are parking bays geting smaller

bigoggy2007

i drive a vauxhall carlton, and every carpark in mansfield is to short by about 6 inch. if i take my xj40 out the the bays are about 18 inch to short.

ok the jag is a big car, but surley i should be able to get the vauxhall in a normal bay.

do you think parking bays are getting smaller?

simon_templar_2

Not sure if the bays getting smaller but a car park space should be enough for a car. These days you get all the MPV's in them which are just too big for car parks. Very annoying when the park either side of you as you cant see a thing when trying to get out and the sheer size of the MPV can make it impossible to get out sometimes. Car parks for cars only i say, not the stupid 4x4's.

melorablack

No I just think cars are getting wider.

flyingscotno1

melorablack wrote: »

No I just think cars are getting wider.

Yes, cars are getting fatter and bigger all the time for safety and car-parks aren't designed for it- they are designed to get the most cars in as possible. Indeed some cars are just getting fatter to 'give more or class leading space' to occupants which has seen a lot of small cars jump in size. The latest Corsa showcases this- and I think the Mark 1 Golf is now smaller than the Polo- or that is the example commonly used! Less said about the state of the nations health however

2.4m by 4.8m is the standard size for parking bays- I tend to use 2.5m by 5m to be round if there is space. It should be enough- 2.75m is minimum running lane width on a road in the U.K and average car width seems to be in the 1.8m range so cars should have no problem parking in to 2.4m. Can be smaller though- On street is a lot narrower- tends to be 2m wide at some points!

goldspanners

simon_templar wrote: »

Not sure if the bays getting smaller but a car park space should be enough for a car. These days you get all the MPV's in them which are just too big for car parks. Very annoying when the park either side of you as you cant see a thing when trying to get out and the sheer size of the MPV can make it impossible to get out sometimes. Car parks for cars only i say, not the stupid 4x4's.

if only everyones lifestyle could fit inside a daewoo matiz ehh.:rolleyes:

LandyAndy

simon_templar wrote: »

Not sure if the bays getting smaller but a car park space should be enough for a car. These days you get all the MPV's in them which are just too big for car parks. Very annoying when the park either side of you as you cant see a thing when trying to get out and the sheer size of the MPV can make it impossible to get out sometimes. Car parks for cars only i say, not the stupid 4x4's.

My Landy is exactly 12 feet long and 5 feet wide.;)

For you metric types that translates as short x narrow.:D

goldspanners

LandyAndy wrote: »

My Landy is exactly 12 feet long and 5 feet wide.;)

For you metric types that translates as short x narrow.:D

and those suzuki jimnys take up so much space aswell.

lincroft1710

Current Mondeo is almost 60cm longer than its lineal Cortina ancestors. Most of the "larger" superminis are only slightly shorter than medium size family cars of about 20/25 years ago. Cars just get bigger!

Ian_W

Car parks for cars only i say, not the stupid 4x4's.

My 4x4 fits car parking spaces perfectly -
when I nudge the the car in front and at the side a bit!

Which reminds me, last week at Tesco in Padstow I'd parked perfectly in one space when a local parked opposite straddling the line for 2 spaces and leaving the @rse end hanging out about 3 foot (approx 0.85m if you must!) into driveway - that was in a Fiesta!

Rallydriver

We had a Carlton years ago (great cars btw) and it was a big executive car which was too big for most carpark spaces then.

Cars are wider now, generally a new Ford Focus is as wide as the executive carlton was then, but the recommended size for a parking bay hasn't changed in that time.

Rallydriver

Ian_W wrote: »

Which reminds me, last week at Tesco in Padstow I'd parked perfectly in one space when a local parked opposite straddling the line for 2 spaces and leaving the @rse end hanging out about 3 foot (approx 0.85m if you must!) into driveway - that was in a Fiesta!

Don't park in the motorcycle spaces then. :-p