Parking space marketplace yourparkingspace.co.uk is calling for the introduction of a new parking industry standard so car parking spaces are large enough to accommodate modern cars.
The firm believes a minimum recommended size guideline should be introduced, where any space fitting the criteria would earn a badge, known as SizeMark.
In order to receive a SizeMark recommendation a parking bay would have to be at least 5.0 metres by 2.7m. The company said the UK average parking space size is 4.8m by 2.4m.
“SizeMark is an increase of 12.5% [over a standard parking space size] – low enough to be practical to implement but large enough for it to be possible to open the car doors with a much lower risk of hitting the car parked next door,” the marketplace’s managing director, Harrison Woods told BusinessCar.
He claimed parking space sizes have remained the same size over the last 60 years while some vehicles have grown by more than 20% in width.
The firm said today’s Mini Cooper is 24% bigger than the original 1959 model, while the Honda Civic is 18% wider than the first model launched in 1973 and the Volkswagen Golf is 12% wider than the 1976 original.
A recent survey by motoring organisation the AA found that more than half of all motorists have had their car damaged while it was parked in a car park in the last year.
“It’s time that the industry introduced a recommended minimum parking space size so that drivers know what to expect,” said Woods.
“Our proposal is to introduce the SizeMark standard, where all car parks that meet this minimum size are awarded an instantly recognisable SizeMark badge to help drivers minimise damage to their cherished cars.”
