Make Carparking Great Again

[turbodewd]

Manblokes of Australia! Erwache!

There is a war over carparking bays - theyre getting smaller. The Greens are trying to force us into Nissan Leafs and Toyota Yaris's.

Ive taken my tape measure out and found, to my horror, that newer bays are Falcon-hostile!

I have found these widths in Canberra:
2.8m
2.75
2.6
2.55 (2011+)
2.45 (newish)
2.4 (2015 +)

Now from personal experience 2.6m is comfortable, 2.55 bearable. But once you get lower you endure these ailments:

1. More door dings
2. More wasted petrol from double-takes (hear that Greenies???)
3. Harder for large people or pregnant women to exit/enter their cars
4. Greater likelihood of a bad park rendering the next one useless
5. Cars are getting bigger - I looked at the June 2016 VFACTS and most of them were large! (Ranger, Hilux, Colorado, Camry, Commodore, etc)
6. Families are more likely to have bigger cars - this is anti-family.
7. Its bloody Australia - we have spare space! Its not Tokyo or London!!!

I have written to the ACT govt twice on this (via different means) and await their replies.

Get out and measure your bays! Write to the local council if youre getting crap bays. Fire up!

Down with Door Dings!

[Express]

Door dings keep people in jobs.

[XB GS 351 Coupe]

This has been happening for some time now, noted this when I was still living in Sydney and I have not been there for years now.

Not sure writing to someone is going to make any difference, but worth a try I guess.

[Express]

Try taking it to the Land and Environment Court as it's core is at the Development Application level.

[Trump]

Just carry a can of black paint and turn two of these tight spots into one

[XR6_power]

Originally Posted by XB GS 351 Coupe

This has been happening for some time now, noted this when I was still living in Sydney and I have not been there for years now.

Not sure writing to someone is going to make any difference, but worth a try I guess.

Perhaps write to Donald Trump, he reckons he's going to "Make America Great Again".....maybe he can Make Carparking Great Again too!

@Turbodewd - On a serious note though, write angry letters to council, and if you can organise it, go one better, start a petition! Get as many people to sign as you can (even start an online one). Good luck!

[Windsor220]

I drive a Pajero. Can't say I have much of an issue with parking tbh

[turbodewd]

Originally Posted by Express

Door dings keep people in jobs.

I should clarify, i mean door marks. I can polish them out, as can you - no jobs created.

[383hq]

Originally Posted by Express

Door dings keep people in jobs.

To the OP , you could become prime minister with this

Even the japanese have worked out the average person is getting larger (in all dimensions)
and are adjusting ergonomics accordingly for new designs.

Australia - not progressive, change requires movement, movement requires speed, speed kills

Further to the original OP I move the motion that:
During repainting of car parks (back to original widths of 2.6m), all parks will become angle parks.

[turbodewd]

Originally Posted by 383hq

To the OP , you could become prime minister with this


During repainting of car parks (back to original widths of 2.6m), all parks will become angle parks.

Im curious, what is the advantage of the angle park. They certainly take up a hell of a lot of space. I guess just easier to get in and out of. Theyre almost non existent in Canberra...i find them in country towns.

[Express]

Originally Posted by turbodewd

I should clarify, i mean door marks. I can polish them out, as can you - no jobs created.

I not only buff my cars but I also pull the dents out as well but most people can't do either and that's why carpark dents are easy claimable on insurance for those who have low excesses and don't mind increased premiums.

[XB GS 351 Coupe]

Originally Posted by XR6_power

Perhaps write to Donald Trump, he reckons he's going to "Make America Great Again".....maybe he can Make Carparking Great Again too!

Chances are even he would have zero influence on local council regulations in Australia.

[commodorenutt]

I find the main offenders of the small parking spots are the privately certified commercial developments.

Council says you must have X amount of spots. Developer wants to maximise their profit. Certifier simply counts the spots & says OK.

At my local vet, you cannot park beside another car, and stay within your spot.
Most times you see people in every second spot, as nobody can fit between them.

I tried it one evening beside my wife's car. Passenger mirror on my FG just a few cm off her VE Calais driver's mirror. My RH tyres were just 100mm (or so) inside the yellow line, and the same on the LH side of her car. Had there been a car beside me, I wouldn't have been able to get out. And she certainly wouldn't have been able to get into her car. Had they made that row of 8 spots just 7 spots, there would be much more room - you'd get 7 cars in, rather than the 4 they get in now.

