drinks, and barbecue with a grill. Usually people have alcohol. Though this type of event typically precedes sporting events, people may tailgate for concerts and other large events and often only attend the tailgate instead of the game. As a pastime, few things are more American than tailgating — and few tailgates are as tragic as the recent one at a Yale-Harvard football game.

One tailgate took an unexpectedly awful turn at a Yale-Harvard football game. Though Yale and Harvard Universities are known for their prestige, a tailgating incident for the Yale-Harvard football bowl caught the attention of major press. On Saturday, November 21st, 2011, a U-Haul truck carrying beer kegs in New Haven swerved into a crowd during a tailgate party in a parking area, hitting three people. One 30-year-old woman was killed and the other two were hospitalized. The crash was the result of a vehicle malfunction, but it was a terrible result of the universities’ most highly anticipated tailgate of the year.

Tailgating rules for the Yale-Harvard game have long been subject to debate. Six years ago, Yale increased efforts to shut down all parties after halftime, in order to curb binge drinking, and to keep students and alumni safe. In 2007, Yale officials considered banning U-Hauls for safety reasons, but the students objected because the trucks were needed to cart food and grills around. This past year, there was confusion over whether Yale’s residential colleges could have alcohol at their tailgates, and it was ultimately allowed. This recent incident called for Yale to review its Tailgating Rules, which will presumably be more strictly enforced next year.

The tragedy at the Yale-Harvard tailgate can serve as an example for tailgating standards. Tailgating is an activity that needs to be regulated, and in some areas, prohibited. This is to ensure that people won’t endanger themselves at a tailgate. MyParkingSign.com provides a selection of Tailgating Signs that prevent unauthorized entries or exits. These signs monitor tailgating by prohibiting it and informing people that an entrance or exit gate will close after each vehicle passes. Therefore, it would be ill-advised to closely follow a car.

Though many of these signs relate to tailgating in terms of driving, people can customize their own signs to manage tailgating parties. Simply select a sign from our variety of over 200 Custom Parking Signs and add in the text of your choice. Select font, upload artwork or choose your own, and have your creation ready to go in minutes. Our signs are made from durable aluminum, thick plastic, or laminated vinyl that lasts for ten years through weather and abrasion. The graphics are printed with 3M ink that won’t rust or fade.

Tailgating requires caution in any case. For more information on Tailgating Signs, visit MyParkingSign.com.