The curse of the narrow car
Discussion
I have 3 cars in the UK, a 1990 E30 BMW, 2005 AUDI TT and a BMW MINI Cooper. All 3 have nimble proportions.
However every time I park, some lardy-arsed vehicle with a lardy-arsed driver will park next to you preventing you from returning to your car. FU, I’m all right!
It used to be the occasional Range Rover, then came the whole Chelsea Tractor brigade. However now it’s every piece of Chinese Junk. Even an Electric Renault 5 struggles with the dimension of a typical 2.4 x 4.8m parking space.
We all know that spaces will never get remarked to accommodate current vehicles so now I have entered purgatory where I park the car correctly, and some Dork parks so close, it’s impossible to get back in.
Perhaps we do need to surcharge the parking charges for these hideous sized trucks. SUVs may make sense in Mid-West USA, but they are unsuitable for the reality of current parking spaces in the UK.
However every time I park, some lardy-arsed vehicle with a lardy-arsed driver will park next to you preventing you from returning to your car. FU, I’m all right!
It used to be the occasional Range Rover, then came the whole Chelsea Tractor brigade. However now it’s every piece of Chinese Junk. Even an Electric Renault 5 struggles with the dimension of a typical 2.4 x 4.8m parking space.
We all know that spaces will never get remarked to accommodate current vehicles so now I have entered purgatory where I park the car correctly, and some Dork parks so close, it’s impossible to get back in.
Perhaps we do need to surcharge the parking charges for these hideous sized trucks. SUVs may make sense in Mid-West USA, but they are unsuitable for the reality of current parking spaces in the UK.
Reminds me a bit of being driven by a work colleague who drove into a car park and parked right next to the sole other car there, that was a fair distance from the place we were visiting. When I asked shy, she said 'because I need another car to line up against to make sure I park straight'. So it doesn't even matter if you park away. But, as people get even fatter and lazier they are more loathe to have to walk, so maybe just try and park as far away as you can.
rdjohn said:
I have 3 cars in the UK, a 1990 E30 BMW, 2005 AUDI TT and a BMW MINI Cooper. All 3 have nimble proportions.
However every time I park, some lardy-arsed vehicle with a lardy-arsed driver will park next to you preventing you from returning to your car. FU, I m all right!
It used to be the occasional Range Rover, then came the whole Chelsea Tractor brigade. However now it s every piece of Chinese Junk. Even an Electric Renault 5 struggles with the dimension of a typical 2.4 x 4.8m parking space.
We all know that spaces will never get remarked to accommodate current vehicles so now I have entered purgatory where I park the car correctly, and some Dork parks so close, it s impossible to get back in.
Perhaps we do need to surcharge the parking charges for these hideous sized trucks. SUVs may make sense in Mid-West USA, but they are unsuitable for the reality of current parking spaces in the UK.
Drivers of these cars face higher parking charges in major rule changeHowever every time I park, some lardy-arsed vehicle with a lardy-arsed driver will park next to you preventing you from returning to your car. FU, I m all right!
It used to be the occasional Range Rover, then came the whole Chelsea Tractor brigade. However now it s every piece of Chinese Junk. Even an Electric Renault 5 struggles with the dimension of a typical 2.4 x 4.8m parking space.
We all know that spaces will never get remarked to accommodate current vehicles so now I have entered purgatory where I park the car correctly, and some Dork parks so close, it s impossible to get back in.
Perhaps we do need to surcharge the parking charges for these hideous sized trucks. SUVs may make sense in Mid-West USA, but they are unsuitable for the reality of current parking spaces in the UK.
https://www.birminghammail.co.uk/motoring/motoring...
"Policies like this could help accelerate the transition to electric cars, transition by making drivers think more carefully about the type of vehicle they own and its environmental impact"
My SUV is narrower than an Ioniq 5, Polestar 2 and Model S, which suggests to me they haven't really thought this policy through.
It is bloody annoying how wide cars are these days though, even just updates of the same model. For example the current Octavia is 6cm wider than my old Mk2 Octavia was.
My SUV is narrower than an Ioniq 5, Polestar 2 and Model S, which suggests to me they haven't really thought this policy through.
It is bloody annoying how wide cars are these days though, even just updates of the same model. For example the current Octavia is 6cm wider than my old Mk2 Octavia was.
It is a curse, a space next to your narrow car will be wider than a space between two regular width cars, so more likely to be filled by a behemoth.
You could try parking your driver side right on the line, thus making the space next to you too small for anything but a classic mini. But most regular cars will pass the space by if there are other spaces available.
You could try parking your driver side right on the line, thus making the space next to you too small for anything but a classic mini. But most regular cars will pass the space by if there are other spaces available.
rdjohn said:
However every time I park, some lardy-arsed vehicle with a lardy-arsed driver will park next to you preventing you from returning to your car. FU, I m all right!
The lardy arsed driver / passenger (depending) is good news, though, you've only got a problem if the person getting out of the door adjacent to yours is less lardy arsed than you are!RizzoTheRat said:
"Policies like this could help accelerate the transition to electric cars, transition by making drivers think more carefully about the type of vehicle they own and its environmental impact"
My SUV is narrower than an Ioniq 5, Polestar 2 and Model S, which suggests to me they haven't really thought this policy through.
It is bloody annoying how wide cars are these days though, even just updates of the same model. For example the current Octavia is 6cm wider than my old Mk2 Octavia was.
Yeah, it's not just SUVs. One look at the 'classics vs moderns' will show you all you need to see. A lot is down to the NCAP arms race too - better side impact protection means wider cars.My SUV is narrower than an Ioniq 5, Polestar 2 and Model S, which suggests to me they haven't really thought this policy through.
It is bloody annoying how wide cars are these days though, even just updates of the same model. For example the current Octavia is 6cm wider than my old Mk2 Octavia was.
t looking car instead...WH16 said:
Yeah, it's not just SUVs. One look at the 'classics vs moderns' will show you all you need to see. A lot is down to the NCAP arms race too - better side impact protection means wider cars.
The bit I really don't understand though, is mine has a pretty wide centre console, you could easily move the seats several inches closer together and make the whole thing narrower without bashing elbows with your passenger. I'm sure most modern cars are similar with more space between front seats than we used to have.Rich Boy Spanner said:
Reminds me a bit of being driven by a work colleague who drove into a car park and parked right next to the sole other car there, that was a fair distance from the place we were visiting. When I asked shy, she said 'because I need another car to line up against to make sure I park straight'. So it doesn't even matter if you park away. But, as people get even fatter and lazier they are more loathe to have to walk, so maybe just try and park as far away as you can.
Interesting that you encountered one of these creatures in the wild and were able to question them.That level of crapness is hard to imagine, so it's good of you to record your findings.
Edited by swisstoni on Monday 11th May 16:17
Lester H said:
There was a similar thread a few weeks ago. One point was of drivers apparent need to park next to you on a really quiet car park. Since then this has been proven several times over at a local convenience store park.Why do they do it?
Without going all Mr. Cholmondley-Warner on it, I do believe it’s more likely to be women who practice this. Men adopt the “urinal approach” to car parks, leaving adequate spacing and an even distribution across a rowGassing Station | General Gassing | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff