New cars can often be too big for standard size parking bays (Picture iStock/Chaiyap*rn1144)
Anyone who’s ever struggled to park has the perfect excuse: more cars than ever are too big for the average UK parking space. According to a survey by consumer association Which?, more than 100 models of car sold within the last 10 years are bigger than the standard size for parking bays.
The result has led to some drivers being penalised for parking with part of their car outside a bay. And one organisation believes it has led to an increase in parking prangs that is costing the UK’s drivers billions of pounds. Here’s why the size of parking bays is a problem.
How big are standard UK parking bays?
There is no legal minimum for the size of parking bays. There is however a size standard for car park bays. This was specified by the government in 1994. It says that as a minimum, parking bays should be 4.8 metres long by 2.4m wide. According to accident aftermath specialist Accident Exchange in 2016, 87 per cent of local authorities use these dimensions. On the road, bays should be between 4.5m and 6.6m long and 2.7m and 1.8m wide.
How big are cars?
Consumer association Which? compiled a list of cars that exceed parking bay standard size. It found that 129 types of car sold new over the last decade fell into that category.
Included are big sellers such as the Vauxhall Astra which is now 2.04m wide. The popular Ford Mondeo (above) is 7cm longer than the minimum 4.8m parking bay standard. Other popular motors that are longer than this standard include the Land Rover Discovery, Volkswagen Touareg, BMW 5 Series, Audi A6, Hyundai Santa Fe and Mercedes-Benz E and S-Class.
What is the result?
The Accident Exchange claims parking prangs have increased by 35 per cent since 2014. Parking related bumps now account for more than 30 per cent of accidents in 2016. And it’s estimated there are approaching one million car parking collisions every year. These cost drivers nearly £2bn a year.
Director of operations at Accident Exchange, Scott Hamilton-Cooper said: “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.”
Why have cars got so much bigger?
There are three main reasons. Safety legislation demands that our cars have more deformable structures around parts that are called hard points such as the engine.
Customers also expect cars to have an increasing amount of equipment. Multiple airbags are a given, as is air-conditioning. All these take up space meaning cars have to be that little bit larger.
Where a current Ford Mondeo is 4.87m long, in 1994 the Mondeo measured 4.63m. That’s a 5 per cent increase in length. The Vauxhall Corsa (above) has grown from 4.02m to 3.73m, up by 8 per cent. But it’s ballooned in width by 20 per cent.And the latest Mini Cooper is 24 per cent wider than the original model from 1959.
The third reason is the kind of cars we buy is growing with 4×4-style SUVs becoming increasingly popular with car buyers.
Why haven’t parking bays kept up with cars?
The last time a standard for parking bays was drawn up it was 1994. As we’ve seen, cars then were considerably smaller. Increasing the size of parking bays isn’t the work of a moment. In addition, increasing their size is likely to result in fewer bays. In turn that may mean less revenue if drivers have to pay to park.
Where do we go from here?
Parking provider NCP has already widened some of its bays in London, Manchester and Bournemouth. NCP told the Times there was a balance between providing wider spaces and the need to cater for ever more cars. But it said: “We are moving towards making the bays wider as we recognise that vehicles are growing in size, especially SUVs.”
10 cars that don’t fit a standard bay
| Make and model | Type of car | Length (m) |
| Nissan Navara | Pick-up | 5.32 |
| Chrysler Grand Voyager | MPV | 5.14 |
| Jaguar XJ | Executive | 5.12 |
| Audi Q7 | SUV | 5.08 |
| Saab 9-5 | Executive | 5.00 |
| Range Rover | Luxury SUV | 4.99 |
| Tesla Model S | Executive | 4.97 |
| Volvo S90 | Executive | 4.96 |
| Jaguar XF | Executive | 4.95 |
| Mercedes CLS | Executive | 4.95 |
