Wider cars means Kent drivers struggle to get in and out at car parks
New research suggests people only have 30cm between vehicles
We are hearing how drivers in Kent and the UK have just the length of TWO hot dogs to squeeze in and out of their car doors at car parks.
A new study by Churchill Motor Insurance reveals drivers of the UK's most popular cars have just 30cm - the length of a child's ruler, box of cornflakes or two hot dogs - to get in and out of their vehicle when next to another vehicle in a car park.
People are forced to become 'car-tortionists', using acrobatic skills to gain access to their cars, with one in five (22 per cent) resorting to climbing into their parked car via the boot.
Three quarters (75 per cent) of drivers have been forced to squeeze themselves into their car when parked next to another vehicle in a car park, with 40 per cent having to do this at least once a month. More than half (51 per cent) of motorists say the only way they have been able to access their car is via the passenger door, because there wasn't room to open the driver's door.
As a result, drivers are regularly avoiding certain car parks altogether (57 per cent), driving past empty spaces (83 per cent) and letting passengers (including children) get out of the vehicle before parking (75 per cent), to avoid damaging their own or other people's vehicles.
Churchill's analysis reveals the widths of some of the UK's popular family cars, including the Kia Sportage, BMW Mini and the Ford Puma, have increased by an average of 13cm from launch to 2023/24, with a typical family car now measuring 180cm wide.
However, Churchill says it is clear from the car parks across the UK that they have examined, the space allocated for each car is still based on guidelines issued by the British Parking Association way back in the 1970's. Those guidelines recommended spaces be 240cm wide, which means drivers of some of the UK's most popular family models are left battling 50yrs later, with just 30cm of space to get in and out of a parked car.
Amongst the popular family cars examined by Churchill, the Mini has seen the biggest width increase, which has grown by 33cm since its launch in 1955, followed by the Vauxhall Corsa which has widened by 23cm since being first introduced to UK roads in 1982.
A consequence of bigger vehicles has been bad behaviours surfacing, with over a quarter (28 per cent) of drivers admitting to using a special designated parking space, such as a parent and child or accessible space for blue badge holders, when they're not eligible to do so.
"Motorists all over the country are at risk"
Nicholas Mantel, Head of Churchill Motor Insurance, said: "Ask almost any driver and they will have a story about having to creatively escape their car due to a lack of space when in a car park, even crawling out through the boot. Widening cars combined with parking bays that haven't been redesigned to accommodate today's models, means motorists all over the country are at risk of damaging their cars through no fault of their own."
Drivers squeezing in and out of their car is not the only consequence of cars widening. The damage caused by motorists hitting another vehicle, or scraping walls and bollards, when getting in or out of parking bays costs UK motorists an estimated £424 million every year. A third (30 per cent) of drivers had their car damaged in a car park in the last year, with the average cost of repairing the damage coming in at £223.50. Just seven per cent said the person who caused the damage paid for the repairs, whilst over a third (37 per cent) of respondents admitted that the damage was still there.
Nearly a third (32 per cent) of UK drivers say they now drive a bigger vehicle than five years ago. The most common reasons for doing so included wanting more internal space for luxury and comfort (eight per cent), liking the car design of a larger vehicle (eight per cent) and requiring more space for leisure and work equipment (seven per cent).
RAC head of policy Simon Williams said: "After spending ages looking for a place to park, it can be very frustrating for drivers to discover there's not enough room to get out of their vehicle, not least if you have a family in tow, have mobility issues or need room to use a wheelchair.
"Returning to find damage from a door being opened onto your vehicle is even more annoying due to the hassle and expense of having to get dents and scratches repaired.
"The problem centres on modern vehicles becoming wider due to the introduction of side impact protection technology.
"Operators are faced with the dilemma of having to repaint spaces to accommodate these larger vehicles, which is especially difficult at some older multi-storey car parks where space is already restricted.
"Unfortunately, this would lead to an overall reduction in the total number of spaces available and an inevitable increase in charges to compensate for the loss of revenue."