So you would think that parking in a designated car park would be much simpler than street parking? We look at the perils of the public car park. Beware ladies, there are dangers lying behind every trolley bay and concrete pillar.
Just getting into the car park can be a challenge. The first obstacle to contend with is the ticket machine. You pull up and put your arm out to take the ticket but you can’t reach it! You raise your body up and lunge out the window towards the machine but you still can’t quite grab that ticket.
If you don’t get close enough to the machine you will need to go through the ordeal of putting the car in neutral, taking off the seatbelt and hauling yourself out of the car to take your parking ticket. Of course the last time you tried to get close to the machine you ended up beached on the concrete kerbing going into the car park and your car still bears the scars from that incident. So now you are in the car park and the fun really begins. If it’s a multi-story car parks let’s hope you have your night vision glasses on just to get around.
And now where to park?
Beside the MPV? No the kids will open the doors and give the side of the car a whack.
Beside the 4×4? No if they hit me they will not even feel it.
What about the car with the dents and paint scrapes? No for obvious reasons!
But let’s face it; most of the time you won’t have a choice about where to park. That’s because you and every other driver are in competition to find a space. You drive around the car park and lie in wait, on the lookout for reverse lights. Finally you see a car reversing but fail to spot the other car waiting, and just like that they slip in before you realise what’s happened.
Now it’s home time and you must negotiate your exit from the car park. You arrive back to your car only to find that the car behind is so close that you can’t even open the boot. And the car beside you is so close that you would need to be as lithe as Madonna to get into the car or vault over the passenger side to the driver’s seat.
Have you paid for your ticket? If not you can look forward to getting stuck at the exit with a line of disgruntled drivers behind you.
The barrier lifts and out you go. You breathe a sigh of relief; you’ve survived another trip to the jungle that is the public car park.
Bad lighting, broken parking meters and too tight spaces – what are your parking bugbears? Leave a comment and let us know.
3rd August, 2012
