Parking spaces put the squeeze on motorists

A new study has found that, on average, motorists have just a ruler length of space between their vehicle and the edge of a parking pay.

Manoeuvring out of your car in a tight space is difficult enough, but matters become even more complicated for families with young children in car seats.

Analysis of ten popular family car models found that their average width had increased from 168cm at the time of their release to 180cm in 2023, while parking spaces that have not been made wider since the 1970’s.

Current British Parking Association (BPA) guidelines recommend that bays are 240cm wide. However, in 2022, the Institute of Structural Engineers updated its own guidance for the design of new multistorey and underground car parks to recommend the width be increased from 240cm to 260cm.

It also said the length of new parking bays should increase from 480cm to 500cm.

Authors of the report, Churchill Group Car Insurance, estimate that damage caused by hitting a wall, bollard or another vehicle while pulling into or out of parking bays costs British motorists a combined figure of £424 million every year.

Two fifths of drivers surveyed as part of the research said they often had to squeeze into their car in a car park, and just over a fifth claimed to have climbed into their car through the boot at least once.