This time of year marks the countdown to Christmas gift buying season with many planning the best day and time to take the car into town to complete their shopping list.
Stress levels can rise with the search for a convenient parking space and research (5,500 motorists surveyed ), by mobility solutions specialist, easytrip, Ireland’s only electronic parking and tolling tag provider, has revealed that parking stress affects one in three drivers.
Parking habits
Being conscious of other vehicles in the car park is of benefit to all motorists. However, there are parking habits that drivers find most annoying about their fellow motorists as the research revealed, the top five being:
Taking up two parking spaces (86 percent ).
Drivers parking too close to your car (71 percent ).
Drivers parking in a designated disabled parking space (when they’re not disabled ) (70 percent ).
Drivers parking in a family car space (when they don’t have a child/children in the car ) (38 percent ).
Blocking the parking aisle while they wait for a parking space (26 percent ).
Drivers themselves have also revealed their guilty habits when it comes to parking their own vehicles, with parking too close to the next car highlighted as the number one bad habit for 39 percent of respondents. This was followed by blocking the parking aisle while waiting for a parking space (26 percent ), and parking in a family car space (when there are no child/children in the car ) (23 percent ). Taking up two parking spaces was also revealed as a guilty habit for one in six drivers and even six percent of drivers confessed to robbing a parking space from another driver.
Car parking incidents
The easytrip research also asked motorists about their parking experiences and the incidents that occurred while parking their vehicle. It revealed that 62 percent of respondents had their vehicle scratched or dented which may have been as a result of a driver parking to close to their car. This was followed by 32 percent of respondents who couldn’t find where they parked their vehicle, and one in five motorists who revealed that they have been clamped for parking in the wrong location. A small number of respondents also admitted to fighting with another driver over a parking space.
The easytrip research also highlighted that many drivers have parking aids on their vehicle with 88 per cent stating they have parking sensors on their car and 47 percent who have a reverse camera. Ten percent of respondents also stated that they had parking assist technology that identifies a parking space and parks the vehicle for the driver.
