What more proof do you need? Here is a poll that shows that drivers in the UK spend up to a year of their lives looking for parking.
Here are some results:
- 42% of people - and 51% of women - admit they will not attempt to park in a space if another car is waiting behind them;
- 23% often get a passenger to do the parking for them;
- 44% of people, and 48% of women, have "lost" their car as they could not remember where they parked, with Birmingham motorists the most forgetful;
- 50% have gone to the wrong floor or section of the car park to look for their vehicle, while 39% of those have even attempted to get into someone else's car, mistaking it for their own.
I would love to have a similar poll done here in the US. I suggest that parking is more difficult in the UK because the spaces are smaller. One might note that the average car is smaller, but even so, I think the problem is more daunting with a smaller space. This is particularly true in parking garages.
I also suggest that UK drivers may be less patient than US drivers, thus causing some consternation when a person is waiting for another to park. I really don't see too much frustration during a parking situation, unless we are on the fourth go and the driver still can't get the car in the space.
I reread the article and couldn't determine if the "looking for lost car" time was factored into the "looking for parking" time. I did note that the survey was done by NCP, a UK parking operator, and wonder if that's the reason "looking for a cheaper place to park" wasn't listed as a major reason why people spend so long parking.
JVH
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