Big Cars and Small Parking Bays
An increasing number of motorists are complaining that car parking spaces, in various car parks, are simply too small. Is this really the case or is the problem due to the increase in size of the vehicles people are driving these days?
Park Rite, the largest operator of public car parks in the United Kingdom, say that the dimensions of parking spaces need to relate to the vehicles that the space is intended for. The current standard suggests that bays are 2.4m wide by 4.8m in length. But lots of todays most popular cars, especially four wheel drive and people carriers, will only just fit into this space leaving no room for doors to be opened easily.
There have been reports that some car park operators have purposely made some of their parking spaces narrower in order to squeeze more vehicles into their car parks. Some of the worst offenders are reported to be certain hospital car parks, some supermarkets and some long-stay airport parking lots. We’ve heard reports of people returning from trips abroad and finding that they are unable to open the drivers door due to the adjacent vehicle being parked so close.
Is the problem due to the size of parking spaces or is it due to the increasing size of popular vehicles? A common and popular 4 wheel drive vehicle is the Toyota Rav4. This vehicle has a width of 1.815m, excluding its mirrors. If we allow only 35cm for the size of the wing mirrors this brings the width up to 1.85m. In a parking bay of 2.4m width this would leave only 0.55m or 0.275m on either side. This leaves very little space for getting into and out of the vehicle.
Narrow parking spaces is a significant problem for many cars that have long side doors, like many of todays 3 door models. For example, the popular Renault Clio 3 Door has a width, including mirrors, of 2.025m. In a standard 2.4m parking space this would leave only 0.375m or only around 0.19m on each side for opening the doors and getting into and out of the car.
It looks like the problem is really down to the size of the cars that people are driving so perhaps car park operators need to take this into account when marking out their parking bays.
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