25% admit to parking bumps

Thursday, 4 December 2014

One in four drivers admit to bumping into another vehicle while parking, according to a recent parking psychology survey conducted by Citroën UK

One in four drivers in Britain also do not consider themselves to be confident when parking their car. 

Significantly, 43% of drivers experience an increased feeling of anxiety when parking with passengers in the car, particularly a partner or spouse – 45% of women and 31% of men found the presence of their ‘significant other’ to be the main cause of increased anxiety. Notably, having their mother-in-law in the car came bottom of the list, with just three per cent finding her to be the main reason for increased nervousness when parking.

When it comes to parallel parking, a third of drivers surveyed admitted to not being able to parallel park on their first attempt. This parking manoeuvre also topped the list for 18-24 year olds as the most feared element of their driving test.

Citroën UK’s survey found that parking confidence does increase with age and experience. 44% of 18-24 year olds said they do not consider themselves confident parkers, compared to just 23% of the 55+ age group.

Regionally; Northern Irish, Scottish and Welsh drivers were revealed as the most confident parkers (77%, 76% and 75% respectively said they were confident), whilst London had the lowest proportion of confident parkers, with 32% saying they did not consider themselves to be confident.