Calls for Sizemark in car parks to reduce damage

Thursday, February 5, 2015 - 15:00
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51% have suffered some damage to their car in a car park

More than half of cars damaged in car parks over the past year

YourParkingSpace.co.uk, the UK’s fastest growing car parking marketplace, is calling for the introduction of SizeMark – a new parking industry standard designed to ensure that car parking spaces are large enough to accommodate modern motor vehicles.

The company claims that the move is needed after it was revealed that while parking spaces have remained approximately the same size over the last 60 years, some vehicle models have grown by more than 20% in width. Backed up by a recent survey by the AA, the result revealed that more than half of motorists have suffered damage to their car when parked in a car park over the past 12 months, meaning that many drivers are now shunning traditional car parks in favour of more spacious private driveways.

“When it comes to parking spaces, it’s certainly a case of bigger is better,” says Harrison Woods, former BBC Dragons Den contestant and managing director of YourParkingSpace.co.uk. “We see it every day – after location, the number one concern of motorists is the size of the parking space. The number of drivers who are now actively requesting driveways over car parks, purely because of their size, is remarkable.”

Growing vehicle size is a significant issue for car park owners and drivers alike – for example today’s Mini Cooper is 24% wider than the 1959 original and the Honda Civic is 18% wider than the first model launched back in 1973. Furthermore, according to the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders, in 2013 more than 400,000 new cars were registered in the UK from the luxury, MPV or dual purpose segments, which typically include much wider vehicles.

Mr Woods believes that the solution could be new guidelines regarding the minimum recommended size of a parking space, proposing a SizeMark standard as an ideal solution. “It’s time that the industry introduced a recommended minimum parking space size so that drivers know what to expect. Our proposal is to introduce the SizeMark standard to help drivers minimise damage to their cherished cars.”

Have you experienced any pings or scratches due to the size of your car or the one in the bay next to you? Do you think this is a good idea? Let us know in the comments below.

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