Car parking space bay lines

[aceofspades1]

With the increasing size of modern vehicles, what is the general accepted definition of "vehicles must be parked entirely within marked bays"?

On a trip yesterday I visited multiple car parks with wording in the terms to that effect but half the jumbo SUVs and estate cars would not physically be able to park in the bays without the front or rear slightly overhanging so it got me thinking.

If it means all wheels must be within the bays, that surely opens the flood gates to bringing in a massive extra long wheelbase van which overhangs into the next bay, and you won't have broken any of their terms.

If it means the edges of the vehicle body, then half of modern cars overhang in bays I've seen, particularly around city centres in 1970's built car parks.

[aceofspades1]

[Magic919]

I’d suggest not troubling yourself over it.

[vikingaero]

aceofspades1 said:

The Merc and the Jazz in the background are interesting as it looks like the Merc is encroaching into the Jazz's space.

Certainly with on-road parking you can overhang a little as long as your wheels/tyres are within the bay markings. Take the pish too much and you'll get a ticket.

[Fred Smith]

Magic919 said:

I d suggest not troubling yourself over it.

Supermarket car-parks yes - supermarkets aren't going to want to annoy selfishly parked customers by fining them.

Roads, private car-parks and council car-parks - well worth troubling yourself unless you're happy to pay fines. If anything the need more space on the roads, and we need more capacity in car-parks. If people have chosen to buy cars and SUVs and other kinds of trucks which are far too large for the spaces that exist then that is a them problem IMHO.

Who would be surprised to see local councils starting to fine every 4WD which is parked even an inch or two over the white line?

[davek_964]

Fred Smith said:

Supermarket car-parks yes - supermarkets aren't going to want to annoy selfishly parked customers by fining them.

Many supermarkets warn that they will fine you if you don't park in allocated bays, and I know of instances where people have been fined for parking across two spaces.

[Weejus]

An original Mini, photo below.. It just shows what you are saying is true..

Edited by Weejus on Wednesday 22 April 15:41

[Weejus]

But as you say, cars are just getting larger. with the company I had a Ford Ranger Wildtrack, it was a bugger to park, always overhung a marked space, I found the best place to park at the Supermarket was down by the recycling bins just so I could take up the 2 spaces needed, I never got a fine tho in the 4 years of ownership. I am glad I have got rid now ..

Edited by Weejus on Wednesday 22 April 15:44

[Groomio]

Councils ban 20 'too big' vehicles from car parks in 2026

https://www.mirror.co.uk/lifestyle/motoring/counci...

[aceofspades1]

Magic919 said:

I d suggest not troubling yourself over it.

Even though I know it's not likely, I am not a risk taker and like being assured that I'm in the right, haha

[Neil-nvaua]

I parked my car in the local supermarket car park at the very end of a row and parked with 2 wheels on the white line so as to give the car adjacent to me more space and reduce the chances of getting a ding - and got a bloody ticket for it!

I wasn't over the lines just on them, and wasn't impeding the flow of traffic or pedestrians - just trying to use the space wisely given as you say parking bays aren't big enough.

[Mr Tidy]

Or maybe modern cars are too big?

[POIDH]

Mr Tidy said:

Or maybe modern cars are too big?

Indeed.
Maybe people could choose smaller vehicles.
If we choose to make car parks bigger then what other infrastructure also needs to grow. Do we widen every road? Every motorway lane? Every parking space on roadside? Etc etc

Just buy a reasonable size car.

[Weejus]

Going from a Ford Ranger Wildtrack to now a Mini Hatchback I am with you on that one...

[Smint]

POIDH said:

Indeed.
Maybe people could choose smaller vehicles.
If we choose to make car parks bigger then what other infrastructure also needs to grow. Do we widen every road? Every motorway lane? Every parking space on roadside? Etc etc

Just buy a reasonable size car.

Unfortunately to have interior space the equivalent of a 70s LandCrab you're into the likes of a 7 series or Superb.
You can get cars as roomy inside a sensible footprint but they tend to be older and much higher designs, typically 4x4s, normal cars with any decent space inside are now ridiculously wide let alone the length.

This can't really be addressed if you have families or need space such as estate cars provide, buyers want multi star crash worthiness and any car which doesn't get the full monty in stars gets pointed out in derogatory terms in motoring sites and forums, even if most of those stars are awarded for aleged driving safety aids most here would turn off permananetly if they could.

I don't mind length in vehicles so long as there's decent steering lock, but for my own cars have always avoided the very wide designs it makes town driving a pita, my ageing Landcruiser looks big but has a footprint smaller than many cars.

[Doesitdrive]

Fred Smith said:

Magic919 said:

I d suggest not troubling yourself over it.

