# Industry News - MODERN CARS ARE TOO BIG FOR BRITAIN’S AGEING PARKING SPACES



## WHIZZER (Oct 25, 2005)

Popularity of giant SUVs possible factor in 35% surge in parking prangs costing £1.4bn per year, says Accident Exchange
◾Some car parks now ‘no-go’ areas as 87% of councils use outdated government guidelines of 4.8 x 2.4 meters
◾Audi Q7, Mercedes-Benz GL-Class and BMW X5 too large for average parking bay
◾Car parking incidents now account for more than 30% of all accidents
◾Smaller top sellers like Vauxhall Corsa 16% larger than 15 years ago

Britain’s car parking spaces are too small to cope with consumers’ love affair with big family SUVs, leading to nearly £1.4bn* of car park prangs every year according to data released by accident aftercare specialist, Accident Exchange.

The average parking space is just 4.8 metres long and 2.4 wide**, however, popular SUVs like the Audi Q7 and Mercedes-Benz GL-Class measure in at five metres plus, and nearly two metres wide.

With the added challenge of pillars and tight ramps in multi-storey car parks, manoeuvring larger vehicles is now making some car parks ‘no-go’ areas for Britain’s motorists.

The research undertaken by Accident Exchange, which assists vehicle manufacturers and dealerships in keeping motorists mobile in the event of an accident, estimated a 35 per cent increase in parking prangs since 2014, and the meteoric rise of SUVs could be a factor.

With an average bill of £2,050 to repair accident-damaged vehicles, parking-related incidents now account for more than 30% of all accidents. It is now estimated that there are over 675,000 car parking collisions of this type annually – a staggering 1,859 every day.

The SUV segment has enjoyed huge success in the UK, with figures*** in February alone revealing an 44% rise compared to the same month last year, which could be a factor in the alarming rise in parking prangs, despite packing technology to avoid accidents.

Selection of large SUVs and vehicles 
Length (metres) Width (metres) 
Avg. Parking Space** 4.80 2.40 
Mercedes GL-Class 5.05 1.98 
Audi Q7 5.05 1.96 
Land Rover Discovery 5 4.97 2.00 
Volvo XC90 4.95 2.00 
BMW X5 4.88 1.93 
Ford Edge 4.80 1.92 
Volkswagen Touareg 4.80 1.94 
Hyundai Santa Fe 4.70 1.88 

It’s not just the popularity of SUVs which is impacting the average size of vehicles, smaller vehicles like the Vauxhall Corsa are significantly larger than their counterparts just 15 years ago.

The study, which measured the growth of some of the most popular vehicles in the UK, found that the latest Corsa had undergone the biggest change to its size over a 15-year period. The popular hatchback has expanded by a staggering 16%****, a trend that persists across most vehicle segments.

Selection of popular hatchbacks 
Length (metres) Width (metres) 
Avg. Parking Space* 4.80 2.40 
Ford Mondeo 4.86 1.85 
Vauxhall Astra 4.70 1.80 
Ford Focus 4.35 1.82 
VW Golf 4.25 1.79 
Ford Fiesta 4.06 1.72 
Vauxhall Corsa 4.02 1.74 

Scott Hamilton-Cooper, Director of Operations at Accident Exchange, commented; “Drivers are having to squeeze increasingly large cars into spaces that generally haven’t got any larger for a very long time. Almost all of the councils we researched carried over the government’s recommendation, which makes things tight for large cars. This could be contributing to the rise in car parking incidents we are seeing. Manufacturers follow the market, and so cars are outgrowing parking spaces.

“Not only are popular SUVs usurping smaller hatchbacks when it comes to new cars sales, older smaller cars are being taken off the street.

“The undoubted success of the SUV segment will have played its part – perhaps the roads aren’t quite ready for them because some drivers feel certain car parks are no-go areas due the sheer length and width of their cars.”

The recent study examined over 85,000 incidents recorded by Accident Exchange between mid-2013 and August 2016.


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## Soul boy 68 (Sep 8, 2013)

As if some peoples inability to park properly is bad enough the last thing we all need is BIG SUV's and larger cars.


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## goneawol (Nov 6, 2008)

They need to ban power steering :driver:


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## cadmunkey (Jun 8, 2015)

The majority of cars still do fit though. I'm not a fan of these large SUVs, they are usually driven by people who don't seem to be able to handle them properly. Parking problems should be a consideration before they buy one!


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## belly0Jelly (Jul 31, 2015)

not just the car size to space, also space proximity, only takes one badly parked car to throw a whole row out, should take into account car wingspan when the doors are open!


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## Hasan1 (Jul 1, 2011)

Don't see the need for all the big cars in city's. if you live in the countryside then I can understand it


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## gatecrasher3 (Jul 21, 2006)

Costco have got it right with their car parking spaces. Plenty of room for all.


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## Dixy (Oct 11, 2016)

Not helped by people driving huge 4x4s on the school run and down to the shops. Ok if you live in the country and need one, but they're not built for towns and cities in the UK.


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## Rundie (Oct 2, 2007)

My X5 is massive, as long as cars either side are parked decently then it's not a problem, so it's always a nightmare as many 'dump' their car rather than park it.


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## mobileman (Aug 10, 2008)

my 520 estate or silver barge i like to call it is often longer than most spaces i find, width is just borderline for lots of spaces so then sometimes i become one of those people and take two spaces but if cant be helped then what do you do ?


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## Balky001 (Oct 30, 2016)

Sliding/gullwing doors are the way forward but I do like goneawol's power steering suggestion :thumb:


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## Darlofan (Nov 24, 2010)

Yep my Insignia estate is too long for most, I tend to reverse in or pull straight through so a car can only park behind. Towbar then protects the car.


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## wee man (Sep 29, 2016)

Local traffic wardens booked a guy for extending over the marked out area, his defence was that the space was actually smaller than those either side. On checking the warden agreed but ticket was already given. Comment was appeal if you want but you should have checked before you parked!
Won on appeal.

Wee Man


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## Typeroz (Jan 10, 2016)

Here's a little read,

https://www.carthrottle.com/post/10-images-that-show-just-how-fat-cars-have-become/


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## SadlyDistracted (Jan 18, 2013)

Well, given the ever increasing costs/taxation of running a car its' about time car parking spaces were adequate.:speechles
When ever I'm in the US you never seem to find stupidly small car spaces! :driver:
Seems that everyone is against the use of cars, from increasing taxes, decreasing parking space availability / parking charges, end even car park spaces size. 
Why is it new / refurbished car parks don't size for current vehicles :wall:


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## MEH4N (Mar 15, 2012)

I still don't get why garages aren't bigger on new build houses, not everyone wants them for storage or drives a mk1 fiesta.

Costco and some sainsburys are generous with the gaps between spaces. When i drive the mondy i notice its sticks out often.


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## Mcpx (Mar 15, 2016)

It's not just about the size of the cars, it's about how many spaces people want to squeeze out of their available parking. Of the three supermarkets I use regularly Lidl has very generous spaces, Tesco are tight and Asda are just ridiculous, and that is the same across several different stores in different locations.


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