150 cars too big for modern parking spaces
Discussion
272BHP said:
In my humble opinion the standard should be something like if 3 current VW Golfs are parked together and positioned perfectly within their lines then the middle car should be able to open all doors fully without touching the other cars and have a couple of inches of additional allowance.
No-one able bodied should need to open a car door to its fullest extent to get in or out. Maybe part of the issue is that over 60% of the UK population are overweight or obese. smn159 said:
No-one able bodied should need to open a car door to its fullest extent to get in or out. Maybe part of the issue is that over 60% of the UK population are overweight or obese.
Not every one is able bodied though, the majority of people with injured body parts are suffering only temporary or intermittently so do not qualify for a blue badge. There have been many times in my life where contorting to get out of a car has proved quite difficult.Pretty much everyone of pensionable age struggles to get out of a half open car door without inadvertently bumping paintwork against paintwork at least a few times a year.
LunarOne said:
gazza285 said:
LunarOne said:
Our country is tiny and there are far too many people living in it.
Your bit might be, but most of the country is not heavily populated.World Ranking | Country/Territory | Persons per km² | Population (2021) | Continent |
25 | Republic of Korea | 527.7 | 51,305,184 | Asia |
26 | Netherlands | 509.3 | 17,173,094 | Europe |
34 | Belgium | 384.2 | 11,632,334 | Europe |
39 | Japan | 345.8 | 126,050,796 | Asia |
51 | United Kingdom | 281.9 | 68,207,114 | Europe |
61 | Germany | 240.7 | 83,900,471 | Europe |
68 | Switzerland | 220.6 | 8,715,494 | Europe |
74 | Italy | 205.2 | 60,367,471 | Europe |
81 | China | 153.8 | 1,444,216,102 | Asia |
88 | Czechia | 138.8 | 10,724,553 | Europe |
89 | Denmark | 137 | 5,813,302 | Europe |
90 | Thailand | 136.9 | 69,950,844 | Asia |
95 | Poland | 123.4 | 37,797,000 | Europe |
98 | France | 119.5 | 65,426,177 | Europe |
103 | Portugal | 111 | 10,167,923 | Europe |
106 | Austria | 109.7 | 9,043,072 | Europe |
108 | Cuba | 106.3 | 11,317,498 | North America |
121 | Spain | 93.72 | 46,745,211 | Europe |
129 | Romania | 83.1 | 19,127,772 | Europe |
138 | Ukraine | 75.03 | 43,466,822 | Europe |
140 | Croatia | 72.94 | 4,081,657 | Europe |
141 | Ireland | 72.33 | 4,982,904 | Europe |
149 | Mexico | 67.01 | 130,262,220 | North America |
163 | South Africa | 49.5 | 60,041,996 | Africa |
177 | United States of America | 36.39 | 332,915,074 | North America |
183 | Estonia | 31.26 | 1,325,188 | Europe |
188 | Chile | 25.84 | 19,212,362 | South America |
190 | Brazil | 25.6 | 213,993,441 | South America |
195 | Sweden | 24.76 | 10,160,159 | Europe |
203 | Finland | 18.26 | 5,548,361 | Europe |
208 | Argentina | 16.66 | 45,605,823 | South America |
213 | Norway | 14.96 | 5,465,629 | Europe |
217 | Russian Federation | 8.91 | 145,912,022 | Europe |
229 | Iceland | 3.425 | 343,360 | Europe |
World | 60.53 | 7,874,965,732 |
Edited by LunarOne on Tuesday 29th August 14:38
smn159 said:
No-one able bodied should need to open a car door to its fullest extent to get in or out. Maybe part of the issue is that over 60% of the UK population are overweight or obese.
The general conditioning of people in the UK is shocking. Many of today's young people are going to be in terrible state by middle age.
Old people do not all need to have poor mobility and massive weight by virtue of age either.
Bending to put a child in a car seems to be a common concern of PHers, and a reason for buying an SUV. Beyond changing a 3 door to a 5 door car, we never gave it much thought when we had our first child back in 2010.
