Cars that park too close to mine

ajp - I don't know how you have the nerve to vandalise someone else's car like that........I wish I did...Nice one.

Some people who buy their new cars take up two whole spaces in the car park thinking that nobody will get near them, to all those that belive this, think again, you are only making your car a target for other drivers who take a dim view of this practice. You are most lightly to find your car with a scratch or dent when you return. There are loads of angry people about these days. P.S. Supermarket cctv cameras are not good enough to pick up every thing.

If I cannot get into my car (which is the tiniest car on the planet - a Smart) because some idiot has parked too close - they end up with the need for a respray - keyed! Learn to park or pay the price.

Parking spaces in UK parking lots and multi-storey car parks are far too tiny. In the USA they are much bigger, and usually free when you visit the shopping malls. UK car parks are run by greedy money grubbers, maximising profits but minimising customer service and experience.

Don't park next to bangers that are beat up and rusty. The owner doesn't care about the state of his car so wont give a toss about hitting yours on pulling out, or opening doors. Try and park next to newer well kepts ones. The owners will be more careful to avoid damaging their car so will be more weary to not chip their paintwork opening their doors or dent their bodywork when pulling away. But usually avoiding the more crowded areas of carparks (esp supermarkets) is a safer bet and less likely to cause damage.

I hate parent and child parking bays - it seems to tell some people with children that they have some supreme right to extra space so that if they can't find one of these spaces they use the disabled bays (which supermarkets have a legal obligation to provide, not so parent/child parking).

I needed to park the other week and the only space left in a small car park was partly taken up by a car which was parked 2ft into the empty bay, leaving half a bay on the other side of it, so I parked anyway - I folded in my nearside mirror and parked about 6" from the drivers side of this badly parked car. When I came back, the driver of the other car was livid, she hadn't been able to get in her door, but as I pointed out, I was parked wholly within my bay. On a similar subject, why is it that even though disabled bays are much larger and have hatched areas in between, some of the drivers that use them cannot even manage to park properly in them? I have seen cars in these bays that were parked at a ridiculous angle and others that were parked into the hatched area that's there to allow doors to open wide. The same goes to a certain extent in Parents and children bays.

The reason I think parking spaces are getting smaller is so that the people who own the car park can squeeze in more parking spaces, They wouldnt park there themselves because they know their pride and joy would get damaged. Its the grab the cash mentality thats the root cause of the problem, public transport is a joke they know people arent going for that option so they charge as much as they can get away with. I live in manchester, last year the council put Pay & Display machines in the car park of the Local Park, late 1 night someone broke in and torched them, if the machines arent working you cant pay simple. a week after this happened parking wardens were introduced £1.00 per day not a great deal people could see someone who was collecting money and keeping an eye on their car, then last week they put the charge up to £1.50, now everyone parks in the surrounding streets and walks in, net result the council pays someone to stand around all day and collect about £50 but it costs about £80 to do it. The car park holds about 200 cars but only has about 50 customers per day.

Has anyone noticed that car parking spaces, especially in Tesco car parks, are getting smaller?
Has anyone else noticed that when you have a 3 door car (as in a Nissan Micra) there is always some idiot who parks so close to you that you can`t get the driver`s door open and have to crawl in through the passenger door, which is not easy when you have a bad back and have to cock your leg over the hand brake and slide into the drivers seat, not very lady-like when you have a skirt on!

We've all seen it, the solitary posh car parked up at the far side of the car park all by itself. The owner has to walk for ages just to get to the store. Well that's where I come in with my beat up old banger. I only think it right to keep that poor little lonely new shiny car company, OH, THE REACTION IS MAGIC!!!!!!

I've parked across the back of people taking up 2 spaces before. Got a warning from the car park attendant and a mouthful of abuse from the fat chavvy family mother. I kindly waved and smiled.

And then there's the prat who intentionally takes up two full parking spaces for their pretty new Mini / BMW / Subaru / Shogun / Range Rover ...........

I am often tempted to use my key for more than opening my car door !

Selfishness is the new black.

Get used to it or die.

