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Released: Wednesday 20th June 2007

Car park prangs leave motorists with £90m bill

The increased size of modern cars is being partly blamed for the 66,000 motorists who will collide with another vehicle when trying to negotiate a parking space this year.

The new figures, released by leading prestige accident management firm, Accident Exchange, highlight the number of motorists who now struggle to judge the dimensions of their cars from behind the wheel.

With repair bills averaging £1,350, it means innocent motorists are suffering more than £90m worth of damage in Britain's car parks every year.

According to Accident Exchange, the increasing width and length of modern vehicles, coupled with the infrastructure of ageing car parks, is to blame for the tens of thousands of motorists who'll be on the wrong end of someone else's misjudged parking or manoeuvring.

For example, the new Mercedes-Benz R Class is nearly 2.2m wide and 5.2m long when the average dimension for a car parking space is 2.4m by 4.8m.

And our cars are getting bigger.

Britain's best selling car today, the Ford Focus, measures just over 1.8m wide and 4.3m long. In comparison, its predecessor, the Escort was 16 cm shorter and 23cm slimmer.

Model '97 Length '07 Length '97 Length '07 Length Increase Length (L) Width (W)
VW Polo 3715mm 12ft 2.3in 3897mm 12ft 9.4in 1420mm 4ft 7.9in 1465mm 4ft 9.7in + 182mm (L) 7.2in + 45mm (W) 1.8in
Ford Escort/Focus 4114mm 13ft 6in 4342mm 14ft 9.2in 1676mm 5ft 6in 1840mm 6ft 0.4in + 228mm (L) 9in + 164mm (W) 6.5in
Vauxhall Vectra 4495mm 14ft 9in 4611mm 15ft 1.5in 1707mm 5ft 7.2 in 1798mm 5ft 10.8in + 116mm (L) 4.6in + 91mm (W) 3.6in
Lexus LS 4978mm 16ft 4in 5030mm 16ft 6in 1803mm 5ft 11in 1875mm 6ft 1.8in + 52mm (L) 2in + 72mm(W) 2.8in
Land Rover Discovery 4484mm 14ft 8.5 in 4835mm 15ft 10.4in 2228mm 7ft 3.7in 1956mm 6ft 5in + 351mm(L) 1ft 1.8in - 272mm(W) 10.7in

Crash analysis experts at Accident Exchange also point to the increasing width of structural A-pillars, which reduce visibility, and improvements in front end design for pedestrian safety.

"The front end of the vehicle is considerably rounder than 10-15 years ago, and the bonnet drops away more sharply to reduce injury in the event of an accident. Unfortunately, it seems that some drivers still struggle to judge where their cars start and stop," explains Steve Evans of Accident Exchange.

He added: "Although car park crashes are low speed affairs, the nature of the incidents can leave vehicles suffering considerable damage - especially if it involves scraping down the side of another vehicle."

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For further information please contact Andy Francis at Performance PR on 0208 541 3434 or 0787 981 3639 email: andy@performancepr.com


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