Brits Don't Know Their Parking P's & Q's
New data reveals three quarters (75%) agree that traditional festive spirit is replaced with a fighting spirit as drivers become more aggressive and competitive when finding a car parking space over Christmas.
In fact such is the competition for spaces around the country that more than half of us (52%) agree that Brits will stop at nothing to get the perfect space and almost a third (29%) can testify to having had somebody steal their space as they were preparing to park in it. Furthermore, a worryingly high 33% of British parkers admit they would never leave a note on someone’s car if they bumped or scratched it.
It’s grim up North… but well-mannered in Wales
It’s parkers in the north-east who should be most wary though: 91% of people in York - more than any other city in the country - agreed that people are more aggressive and ruthless at Christmas. Conversely, only 56% of people in Aberystwyth believed the statement to be true, making the west coast town in Wales the most polite place to park in the UK.
Polite Parking
But it seems decorum has not been completely forgotten in our car parks – two thirds (65%) will always say thanks with a wave of the hand when someone lets them out or park ahead of them. Furthermore, nearly half (46%) of parkers would always offer to lend a hand to someone who has lost their car.
NCP’s Top Ten Parking Peccadilloes
Almost half of us 44% of us admit to being particular about where we will and won’t park our cars, and the study shows how:
1. Half of us always park nose first (47%)
2. But just over a third (35%) would rather reverse into a space
3. Half refuse to park next to a pillar (48%)
4. A third (33%) always try to park in a space that has two free spaces either side of it
5. Close to a fifth (18%) get ‘stage fright’ and can’t park their car if there is a queue forming behind them for fear of messing it up
6. One in six (16%) admit to driving the wrong way up a one way system to get into a space
7. Half (49%) regularly ‘double lock’ our cars (press the ‘lock’ button on the key fob two, three or four more times after they originally locked the car, just to double check)
8. Three out of ten (28%) are creatures of habit and try and park in the same parking space every time
9. Three fifths (62%) of drivers will try and park in the same space every time
10. One in six (16%) have put something on the roof, forgotten to take it off and driven away.
Jo Bryant, Etiquette Advisor for Debrett’s, the modern authority on manners and behaviour, says: “Good parking manners can make a crowded car park infinitely more civilised and it’s important to offer patience and consideration to your fellow motorist, especially during the busy Christmas shopping period.”
Debrett’s top tips on how to park the ‘correct way’, as dictated by etiquette:
- Never turn into a back-seat driver: you may be ashen-faced and white-knuckled with fear, but dramatic gestures or raised voices won’t help anybody
- Never be aggressive towards other parkers, and never steal somebody else’s space
- Give other cars enough time to get in or out of a space
- A friendly wave or flash of the headlights is a gesture that will cost you mere seconds and endear you to other drivers
- If you bump or scratch somebody else’s car, always leave a note offering to pay for the damage
- Good manners dictate you should always give way to pedestrians.
Commenting on the findings Andrew Potter, Chief Executive Officer at NCP said: "As a nation we are stereotypically fixated by etiquette yet it’s revealing that so many of us forget basic manners when in a car park. Christmas can be a frantic time but a well timed ‘thank you’ can go a long way in making their parking experience more pleasant. We always encourage drivers to think of the first rule of car park etiquette: what goes around comes around and if you’re polite to a fellow parker, there’s more chance the favour will be returned in the future."