When I first passed my driving test I really struggled to park and one day parked a bit too close to the car next to me in the car park. I was afraid that in trying to straighten it up I would scrape the car and I knew the driver would have to climb in the passenger side to move the car and I am afraid I hid in a local cafe until the car was moved. I was more cowardly than inconsiderate, but I do understand that it is especially difficult for pregnant ladies and I can only hope that when I did this that the driver was fit and healthy and not pregnant............ Even so, I am sure they were cursing me at the time.

Satisfied - your post brightened up my morning!

Unfortunately it seems that large cars with rather big wing mirrors don't have totally foldable wing mirrors. Whilst they fold, they don't fold in flat and still protrude from the side of the vehicle.

I've seen a few like this and can't see the point in their foldability.

Santiago,

the angle and way in which the X5 was parked gave acceptable reasoning that the mirror was what caused the scrape down the side of my golf roof/doors. That and the greenpaint on the outer edge. of the mirror.

Yes, the mirror was collapsable and wa already collapsed when I arrived at my vehicle....showing that the driver had got out and collapsed it OR it automaticalyl did this with the central locking activated. The mirror is what obstructed my door opening in the first place.

As for me parking too near the plastic wall.. when driving in the car alone, I don't feel the need to observe passenger fitting room. I parked that close to the barrier BECAUSE I didn't want some inconsiderate pillok parking too close. My car had a clear 2 foot of concrete between the driverside door and the white line.

The X5 sat just over 1 foot into my space and left 2 foot ish on the driver side.... so, their fault, not mine.

As for the wingmirror? I hit it 3 times with my palm and it dangled off, I merely ripped it off and rested my door on theirs as I got in.

I'm sure you'd be nice and perky knowing that your free time before a work shift is being wasted 3hrs of it.....waiting because some inconsiderate turd decided to ignore other cars and the space needed to get into them. How would you have handled the situation?

Greeted the driver with a hug, kiss and slipped £20 into their pockets? Or told them politely what you thought of them?

Unfortunately, I'm a d**khead when I get angry. Not enough to hurt someone physicly, but I will damage property if it is in my way without good reason OR if the offender has just been a complete waste of space.

I think 3hrs of your free time wasted and damage to your paint work is enough to justify some sort of retaliation, unless you're mr/s perfect.

Santiago - at time of writing I was heavily pregnant, and therefore couldn't feasibly climb over the passenger seat to the drivers seat in order to drive! I always tried to park in a space which had an empty one on the right, yet inevitably found this later occupied by an ignorant individual who thinks it's funny to park close to the driver's side of a car knowing full well what problems it'd cause the other car owner.

What confuses me about this tale is why couldn't you get in the other side of your car or had you parked very close to the barrier?

If so then aren't you guilty of the same 'offence' in that you didn't leave sufficient space?

And, I have not heard of any vehicle that does not feature collapsible door mirrors, this is a safety feature which allows the mirror to collapse against the frame in the event of a collision - you did not need to "pound the mirror off the car" at all but simply push it gently back until it folded flat.

Most commercial parking spaces are 2.4 metres wide, ample space to get into the average car from either side.

A few years ago, I nipped into asda, came out...the other side of my car was against a plastic, see through barrier. A 4x4 parked over my line and gave me about 4inches of space to open the door.....their car was a BMW X5 with the mirror almost settled on my windscreen/door pillar. I waited for 2 hours in a 2hr max free say car park, no one turned up.

I spoke to the parking warden who informed me he could only ticket the car for being overdue to leave and nothing about getting into my car. I gave them another 30 minutes...by this time I was on the verge of destroying the other drivers face. Till, eventually, I wrote a note in big bald letters and stuck it to their screen and took a picture of the parking. I informed,

"waited 3hrs, you didn't show, 2hr prking limit here!!
your car is sat 1 foot into my parking space
removed your wingmirror so I could get in my car to go home
learn to park please"

The relief, pleasure and grin on my face while I pounded the mirror off their car was unlike anything ever experienced.

3 weeks later I saw said BMW X5, being driven by a 4ft 5 70 year old indian lady, still managed to use 2 spaces to park.

Another good reason for not buying a new car. I always have used ones with a few scratches already and don't worry about a few more!