To park next to tank-like cars

[Getmoveon14]

When collecting my son I like to park in a certain area so he knows where to find me. Today when I arrived there was only one space in this part of the car park so I parked there. Trouble is, it was very close to a monster BMW car. When the driver got out she bashed her door against my car. Luckily it didn't cause any damage and I decided to move before things got worse, but it made me think is it really reasonable for certain cars to need two spaces in a car park?

The thing is a lot of cars are now quite wide and they don’t have to be particularly “big” cars. My daughter’s Yaris for example is only very slightly less wide than my Tiguan and her previous car - a mini was actually wider. I don’t think it gives anyone the right to take up 2 spaces but does mean you have to be very careful when opening doors.

I don't think anyone should be taking up two spaces, I'd agree with the previous comments people should be careful.

However I do think when designing or re-lining carparks they should make the spaces wider.
When you see classic cars from the 70s and 80s on the roads you realise just how much wider modern cars are.

I hope you gave her a piece of your mind. It doesn't matter if someone has a big car they don't NEED to hit their door onto yours. I've always had big cars and even when pregnant would squeeze in and out of my car when needed with my hand on the door to stop it bashing the other car. Some people are just dicks- nothing to do with the size of their car.

Cars have gotten bigger but parking spaces remain the same.

Id park further away and walk to the school as I cannot stand door dings. I park far away from anyone. Plus I'd get my steps up walking more. Win win if that's an option for you.

These tank like cars are especially problematic in older more cramped multi storey car parks.

There are car parks that we've not bothered with for years because the spaces were obviously marked out in the 80s when cars didn't have all the extra padding for crumple zones and so on.

Expecting a BMW driver to be reasonable is naive at best.

Large cars should require a separate licence and a driving test passed in one. Numbers would reduce greatly were that the case.

The idiotic thing is shes damaging her own car at the sane time... just in a less noticeable place.

If your car is too big, its your responsibility to find a wider space to park in. Not expect no one else to park next to you! (Especially van drivers. Had a van park on my drivers side a few days ago, and it was a very tight squeeze)

Don't be ridiculous.
Some people hold car licences that let them drive 12 seat minibuses and 7.5ton lorries.
It was reduced around 2000

I don't think it's feasible to start separating classes or sizes of cars.

People buy a bigger class of car than they used to - people who would once have bought a Ford Fiesta now buy a Focus, people who would once have bought a Nissan Sunny buy a Qashqai, and so on

And even if they don't buy a bigger class of car, the cars themselves have grown - for example the current VW Polo is bigger in all 3 dimensions than early models of its big brother, the VW Golf.

And at the same time, parking spaces haven't grown. Either people need to be encouraged (via tax or similar) to go back to using smaller cars, or rules/guidance around parking space size need updating to reflect bigger cars.

(but, as others have said, someone having a big car in a small space doesn't justify banging their door into yours!)

I think it would be easier to lobby for more generous parking spaces than trade on the entire car industry, TBH.

I tend to avoid parking next to any other car if there is enough space to do so. Some people in small cars fling their doors open, you never know. My favourite space is one away from a pillar as not many people like parking in the one by the pillar. As PP have said though, some car parks have really narrow spaces so I just avoid them altogether.

Extra crumple zone padding is one thing but cars built like tanks are just antisocial full stop. Apparently the average width of cars is growing one cm every two years.
https://www.theguardian.com/business/2024/jan/22/cars-growing-wider-europe-report

Could there not be a limit on width for cars?
I know it's unlikely. But it's becoming really tricky driving down some streets of both sides are parked up.
Cyclists must get really nervous.
And parking is an issue as you point out.

Lol. I like the idea of an extra licence!

Good idea to park somewhere else - less stress all round!

Park anywhere you like if it's a legitimate space and you're within the lines. If people buy huge cars, that's on them.

If you were parked correctly you should have said something to her!

We shouldn’t make spaces wider, they need to stop making cars bigger and bigger! It’s ridiculous and they’ll have issues with narrow lanes and bollards too, not just parking spaces. Plus these monster cars are more dangerous to pedestrians especially children.

No. Autobesity causes so many issues. Cars take up more space than they should, crowd the roads and make them more dangerous for other road users, are heavier and cause more fatalities and more severe injuries, cause increased wear on roads, and are all over are anti social.

People need to buy smaller cars. We need to get back to more 70s and 80s size cars.

I agree. Most people don’t need an oversized monster car. Vehicle tax should be adjusted for vehicle size to charge more for the huge ones to try to encourage people to buy smaller as vehicle tax would be cheaper.

You say most people, but the problem is that in rural villages etc, you encounter many wide vehicles. Land rivers etc. These cars are so much safer than the old school thinking if, "grand, sure we will squeeze in. It will be gand.

The enormous BMW ones are just ridiculous and twattish, usually carrying a single person as well

Whilst the general trend for cars Is they have got bigger there are definitely some cars that are just fucking massive. I hate them as they can't park, they are too big for the roads but more importantly they are so fucking big I can't see past them when pulling out of a space. These cars are unreasonable in my opinion

These cars are so much safer than the old school thinking if, "grand, sure we will squeeze in. It will be gand.

That's great that their safer to be inside of. They're a death trap for cyclists, pedestrians, children and just about anyone outside them. But as long as the petals inside are safe.