Supermarket car-parks yes - supermarkets aren't going to want to annoy selfishly parked customers by fining them.

Roads, private car-parks and council car-parks - well worth troubling yourself unless you're happy to pay fines. If anything the need more space on the roads, and we need more capacity in car-parks. If people have chosen to buy cars and SUVs and other kinds of trucks which are far too large for the spaces that exist then that is a them problem IMHO.

Who would be surprised to see local councils starting to fine every 4WD which is parked even an inch or two over the white line?

A month or so ago I parked on a pavement bay, it wasn't wide enough for the c class, let alone a big SUV, without hanging half a tyre of the kerb. I didn't, got a ticket at 10pm approx .

I appealed, stating that getting out on a high kerb in the dark is dangerous, especially on a wet night, the vehicle would be a danger to cyclists and other road users hanging into the road, and the pavement beside it was still wider than the car so no obstruction was caused, and the bay was inadequate.

Appeal refused, so yes, it really is something worth thinking about.
I avoid the bay now, but see cars fined on a regular basis 24 hours a day, it is outside my window.

Don't think because you park outside of the restriction times on the sign you are safe either, made that mistake lol. I parked at 9pm, was gone by 7am.

[Muddle238]

We are considering an XC90 as our next family vehicle, however the main stumbling block for me at the moment is the sheer size of the thing. When I was young, we (as a family of four) were all bundled into the back of an 850 saloon and that was fine. Why now, 35 years later, the go-to car of choice for a family of four is an XC90 (or equivalent vehicle), I just fail to get my head around. I also fail to get behind this concept of ever larger vehicles, at which point do you push back and just say no? I doubt we'll get an XC90, simply for this reason.

We have a Pug 108 as a spare car, which is great for local journeys if you don't have to take the kids with you. It's probably up there with one of the smallest newish cars you can buy, so for a trip to the supermarket as a solo occupant it's absolutely spot on. If more people had smaller cars, it would make car parks a darn sight less cramped and you'd be able to open your door comfortably without having to be overly careful due to the proximity of the vehicle next to you.

[ThunderSpook]

POIDH said:

Indeed.
Maybe people could choose smaller vehicles.
If we choose to make car parks bigger then what other infrastructure also needs to grow. Do we widen every road? Every motorway lane? Every parking space on roadside? Etc etc

Just buy a reasonable size car.

Between my partner and I we have 3 teenage children. We recently went on the hunt for a new car and ended up with an SQ7. Anything smaller had them squeezed shoulder to shoulder in the back. Even newer versions of cars I used to have had less space in the back than when I owned one. Car interiors are getting smaller and smaller, so you end up buying bigger cars if you need the space.

We even tried things like a 5 Series and an A6, but they’re just not designed to have 3 adult sized people in the back on a regular basis, the middle seat is more of a perch.

[Roger Irrelevant]

Muddle238 said:

We are considering an XC90 as our next family vehicle, however the main stumbling block for me at the moment is the sheer size of the thing. When I was young, we (as a family of four) were all bundled into the back of an 850 saloon and that was fine. Why now, 35 years later, the go-to car of choice for a family of four is an XC90 (or equivalent vehicle), I just fail to get my head around. I also fail to get behind this concept of ever larger vehicles, at which point do you push back and just say no? I doubt we'll get an XC90, simply for this reason.

We have a Pug 108 as a spare car, which is great for local journeys if you don't have to take the kids with you. It's probably up there with one of the smallest newish cars you can buy, so for a trip to the supermarket as a solo occupant it's absolutely spot on. If more people had smaller cars, it would make car parks a darn sight less cramped and you'd be able to open your door comfortably without having to be overly careful due to the proximity of the vehicle next to you.

Woah...you've actually considered the (im)practicalities of having a really big car in advance of buying the thing, and decided against it? You're doing it wrong! You're supposed to buy it anyway for whatever spurious reason ('I'm 5'11,I won't fit in anything else'; 'I've got a dog'; 'I sometimes drives more than 50 miles'), and then piss and moan that the world won't change to accommodate your daft choice ('They should make parking spaces bigger').

I'll be in a similar boat to you when it comes to getting our next family car. The good thing about our current XC70 is that it's got about as big a footprint as a car can have in the UK without it being a pain, and it makes good use of that footprint in terms of interior space - it's a big box as Volvo estates should be. I really wouldn't want anything bigger, but anything the same size from recent years doesn't seem to be a patch on it in terms of versatility/interior space. So I'll probably just keep it for a long time yet.

[Smint]

One of the many reasons for our next car, hopefully shortly, being a new shape used Prius are the sensible proportions.