Be careful where you park.

 

Although there is no indication of what caused the Lower Manhattan collapse at this stage, the building’s fall comes just weeks after structural engineers warned that the increasing popularity of electric cars — which because of their batteries can be considerably heavier than conventional vehicles — could see garages collapse in future.

Speaking to UK paper The Daily Telegraph, engineer Chris Whapples said there is “potential for some of the early car parks in poor condition to collapse” and that owners of garages should get structural assessments of their lots done and decide whether they can take the weight of all modern cars. “We have height restrictions in car parks, why not weight”, he said.