According to Churchill drivers are not bothering to take any notice of those parent and child drawings in car park spaces – is it legally enforceable by retailers, who have invited people onto their land in any case? Here’s the word;
Parents face a tight squeeze parking and getting children in and out of cars safely according to new research from Churchill Motor Insurance. Over a quarter of drivers (28 per cent) admit to parking in ‘parent and child’ spaces when they’re not eligible, causing a shortage of parent and child parking bays. Nearly two fifths (37 per cent) of parents with young children have been forced to park in standard sized car parking bays that are too narrow to get infants in and out of safely.
Standard parking bays only leave have an average of 30cm to exit a car, which for those using newborn car seats, which need to be removed from the vehicle, is on average 17cm too small3. ‘Parent and child’ parking bays not only have the benefit of being located closer to building entrances, they offer an average of 120cm extra space between bays, which gives drivers a total of 150cm of room to park and get in and out of their vehicle safely.
For parents of toddlers, using rear facing and/or rotating car seats, the space available in a standard car parking space is not enough to open the car door fully to assist lifting children safely in and out. Seven in ten (71 per cent) parents who drive say they have struggled to get their child into their car seat because there wasn’t enough space, with 44 per cent saying they were faced with the challenge on at least a monthly basis.
Alarmingly, one in four (23 per cent) parents with children aged 13 and under often have to let their kids get out of the car before they can park in a space. One in five (18 per cent) parents of children aged under 6 have had to leave the car seat in the vehicle as they were unable to get it out, whilst a further 17 per cent said they have hurt themselves in the past whilst trying to remove a car seat in a car park.
But it’s not just problematic for parents and their children, the tight squeeze can result in dinks and scratches to both the driver’s and neighbouring vehicles. This damage is costing UK motorists an average of £223.50 to repair. Nearly one in ten (nine per cent) parents surveyed reported having damaged their own vehicle attempting to remove a car seat, with a further ten per cent admitting to damaging the vehicle next to them.
Nicholas Mantel, Head of Churchill Motor Insurance, said:
“Parents will be all-too familiar with having to drive countless loops of a car park to find an available parent and child bay, only to see that the already limited spaces have been taken by those without kids. The squeeze faced by parents as a result of widening cars and parking bays that haven’t been redesigned to accommodate today’s models particularly impacts those with newborn baby seats who need additional space to get babies out of their cars. Misusing parent and child bays not only inconveniences parents who genuinely need them, it can also result in a hefty Parking Charge Notice.”
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