I also live in the south, and I hate that they even allow people to take the carts out to their car! When I lived in the north, they had barriers up that didn't allow the carts to get through. You had to pull up and load your groceries into your vehicle. It may be a little inconvenient, but it saved a lot of cars from getting banged up! And it also stopped the shopping cart theft! I see a lot of people just walking off the lot with their groceries in the cart, like they own the thing, and then they don't bother to bring it back! Or, there are some that decide to claim it as theirs, keep it in their yard (my next door neighbor!), and then go back and use it again. Whew, don't get me started.....