Drivers' £90m parking prang bill

03rd July 2007

While vehicles are up to 10 per cent wider than they were a decade ago, the average width of an off-street bay has remained the same.

A new Ford Focus - the biggest-selling model in the UK - is 184cm wide, while the average off-street bay is 240cm. That leaves only 28cm spare each side. But a 1997 Escort measures 168cm across, and is far easier to squeeze into a gap.

We exposed the increase in 'car obesity' back in Issue 885, and also revealed how drivers were facing fines for leaving their motors spilling out of on-street bays, which can be as narrow as 180cm. But now, crash analysis expert Acci­dent Exchange predicts that the problem will cause 66,000 motorists to be involved in a car park prang this year, costing an average £1,350 to fix.

A spokesman for the company told Auto Express: "Even though collisions like this occur at low speeds or when vehicles are stationary, their nature can cause considerable dam­age - especially if it involves scraping down the side of another motor or a big ding in a door."

There are many reasons for the increase in car size. For starters, buy­ers now demand more space, while the inclusion of safety systems, such as side airbags, is another factor.