Prangs in car parks now account for almost a third of all accidents in the UK, costing insurance companies £1.4 billion a year – and the increasing size of cars is to blame.
That’s according to accident management company Accident Exchange, which said the number of car park incidents has increased by 35% in the past two years, based 85,000 incident reports compiled by the company in the last two years.
JATO Dynamics, an automotive data company said SUV sales increased by 44% in February compared with the same month in 2015.
According to Government guidelines, parking bays should measure 4.8×2.4m, and many large SUVs – such as the Audi Q7 and Mercedes GL – are both longer and wider.
These guidelines, however, were created in 1987 when the average car was a lot smaller – for instance, the Vauxhall Corsa, which has increased in size by 16% in the past 15 years to 4.0×1.7m
“Drivers are having to squeeze increasingly large cars into spaces that generally haven’t got any larger for a very long time. Cars are outgrowing parking spaces,” said Scott Hamilton-Cooper, director of operations at Accident Exchange. “The undoubted success of the SUV segment will have played its part – perhaps the road 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.”