I spoke to the vet's receptionist about it, and she said everyone complains, and they have complained to the landlord, but the landlord said it meets council spec, so they won't change it.

It all comes down to developer/landlord greed, and poor/no standards on private property.

[chevypower]

At Sam's Club, the bays are separated so two adjacent bays don't share the same lines. It's great, keeps the cars separated more.

[XR6_power]

Originally Posted by XR6_power
Perhaps write to Donald Trump, he reckons he's going to "Make America Great Again".....maybe he can Make Carparking Great Again too!

Originally Posted by XB GS 351 Coupe

Chances are even he would have zero influence on local council regulations in Australia.

I was just trying to be funny mate

[cuz]

Originally Posted by turbodewd

Im curious, what is the advantage of the angle park. They certainly take up a hell of a lot of space. I guess just easier to get in and out of. Theyre almost non existent in Canberra...i find them in country towns.

Here mate, check this link out:http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencete...angle-key.html
I reckon it'd work out better, esp for the mongs who turn into carparks and leave their cars at an angle anyway...

[Yellow_Festiva]

There needs to be set minimum standards.

They kept getting smaller due to the trend towards smaller cars apparently...

Remind me again what are the most popular vehicles these days??

[OzriderXR8]

Local councils determine the size of parking bays. It is generally part of a commercial building permit.

I was involved in building a Childcare Centre years ago and number of parking spots determined the number of kids that the centre could be licenced for.

We had huge arguments with them and eventually got them to pass our plan after we measured the bays at a new major shopping centre. They were much smaller than what the council was trying to make us use but funnily enough had council approval.

Go talk to your local council.

[Sabantien]

The only size problem I have come across up here in Brissie is street parking. In more than a few places, my Falcon does not fit in the length of the park.

No, the size is rarely the issue, it's the self entitled uncaring morons who park that cause the problem.

So many people park on angles in the parks. Hey, they're inside the line, right?
But this means some parts of the car are extremely close to the next park and can cause issues. Especially if you've just parked your Ranger there and have your nose poking into the bay to your right and your tail in the bay to your left (saw that one just the other day). Although It definitely does tend to be more small cars doing it, I think when you're parking a larger car you have more awareness due to the space issue.

The number of times I have seen a tiny car in a street park with the front wheels in the next bay, while there's massive amounts of space behind them. And yes, they do this in shopping centre carparks too.

I find these people are more a problem than the actual carparks themselves.

[Mercury Bullet]

I have a sibling in Victoria and the local council (Colac) made Woolworths/Safeway expand the size of their parking bays. So many cars were getting trashed, they had to.

It's the only place I know of that has ever widened it's parking bays. They're still too small though.
If my memory serves, it was a sustained campaign in the local newspaper that got the change over the line with council.

I always try to park way out on my own when I'm in the city. Why then every time I come back to my car some nuff nuff has managed to park a 4wd next to me when there's 50 freaking empty spots?

[Sabantien]

Originally Posted by Mercury Bullet

I always try to park way out on my own when I'm in the city. Why then every time I come back to my car some nuff nuff has managed to park a 4wd next to me when there's 50 freaking empty spots?

I've given up trying to do this. You can be the only car in a carpark and someone will park next to you.

I think it's because they use the other car as a guide.

[Rallye Sport]

Originally Posted by commodorenutt

I find the main offenders of the small parking spots are the privately certified commercial developments.

Council says you must have X amount of spots. Developer wants to maximise their profit. Certifier simply counts the spots & says OK.

At my local vet, you cannot park beside another car, and stay within your spot.
Most times you see people in every second spot, as nobody can fit between them.

I tried it one evening beside my wife's car. Passenger mirror on my FG just a few cm off her VE Calais driver's mirror. My RH tyres were just 100mm (or so) inside the yellow line, and the same on the LH side of her car. Had there been a car beside me, I wouldn't have been able to get out. And she certainly wouldn't have been able to get into her car. Had they made that row of 8 spots just 7 spots, there would be much more room - you'd get 7 cars in, rather than the 4 they get in now.

I spoke to the vet's receptionist about it, and she said everyone complains, and they have complained to the landlord, but the landlord said it meets council spec, so they won't change it.

