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?

So the car spaces have to bigger so there will be less around or take up more room because people can't be bothered to have a small car?

I think it is difficult saying "can't be bothered" to have a small car. In some cases, perhaps that's true but there are people who, for reasons like child seats or the comfort of elderly or less mobile passengers, look around for suitable cars and only find SUVs that can work. That's the car manufacturer limiting choices as much as it is about the market driving them. Not all of these SUVe are the absolutely giant ones, of course.

They’re not safer overall given the amount of pollution they produce, most of which is inside the car.
OP I would have bashed their car right back!

You don’t need a 4x4 all year round for winter conditions; you need winter tyres as is standard and mandatory for a lot of the rest of Europe. It must be cheaper to have a set of those than to run a 4x4 all year.

I have a BMW X7 and it's far too wide for most spaces so have taken to using the P&C spaces at supermarkets, much more room and unlikely get a ding in the door from inconsiderate drivers. I try to keep away at busy times as often there isn't a free space. I might change the car as it is a bit big and generally it's just me in it, nice car though

We need to be more solution based. One of our local supermarkets has painted hatched areas about a foot wide between spaces. So much less stressful for everyone. Cars aren’t going to shrink and so there’s little point in bemoaning the fact they won’t fit properly into the civic centre car park spaces that were last relined circa 1995. Work with what we have become, not with what we were.

Secondly, those with super sized cars should learn how to drive them! It’s astonishing how appallingly so many (not all) 4x4 drivers maneuver. Don’t have such a big car unless you can actually handle it!

I never feel guilty being parked closely to an SUV if I am reasonably within my lines, if their car is huge and they've parked far over that's on them (though I wouldn't get so close they couldn't use the door, I appreciate it only takes one person to park badly for the whole row to then need to follow suit). I really, really hate these massive cars with a passion though. We just don't have the infrastructure for them, it's very different when you go to the US.

The biggest issue with weight will be batteries in electric cars.

Peugeot 208 fairly average car.
Petrol version 1090kg, just over a tonne
Electric version 1910kg just under 2 tonnes

Cars have got bigger. They also need space for the batteries which I'm sure is part of the reason Ford have ditched the Mondeo, Focus and Fiesta, in favour of the Edge, Kugu and Puma.

Multistorey car parks aren't designed to take that extra weight. So one way of dealing with it is reduce the capacity of the carparks and make the spaces wider.

In some areas they will end knocking the carparks down and starting again.

I found myself in a very full station carpark the other day, and was circling for ages trying to find a space - it was infuriating because there were quite a few spaces where a super-large car was taking up so much space that no car however tiny could fit in next to it. I've got a Fiesta and finally managed to squeeze in next to a massive Merc thingy. I have no idea how the driver managed to get back into it, but it had gone before i got back to it...

I take it your on the wind-up!

🍿

Yes, we had a similar problem.

And when we had a third child, it was hard finding a car to fit them that wasn't an SUV. I know SUVs are necessary in very rural areas, but we're in semi-rural home counties, and i can definitely manage without!

Our car isn't made any more, and I hate the idea that when it gives up the ghost we might have to get an SUV to fit us all in.

@Getmoveon14 I know that my husband's vehicle just fits and no more into the width at tesco car park. the length though is another matter. add on a tow bar and it is way over the line!!

Tank-like cars are a fashion trend pushed and marketed to people to basically make more money out of them. There’s absolutely no need for cars to be this big. Making parking spaces bigger would result in fewer spaces and even more problems parking. Our medieval towns and roads simply cannot cope with the volume of traffic nowadays and these massive cars have simply added to it. If someone starts a trend of smaller cars again we’ll all be better off.

Bored this morning?

Cars have got bigger. They also need space for the batteries which I'm sure is part of the reason Ford have ditched the Mondeo, Focus and Fiesta, in favour of the Edge, Kugu and Puma

Ford have done this purely for profit. Henry Ford famously commented on the lack of profit from small cars.

Make them bigger, sell as essential and desirable thereby increasing profit.

Regarding car seats; ok yes fair enough. However u yu oi still don’t need the massive high up tank size cars.

And now there’s a wide car that will reverse out remotely so if you have money and can afford it you can park like a dickhead.

Have you seen the amount of space batteries take up in the boot?
We looked at the Ford mustang. The boot was tiny lots of space taken up with batteries.

Ford got rid of the top selling car over ten years- the fiesta.

So it’s not market driven. Profit margin driven. Claiming people want suvs is bollocks. I want a choice.

That’s design. There are other options.

Most batteries are built into the base aren’t they?

Building them into the base makes the cars higher.

IMO those bloody enormous tank-like cars - there are a lot around here - should have to pay at least double the usual road tax, for the extra wear and tear their weight must cause, not to mention taking up too much room in car parks.

I took my daughter to a violin lesson at a local grammar school and a man did that to me. I got out gave him a telling off and he looked me up and down, then looked at my car in disgust and said it's fine. It doesn't matter he said. I laughed and said yes because you deam it to be lesser than your car, therefore in your eyes in doesn't matter. How I didn't punch his car I don't know. I was so angry. Now I'm very cautious and park away from other cars. It also happened in Lidl and the man laughed, pointed at his car full of kids then looked really sad before driving off. Luckily caused no damage. Both occasions involved massive cars the owners could not drive/park. It's a thing where I am (a crap part of Yorkshire) to park on the line between two spaces, in places like IKEA and shopping centre town car parks. Nothing says I'm a dick head like needing two parking spaces in a busy car park.

BMW X5 owner here, but not one who dings people’s doors. A few thoughts:

I’ve very rarely found car parking spaces so small that the car is difficult to park and exit. Yes, there are occasional town centre older multi storey ones that can be challenging, but I don’t think I’ve ever had to drive away because the car wont fit the spaces.

Yes, cars have got bigger, sometimes by quite a lot. Even small cars have increased in size since the 80s and earlier. Mostly this is down to safety features rather than some form of weird competitive expansion.

The biggest issue I find is that when I park (nicely in the centre of the space) some bozo will come along and park off centre in their space, putting their passenger side right up to my driver’s side door. These people are morons and whilst I don’t want to damage my own car they have only themselves to blame if they get dinged…

Yes but they don’t need to be wider as well.

There smaller EVs with decent range. It doesn’t have to be the size of a tank.