Drivers spend a year parking

The average motorist loses the equivalent of more than six days a year circling streets and car parks looking for a spot, says a survey.

Sarah Keayes

DRIVERS spend nearly a year of their lives searching for a parking space, according to a UK survey.

The average motorist loses the equivalent of more than six days a year circling streets and car parks looking for a spot, the poll of 9000 drivers found.

Based on a motorists' driving "life" lasting around 50 years, the lost time adds up to 7,600 hours, or more than 45 weeks, the poll by parking company NCP found.

Londoners lose the most time, spending an average of 182 hours a year, or more than 54 weeks in a motoring lifetime, in the search for a space. This compares with the national average of 152 hours a year.

The next-longest lost time is endured by motorists in Birmingham, followed by Glasgow and Newcastle.

The survey also showed:

- 42 per cent of people - and 51 per cent of women - admit they will not attempt to park in a space if another car is waiting behind them;

- 23 per cent often get a passenger to do the parking for them;

- 44 per cent of people, and 48 per cent of women, have "lost" their car as they could not remember where they parked, with Birmingham motorists the most forgetful;

- 50 per cent have gone to the wrong floor or section of the car park to look for their vehicle, while 39 per cent of those have even attempted to get into someone else's car, mistaking it for their own.

NCP car parks chief operating officer Jo Cooper said: "Parking should be simple but in reality it is a stressful experience for most of us.

"There's often a lot of pressure on us from other passengers, people waiting behind you, and then there's the added time pressure too.

"It's bad enough we're spending so much time sitting in traffic jams, commuting on busy motorways or taking the children to school. Parking should be the easiest part."