One in six drivers admits 'bump parking'

ALMOST one in six drivers admits to deliberately letting their car hit an adjacent one when trying to park. Known as ‘bump parking’, it means drivers simply carry on moving until they hit the car they’re heading towards. The figure rises to a shocking 26% – more than a quarter – among those living in London, with UK-wide drivers aged 18-34 recording the same statistic. Bump parking is just one of a host of horrendous bad parking habits uncovered by new research from Churchill Car Insurance. Among the other manoeuvring malpractices are parking in disabled bays without a blue badge (5%), deliberately parking over two bays (6%), parking on double yellow lines (9%) and parking in ‘parent and child’ spaces when travelling without kids. Drivers are so hung up about parking that 17% won’t even attempt it if another driver is watching them, while 11% won’t use multi-storey car parks and 8% refuse to park when it’s dark. According to the survey, 16% of drives admit to having caused damage to their own or another person’s car when parking in the past year. With the average annual cost of parking prang damage at £328 for every car on the road in the UK, the total value of damage caused is estimated at more than £1 billion. Steve Barrett, head of Churchill Car Insurance, said, “Motorists seem to be struggling with parking their cars. "So-called ‘bump parking’ might seem easier at the time, but if it results in some damage to their car, motorists could end up counting the cost later.”