London Collisions with parked cars account for one in five of all road
accidents, according to a report.
Overcrowded roads, motorists not concentrating and the trend towards bigger
vehicles have contributed to such incidents. Analysis of 100,000 accidents
over two years found blameless drivers to be footing a huge repair bill.
Some people returned to their parked car to find it damaged; others were in
the stationary vehicle when a car hit them.
Accident Exchange found that 700,000 motorists shunt, scrape or hit parked
cars each year. Most of the accidents take place in the street. Steve Evans,
of the company, said: “The fear is that soon we will have parked car
incident hotspots where nearby residents could even be priced out of
insuring their vehicles.”
London drivers are most likely to be victims of a parked car crash, nearly one
in ten being recorded in the capital. Glasgow, which has less than 200,000
registered cars in the city, was next on the list, followed by Birmingham.
I wonder if Accident Exchange have any figures on the gender split of those who crash into parked cars? ... Could make interesting reading.
Tom, Edinburgh,
Sebastian. How can I grow up to be as wise as you?
"I don't care my firm pays for my petrol and car running costs". Such wisdom. I am humbled to be in your presence.
Your words speak for the common man and we are grateful for them!
Jamie, Halifax, West Yorkshire
I am constantly amazed at the number of people who have driveways and off-road parking, but still park their cars in the street. Is it that they need to prevent others using "their" territory outside their houses, or are they just too lazy to back it into the drive?
Philip, Wellingborough, UK
"are in silver , pewter, metalic blue etc.coloured cars? My friend who travels more countryward says black cars."
I'm sorry, but isn't that blingly obvious! The most popular colour cars are black silver and blue! Maybe if they were yellow people might notice them more...
Phil, Surrey, GB
Part of the problem is those authorities who are afraid to impose reasonable yellow line restrictions outside houses of those who do not have off road facilities. At the same time they paint miles of yellow lines round travel hubs like stations and in situations where parking does not cause gridlock
William, London, UK
One in eight of the population of the UK lives in Greater London, yet apparently Londoners are 'most likely' to be the victims, with one in ten being recorded in the capital. Surely this means Londoners are less likely to be victims?
Paul Williams, Ipswich, UK
Agree with Phil de Buquet! Have you noticed that most of the bad drivers - in the city at least - are in silver , pewter, metalic blue etc.coloured cars? My friend who travels more countryward says black cars. Bad driving is terrible driving & rudeness.
I got the joke by the way!
Carlyle and Len Braden, Croydon, U.K
Never mind London.
You should see how they park their cars in any village/city in Italy. Cars are positioned any which way.
I bet the incident of scrapes and bumps is far higher there.
We are not alone.
MNKB, uk, uk
Sebastian at £2.50 per litre your firm won't be able to pay your petrol costs let alone your wages if that trend of inflation carrys through to all their energy costs. Indeed thats when people start losing their jobs.
Not very smart...
Nadeem, Reading, UK
A good British response from Harrow, I'm all right Jack, sod you. If cars were not parked in the wrong places, such as corners and on yellow lines, and if there were more ways of travelling in Britain, not including The Smoke of course, the roads might empty a little. People in the sticks need cars
Phil de Buquet, Newport,
The answer is to get millions of drivers/cars of the road to create more space. I look forwrad to petrol being £2.50 a litre. I don't care my firm pays for my petrol and car running costs.
Sebastian, Harrow, UK
The main cause is the peculiarly Britsh habit of using roads as car parks.
Roger Tilbury, Worthing,
Given the quantity of false insurance claims reported last week, we could be seeing parked cars damaging each other soon.
Charles Bockett-Pugh, Sandhurst,
I'm not surprised. When I learned to drive, the priority was to the car on the clear side of the road, not the one having to cross the white line to pass a parked car. Nowadays the priority is simply to the car which can get there first.
JPL
JPL, Guildford,