It does make me wonder how many people would struggle to get themself up from the floor.
You are just as likely to struggle getting out of a car when you are fit than if you are not.
Fit people tend to be active, try getting out of a car the day after playing a strenuous competitive football/rugby/name your sport match etc
The last thing you need is another car barely 20 inches away when you are trying to force aching body parts out of a car door.
Parking spaces are too small.
Fit people tend to be active, try getting out of a car the day after playing a strenuous competitive football/rugby/name your sport match etc
The last thing you need is another car barely 20 inches away when you are trying to force aching body parts out of a car door.
Parking spaces are too small.
272BHP said:
You are just as likely to struggle getting out of a car when you are fit than if you are not.
Fit people tend to be active, try getting out of a car the day after playing a strenuous competitive football/rugby/name your sport match etc
The last thing you need is another car barely 20 inches away when you are trying to force aching body parts out of a car door.
Parking spaces are too small.
Parking spaces are often quite small because cars have grown.Fit people tend to be active, try getting out of a car the day after playing a strenuous competitive football/rugby/name your sport match etc
The last thing you need is another car barely 20 inches away when you are trying to force aching body parts out of a car door.
Parking spaces are too small.
The physical difficulties you describe for sports players seem a little over-stated, though....
272BHP said:
MC Bodge said:
Parking spaces are often quite small because cars have grown.
So why aren't the spaces made bigger to compensate? surely easier to do that than make cars smaller.MC Bodge said:
If all cars become the size of HGV tractor units, should all car park spaces and car parks expand to accommodate them?
Lots of "the penny has dropped that my choice of a large car has a downside; the state/Tescos/NCP should bale me out my consumer decision." A pair of Polos or Fiestas parked square in their respective 2400mm bays have 650mm between them, not quite a full door swing but very easy to deal with (even after a monster leg-day), so it's not beyond the wit of man to work to the infrastructure.
MC Bodge said:
272BHP said:
MC Bodge said:
Parking spaces are often quite small because cars have grown.
So why aren't the spaces made bigger to compensate? surely easier to do that than make cars smaller.Silvanus said:
LunarOne said:
gazza285 said:
LunarOne said:
Our country is tiny and there are far too many people living in it.
Your bit might be, but most of the country is not heavily populated.World Ranking | Country/Territory | Persons per km² | Population (2021) | Continent |
25 | Republic of Korea | 527.7 | 51,305,184 | Asia |
26 | Netherlands | 509.3 | 17,173,094 | Europe |
34 | Belgium | 384.2 | 11,632,334 | Europe |
39 | Japan | 345.8 | 126,050,796 | Asia |
51 | United Kingdom | 281.9 | 68,207,114 | Europe |
61 | Germany | 240.7 | 83,900,471 | Europe |
68 | Switzerland | 220.6 | 8,715,494 | Europe |
74 | Italy | 205.2 | 60,367,471 | Europe |
81 | China | 153.8 | 1,444,216,102 | Asia |
88 | Czechia | 138.8 | 10,724,553 | Europe |
89 | Denmark | 137 | 5,813,302 | Europe |
90 | Thailand | 136.9 | 69,950,844 | Asia |
95 | Poland | 123.4 | 37,797,000 | Europe |
98 | France | 119.5 | 65,426,177 | Europe |
103 | Portugal | 111 | 10,167,923 | Europe |
106 | Austria | 109.7 | 9,043,072 | Europe |
108 | Cuba | 106.3 | 11,317,498 | North America |
121 | Spain | 93.72 | 46,745,211 | Europe |
129 | Romania | 83.1 | 19,127,772 | Europe |
138 | Ukraine | 75.03 | 43,466,822 | Europe |
140 | Croatia | 72.94 | 4,081,657 | Europe |
141 | Ireland | 72.33 | 4,982,904 | Europe |
149 | Mexico | 67.01 | 130,262,220 | North America |
163 | South Africa | 49.5 | 60,041,996 | Africa |
177 | United States of America | 36.39 | 332,915,074 | North America |
183 | Estonia | 31.26 | 1,325,188 | Europe |
188 | Chile | 25.84 | 19,212,362 | South America |
190 | Brazil | 25.6 | 213,993,441 | South America |
195 | Sweden | 24.76 | 10,160,159 | Europe |
203 | Finland | 18.26 | 5,548,361 | Europe |
208 | Argentina | 16.66 | 45,605,823 | South America |
213 | Norway | 14.96 | 5,465,629 | Europe |
217 | Russian Federation | 8.91 | 145,912,022 | Europe |
229 | Iceland | 3.425 | 343,360 | Europe |
World | 60.53 | 7,874,965,732 |
Edited by LunarOne on Tuesday 29th August 14:38
272BHP said:
MC Bodge said:
Parking spaces are often quite small because cars have grown.
