Research from Your Cover insurance shows we spend over 8,000 hours looking for a parking space
Despite rising fuel prices, congestion charges and parking fines the thing that annoys Brits more than anything when driving is trying to find a car parking space. Almost a third of us claim that is the most frustrating aspect of being in a car ahead of waiting at traffic lights (24%) and avoiding cyclists and motor cycles (18%).
That’s not surprising when research from Your Cover, the new online car insurance product from Allianz, shows that 97% of us spend up to 15 minutes extra on each journey just looking for somewhere to park our car. This equates to Brits wasting over 8325 hours in a lifetime looking for a parking space. With 95% claiming that they add an extra mile to each journey they make. The average Brit makes 416 journeys a year, therefore spending an extra £34,097.44 on petrol in a lifetime.
Over 1 in 10 (13%) of us has admitted to parking in a disabled space in order to cut down the time and money wasted looking for a space. This might also explain why just under half (46%) of us have had a space stolen from us as the competition for spaces is so fierce especially in town centres and big cities. When polled, 51% of Brits thought that London was the worst region in the UK to find a parking space by a big margin, however if you live in Scotland you shouldn’t have a problem finding a space as less than 1% of respondents thought it was the worst.
The worst regions to park a car in the are:
1. London (52%)
2. South East (6%)
3. Midlands (5%)
4. North West (4%)
5. North East (3%)
6. South West (2%)
7. Wales (1%)
8. (under 1%)
Perhaps the stress of finding a space is causing Brits to be careless when they come to actually parking their car as over half (54%) of us have had our cars damaged when we have left it parked somewhere. In contrast only 19% admit to damaging someone’s car when they are parking their own.
Finally, it seems that the old school claims of women being worse drivers than men might actually be true. By women’s own admission, almost a quarter (22%) has admitted that they have had to ask a man to park their car for them. This is supported by a further 27% of men claiming that they are regularly asked by women to park their car for them.
To help drivers find a space quickly and easily, Your Cover from Allianz has just launched a new Smartphone application called ‘Find & Drive’. The app includes 3 key features which are; maintain, locate and insure and is free to download.
For more information on the app, please visit the Your Cover Find & Drive app page.
ENDS