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Perhaps it's not just bad parking skills
01 December 2020
Perhaps it's not just bad parking skills... A new study has found that the size of parking spaces has not increased since the 1970's, but cars today are up to 50% bigger!
If you’ve been beating yourself up about your poor parking, you can take solace in the fact that it might not be for lack of skill.
According to This is Money, a new study has found that drivers are finding it increasingly difficult to squeeze into parking spaces, with the size of new car models such as the Mini Hatch expanding by 55% since the 1970’s whilst the size of parking spaces has remained the same.
Current guidelines require public parking bays to be 8 feet (2.4 m) wide by 16 feet (4.8 m) long.
The British Parking Association says that these guidelines are just that and that car park operators are free to decide for themselves the measurements of their parking bays. That said, most parking bays you will come across in the UK only meet the basic requirement.
Skoda conducted research earlier this year which found that parking prangs account for around £1.5billion in repairs every year. A reported 11% of the 2,000 drivers (3.74 million people) had seriously damaged their car while looking for a parking space since February 2019. On average, these damages cost £396 to repair.
Four in 10 admitted to accidentally hitting another vehicle with their door whilst trying to exit the vehicle.
Despite these figures, 73% of the participants in Skoda’s research deemed themselves to be ‘good parkers’.
To put the issue into perspective, the latest Land Rover Range Rover model takes up to 86% of a standard parking space, leaving just 21cm of room for the driver and passengers to get out. This is a 17% increase from the 1970s Range Rover, which took up just 69% - the same amount as the latest Ford Focus model.
So, there you have it. The next time someone questions your parking skills, you now have the ultimate excuse.
To find out more about our fleet consultancy services, feel free to email info@marshall-leasing.co.uk or call us on 01480 414541.
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