So why aren't the spaces made bigger to compensate? surely easier to do that than make cars smaller.AmyRichardson said:
Lots of "the penny has dropped that my choice of a large car has a downside; the state/Tescos/NCP should bale me out my consumer decision."
A pair of Polos or Fiestas parked square in their respective 2400mm bays have 650mm between them, not quite a full door swing but very easy to deal with (even after a monster leg-day), so it's not beyond the wit of man to work to the infrastructure.
It is not a simple consumer decision. Safety standards have pushed up car sizes massively and the average family car are big beasts these days. Polos and Fiestas are simply not going to work for everyone.A pair of Polos or Fiestas parked square in their respective 2400mm bays have 650mm between them, not quite a full door swing but very easy to deal with (even after a monster leg-day), so it's not beyond the wit of man to work to the infrastructure.
Car park spaces are in the main just a line of paint - draw 9 spaces instead of 10.
272BHP said:
It is not a simple consumer decision. Safety standards have pushed up car sizes massively and the average family car are big beasts these days. Polos and Fiestas are simply not going to work for everyone.
Car park spaces are in the main just a line of paint - draw 9 spaces instead of 10.
It stone-cold is a consumer choice; there's no burly men knocking on your door at 3am ready to frog-march you to a dealership - "wide car or shallow grave citizen, what will it be?" Many a 2-child family gets by in something like a Golf (a notional 610mm clearance, easy for all but the most powerfully built) and never gives it a second thought. Okay, a Golf won't handle more than 4 in comfort but again that's individual choice, vasectomies are covered on the NHS.Car park spaces are in the main just a line of paint - draw 9 spaces instead of 10.
But "the dogs" (an extension of your consumer choices), but the bikes (ditto), but I want more refinement, power, towing capacity or a trim spec that's only available up-range (ditto, ditto, ditto & ditto.) These are all reasonable wants and typically a larger car is implied to realise them, but part of the buying decision is realising the QPQ that goes with it. I quite fancy an S-Class and might go that way in the next couple of new-car cycles, but I don't kid myself that the footprint of the thing will be quite frequently be a pain!
As pointed out earlier in the thread, my Mk5 Mondeo and the Mk4 before it, are a bit of a pain to park at times and not all parking spaces are suitable, especially if other vehicles are not parked centrally in their spaces.
My family are slim, so we can squeeze through narrow gaps (We can also all bend down and stand up without grunting).
Unless I need the bigger car, I use our Fiesta.
Ps. I can of course parallel park on a street like a champion, but a smaller car is easier to find a space for.
My family are slim, so we can squeeze through narrow gaps (We can also all bend down and stand up without grunting).
Unless I need the bigger car, I use our Fiesta.
Ps. I can of course parallel park on a street like a champion, but a smaller car is easier to find a space for.
Its Just Adz said:
We went into a small car park in St Ives a few weeks ago and found the last space. In the 2 spaces by the side were a Transit and a VW T5 camper. We were in a Range Rover Sport.
It was ridiculously tight.
You'll not get much sympathy from the locals driving any of that filth down here. It was ridiculously tight.
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