Parking oddity.

ChrisJSY · 29 Nov 2009 at 14:36

Once I read a thread on here about someone parking and everyone started throwing abuse at him because of the way he parked.

The reason for this was that when he say, parallel parked he would slowly drive into the car behind/in front "slowly" making contact so he knows when to stop, claiming "it won't damage the car"!
After this thread I started seeing more talk of this, seeing it happen and mostly told from my best friend from Jersey now staying at uni in the UK.

He's had his mini damaged multiple times front and rear, as it's metal and does not have much give.

Today he tells me he was a passenger in a vehicle with someone parking doing the exact same, he looked in horror at the driver and the driver did not know what they were doing wrong.
He quizzed the driver and was replied with statements such as.

"that's what bumpers are for... that's why they're made of a different material"

"without doing it, parking is too hard"

"they said my car (friend's mini) is an exception but with new cars it's ok with plastic bumpers"

Seriously, what?
If it was me I'd have been furious, is it something they teach you in the UK or a common misconception with the general (and more stupid) populace?

Clarkey · 29 Nov 2009 at 14:41

Never seen this or heard of it happening. I can believe it though, majority of drivers are shocking.

Lopéz · 29 Nov 2009 at 14:45

No, this is definitely not how you are taught!

arknor · 29 Nov 2009 at 14:52

hope no one does it to a GTR lol , owner would need a new ECU ^^

beermonster · 29 Nov 2009 at 14:56

See this all the time on holiday in European countries.

alex24 · 29 Nov 2009 at 14:58

I was not taught this way. I saw it happen in paris though, to a VERY expensive AMG mercedes by one of those silly new Fiat 500's.

IAmATeaf · 29 Nov 2009 at 15:20

When I was younger, much younger, a guy on friends road used to park his Volvo this way. He saw nothing wrong with it and I think on 1 occasion I counted something like 20 nudges front and back before he was happy with his parking.

Asked my friend and he said that's the way that the old codger always parked his car.

s-man · 29 Nov 2009 at 15:29

I want to believe that there aren't people out there who are that dumb but then I realise I'm probably sadly mistaken!

lbratch · 29 Nov 2009 at 15:32

I'm the OP's friend, with the damaged Mini and the witness of the recent incident.

The differences between these sorts of events back home, and in the UK are too great to be written off as random occurrences.

Back home - in over 20 years I don't think I've ever seen people parking like this.
In the UK - I've been here for two and a bit years of university, and I generally see this happening once every two or three weeks*! This includes it happening *three times* to my own car and actually being in a car as it happened as the OP mentioned.

I also genuinely started to think that it might be taught that bumpers are OK to use as spatial awareness aids in the UK.

*In the centre of Exeter.

oli collett · 29 Nov 2009 at 15:32

If I saw somebody do this to my car, I'd get plantinum87 on their ass.

Disco Boy · 29 Nov 2009 at 15:39

you're all kidding... right?

v0n · 29 Nov 2009 at 15:43

alexhull24 said:
I saw it happen in paris though, to a VERY expensive AMG mercedes by one of those silly new Fiat 500's.

Many, many years ago I had argument about it with my French co-worker, and he claimed this was, as far as he knows, ALWAYS, preferred method of "sensing" the parking space in French metropolia, and he even pointed out older French cars had plastic and rubber elements on metal bumpers, specifically for that purpose:

Sin_Chase · 29 Nov 2009 at 15:46

If anyone sense parks against my car I will sense their face!

These days I avoid parking in any space that even gives someone potential to do this.

Doonhamer · 29 Nov 2009 at 15:58

I have never seen this happen or heard of this and would be livid if somebody did this with my motor. :eek:

iaind · 29 Nov 2009 at 16:00

lbratch said:
*In the centre of Exeter.

Oh god

mjt · 29 Nov 2009 at 16:16

v0n said:
Many, many years ago I had argument about it with my French co-worker, and he claimed this was, as far as he knows, ALWAYS, preferred method of "sensing" the parking space in French metropolia, and he even pointed out older French cars had plastic and rubber elements on metal bumpers, specifically for that purpose:

this is common practice in France. certainly it's the only way to park in paris

look at the state of most french cars though, you see more damaged ones than not

i never do this, obviously, because i'm not an idiot
the only time i hit the cars i'm parking between is by accident
incidentally, i did this last week for the first time in ages because the parking sensors on the E60 have started to take 3 minutes to activate, and i just assumed i still had space :mad:

BigglesPiP · 29 Nov 2009 at 16:17

I've never seen it happen, but there is damage on my front bumper from where it has been done.

Opening doors into my car is more common, it makes me very angry, I've even shouted at an old lady for doing it.

It all makes me want to have a beaten up car I can use in towns and cities, where if someone opens a door into me, I can just slam my door right back, and step out like I'm doing nothing wrong.

[TW]Fox · 29 Nov 2009 at 16:53

A taxi driver did it to me a month back, contacted my front bumper. Then distracted me with a 10 minute conversation about how amazing my car was, how great he thought it was, could he see under the bonnet, how lucky I was to have such a great car, etc etc.

By the time he'd finished the conversation and driven off I realise I'd not managed to collect any of his details. Nice tactic

Only a chip out of the paint luckily.

Hotwired · 29 Nov 2009 at 17:00

[TW]Fox;15421328 said:
A taxi driver did it to me a month back, contacted my front bumper. Then distracted me with a 10 minute conversation about how amazing my car was, how great he thought it was, could he see under the bonnet, how lucky I was to have such a great car, etc etc.

By the time he'd finished the conversation and driven off I realise I'd not managed to collect any of his details. Nice tactic Only a chip out of the paint luckily.

He had you good and proper :cool:

BigglesPiP · 29 Nov 2009 at 17:38

[TW]Fox;15421328 said:
A taxi driver did it to me a month back, contacted my front bumper. Then distracted me with a 10 minute conversation about how amazing my car was, how great he thought it was, could he see under the bonnet, how lucky I was to have such a great car, etc etc.

By the time he'd finished the conversation and driven off I realise I'd not managed to collect any of his details. Nice tactic Only a chip out of the paint luckily.

Taxi drivers are mostly ****holes. My brother encountered one parked with its main beams on pointing down an unlit road. He - stupidly - passed it on the left, and found it was actually parked on the left with nobody in it, and he's now on the grass verge and hits a large rock. The polish taxi driver moved his car before the police turned up and claimed he was nowhere near, despite light contact as my brother bounced off the rock proving he was right next to the crash. Even though it was my brother's fault anyway.

In case anyone isn't clear on why, you don't drive into what you can't see. The correct course of action would have been to stop, get out, rip the taxi's lighting stork off the steering column, then carry on.