SUVs lead to increase in car park accidents | Motoring Issues - Car News Nov 2016

MOTORING ISSUES
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18:01 Monday 21 Nov 2016

The increasing popularity of big family SUVs has led to a rise in car park accidents, according to new research.

Accident management specialists Accident Exchange estimate almost £1.4billion worth of car park prangs occur in the UK each year as the nations ageing parking spaces struggle to cope with the increased proportions of modern motors.

An average UK parking space measures 4.8 metres by 2.4 metres, but popular models like the Audi Q7 and Mercedes-Benz GL-Class are over five metre long and almost two metres wide.  With many multi-storey car parks throwing up additional challenges such as pillars and tight ramps, there has been a 35% jump in the number of car park accidents since 2014.  With more than 675,000 car park collisions each day in the UK – an average of 1,859 daily – incidents of this type account for almost a third of all accidents with an average repair bill of £2,050.

The popularity of large SUVs shows no sign of slowing down, but it is not just the sales success of larger vehicles which Accident Exchange blames for the problem.  Even the most popular small cars have seen their dimensions increase dramatically in recent years, for example the Vauxhall Corsa is now 16% larger than it was a decade and a half ago.

It’s not just the popularity of SUVs which is impacting the average size of vehicles, smaller vehicles like the Vauxhall Corsa are significantly larger than their counterparts just 15 years ago.

Scott Hamilton-Cooper, Director of Operations at Accident Exchange, said; “Drivers are having to squeeze increasingly large cars into spaces that generally haven’t got any larger for a very long time. Almost all of the councils we researched carried over the government’s recommendation, which makes things tight for large cars. This could be contributing to the rise in car parking incidents we are seeing. Manufacturers follow the market, and so cars are outgrowing parking spaces. Not only are popular SUVs usurping smaller hatchbacks when it comes to new cars sales, older smaller cars are being taken off the street. The undoubted success of the SUV segment will have played its part – perhaps the roads aren’t quite ready for them because some drivers feel certain car parks are no-go areas due the sheer length and width of their cars.”

 


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