It all comes down to developer/landlord greed, and poor/no standards on private property.

Agreed, blaming the council is a 'Current affair' way of looking at it.
We see this in civil construction a fair bit, good example was a developer wanting to maximize the units on his plot but didn't want to allow for the designated recreation space. They're idea was to donate equipment to a nearby park, great idea for them, the council is then responsible for the gear and they save on upkeep, gardening etc

[Pedro]

Originally Posted by OzriderXR8

Local councils determine the size of parking bays. It is generally part of a commercial building permit.

I was involved in building a Childcare Centre years ago and number of parking spots determined the number of kids that the centre could be licenced for.

We had huge arguments with them and eventually got them to pass our plan after we measured the bays at a new major shopping centre. They were much smaller than what the council was trying to make us use but funnily enough had council approval.

Go talk to your local council.

And that is the crux of the problem. There was a story about this on one of those forgettable "investigative" shows that follow the 6.00 pm news. And it was revealed that the ever narrowing spaces are caused by the greed of the shopping centre owners to squeeze more cars (more customers) into their centres.

While we're on the subject ... the concrete logs you drive up against are 150 mm high. My BF F6 had 147 mm clearance under the front bumper without me in it and I damaged the front air dam on one of these bloody logs in a Shopping Centre. When I demanded the Centre pay for repairs, their legal people pointed out that 150 mm was a Council requirement.

[NTF6]

Originally Posted by Yellow_Festiva

There needs to be set minimum standards.

They kept getting smaller due to the trend towards smaller cars apparently...

Remind me again what are the most popular vehicles these days??

There is supposed to be a formula that the councils and places like Coles, Wollies and Bunnings are supposed to determine the width of the bays based on the frequency of car visits to the bays. Highly frequented bays are wider and less frequent occupancy bays are narrower. Plus with land in some cities running at over $3000 per square metre it is more cost effective to have 8 bays instead of 7. It's a numbers game.

[commodorenutt]

Originally Posted by Pedro

......their legal people pointed out that 150 mm was a Council requirement.

I remember reading an article about this some time around the 2000 olympics after a child was either killed or severely injured by a "mixed up the pedals" incident where a car launched over the concrete stop, striking the child, and then pinning them under as the front wheels dropped over the stop.

Similar incidents prompted some research into it, and they discovered that over time, what was effective in the past, with smaller wheels & tyres, was now much easier to ride up & over with larger rolling diameters, so they worked out what would stop the majority of accidental incidents (you can still go up & over a 150mm stop, but it requires more effort).

As these stops are now manufactured off-site (pre-cast strips) they're all the same size to comply with what most councils ended up adopting as a standard. Those who haven't, cop it anyway, as that's what the suppliers offer.

[Fed]

There's many businesses I refuse to go to because of their car parking, after more than 30 years I recently dumped Bob Jane Bankstown in favour of Jax down the road simply because BJs is a shocker.
Also nothing more scary than a supermarket carpark when a frayed women 20-40 yrs old pulls up beside you in a 4WD with half a dozen kids in tow.

[Lunch]

Originally Posted by Mercury Bullet

I always try to park way out on my own when I'm in the city. Why then every time I come back to my car some nuff nuff has managed to park a 4wd next to me when there's 50 freaking empty spots?

Not 2 hours ago this happened to me, At Bunnings, I parked in the furthest part of the car park, with 1 spot between me and the car to the left and zero cars for 10 spaces on my right only to walk out of the store 5 minutes later to some old flog with his arm in a cast, squeezing his 80 series into the single gap on the left

[Itsme]

Drive this & I guarantee no more parking problems!

[Mercury Bullet]

Originally Posted by trublu

Drive this & I guarantee no more parking problems!

image

You are under-estimating the parking abilities of your average VT commodore driver.

Not enough door protection.

[CyberWasp]

Guys, you can't see it coming can you.
They are slowly reducing the sizes, until the size reaches that of a bicycle.

Have a look in Sydney. It is happening on the roads too.
There are more bike lanes than car lanes.

Apparently cities are no longer a place of furious economic commerce where goods and services need to be continually delivered and picked up so people can make a living.

They are places of Zen where you can leisurely ride and slowly meander past the angry Neanderthals stuck in choked traffic lanes, waving their fists at you in frustration.