Skip to main content

Call for new standard for parking space sizes

YourParkingSpace.co.uk, the UK’s car parking marketplace, is calling for the introduction of SizeMark; a new parking industry standard designed to ensure that car parking spaces are large enough to accommodate modern motor vehicles. The move is needed, it claims, after research showed that while parking spaces have remained approximately the same size over the last 60 years, some vehicle models have grown by more than 20 per cent in width. Backed up by a recent survey by the AA, the result revealed that
February 6, 2015 Read time: 2 mins
YourParkingSpace.co.uk, the UK’s car parking marketplace, is calling for the introduction of SizeMark; a new parking industry standard designed to ensure that car parking spaces are large enough to accommodate modern motor vehicles.

The move is needed, it claims, after research showed that while parking spaces have remained approximately the same size over the last 60 years, some vehicle models have grown by more than 20 per cent in width. Backed up by a recent survey by the 1459 AA, the result revealed that more than half of motorists have suffered damage to their car when parked in a car park over the past 12 months, meaning that many drivers are now shunning traditional car parks in favour of more spacious private driveways.

Growing vehicle size is a significant issue for car park owners and drivers alike. Today’s Mini Cooper is 24 per cent wider than the 1959 original; the 1683 Honda Civic is 18 per cent wider than the first model launched back in 1973; the 994 Volkswagen Golf is nearly 12 per cent wider than its original 1974 version; while the current 278 Ford Fiesta is 10 per cent wider than the original 1976 version. According to the 6982 Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders, in 2013 more than 400,000 new cars were registered in the UK from the luxury, MPV or dual purpose segments, which typically include much wider vehicles.

Harrison Woods, managing director of YourParkingSpace.co.uk, believes that the solution could be new guidelines regarding the minimum recommended size of a parking space, proposing a SizeMark standard as an ideal solution. “It’s time that the industry introduced a recommended minimum parking space size so that drivers know what to expect. Our proposal is to introduce the SizeMark standard, where all car parks that meet this minimum size are awarded an instantly recognisable SizeMark badge to help drivers minimise damage to their cars.”

For more information on companies in this article

Related Content

  • Global ADAS market will approach $10 billion this year
    April 25, 2012
    Advanced Driver Assistance Systems (ADAS) have been expensive add-on technical features for luxury vehicles for over 10 years, but during 2011, or perhaps more accurately Model Year 2012, features such as adaptive cruise control, lane departure warning, and low-speed collision mitigation will finally become available on higher-volume models such as the Ford Focus and Mercedes Benz C-Class.
  • Peer-to-peer car sharing expected to become the next big thing in the market
    October 22, 2013
    Frost & Sullivan’s recent customer research study on car sharing in select European cities reveals that the market is fast gaining ground. Residents in a number of cities in France, Germany as well as in the UK are currently multi-modal transport users. While only one out of four claim familiarity with the car sharing concept, once familiar, the interest levels in these services zip to 38 per cent.
  • Moving pictures: live-stream body-worn cameras hit Manila
    June 5, 2018
    Makati, the financial centre of the Philippines, is home to just half a million residents. However, the daytime population of Makati - one of 16 cities that make up the metropolitan Manila area – is estimated to be more than three times that. Home to the highest concentration of multi-national and local corporations in the Philippines, it is a commercial hub: 600,000 vehicles are thought to move through downtown Makati on a typical weekday. Maintaining traffic flow and responding quickly to incidents is the
  • Growth of smart parking initiatives
    April 25, 2013
    New initiatives in smart parking have been announced in the US and Europe in recent months. Is the age of smarter parking finally with us? Jon Masters investigates. Smart parking comes to Manchester, reads the headline to a story posted on the UK city’s website towards the end of March this year. Sensors will be fixed to parking spaces to give drivers and authorities information on parking availability via mobile phone apps and other software, the story goes on to explain. Lower down the page, Manchester Ci