Carparks, 4 Wheel Drives, Roads and *Big* Vehicles

While on the subject of vehicle size,a couple more points to consider. To help understand where this comment comes from, my current work vehicle is a 4 ton truck, my street car is a Subaru Forester, we also have a Isuzu D-max(4x4), my previous car was a Commodore wagon. Every one of these vehicles is different, the truck dosen’t go in supermarket carparks but relevant to my opinion. The D-max is a dog in carparks, its turning circle is too large for the space provided on entry and exit, unless your driving skills are such that you plan your approach to compensate, many drivers do not have the awareness or skill required, resulting in poorly parked vehicles, this is why the truck got mentioned, many people would have trouble because of the physical dimensions and different visibility issues. The Forester is pretty much like any other car because it has a better turning circle than say a Patrol or Landcruiser. Altering car parking spaces will not overcome these issues. I would vote for slightly wider aisles to allow a little more room to manoeuvre in and out. The rest of the problem would then have to be solved by drivers and their consideration of others.

Sorry Ian, you missed the point entirely. The complaint is that the parking spaces are too small for 4WD’s. The rest is highlighting problems this causes except for the examples used where driver incompetence exacerbates these, and if you don’t think that there are some incompetent drivers you will find that there are.

Trevor3 in answer to your question “:How difficult would it be for drivers with a long wheel base 4WD to remove their tow ball assembly?” It would typically involve getting under the car and removing 6 or so bolts that attach the tow bar to the chassis. The tow bar, about 1 metre wide, can then be removed except, as is often the case, if the socket for connection of the trailer wiring is mounted on it. If it is then this has to be disconnected and the wiring insulated and secured. Simply taking the ball off will do nothing except make the tow bar harder to see. It is not a 2 minute job and if you are towing a trailer frequently, even daily, it is not an option.

Good discussion here. Can I add that in two local shopping centres (here in SA) there are now spaces for drivers with prams for children. These parking spaces are close to the ‘mall’ entrance, adjacent to ‘Disabled’ parking spots. If centre management can do that - and I have no problem with that - why can’t they have a separate parking area for the larger vehicles.

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We have a 4WD and have had for more than 25 years. We are avid 4Wdrivers, ie we go to out of the way places. We also use our 4WD to tow a caravan. I have found that the Costco carpark in SA is well set up - room for the car and a small marked aisle, for want of a better description, between parks. We find parking there much more user friendly. However I would also suggest that car parks need to be wider.

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I live on the land, so I need 4-wheel drive, high ground clearance and load-carrying capacity. I can’t afford more than one vehicle so, of necessity, I go shopping in a 4-wheel drive light truck.

To my mind, problems of inadequate aisles and small spaces are examples of market failure. Owners of car parks want to squeeze as many spaces as possible into the area available, so the maximum possible number of customers can park close to their shops.

My question is, given that the market isn’t going to solve the problems, to what extent should government intervene? Come to think of it, to what extent does government (regulatory failure) create the problem?

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You will never have to reverse out of a car space again if you simply reverse IN. Why do 90% of people not get this?

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Because it is human nature to do as little effort as immediately possible, unfortunately. That is, in no way, an acceptable excuse for thinking like this, though!

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I will get that SUV as long as it doesn’t come standard that you have to develop a southern Texas drawl.

I honestly believe if you cant negotiate a suburban car park you should really consider handing in your drivers license.

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Not sure where you live but in NSW registration costs are based, at least in part, on vehicle weight hence our 4WD SUV costs about twice as much to register as our daughter’s all-WD Subaru. So, yes, we already pay more. We are a larger family and have found the only vehicles comfortably seating 8 that also allow us to tow a trailer full of camping gear (can’t afford motels, etc) are 4WDs. That’s just the way it is. I’ve not found it difficult to park any of our vehicles in a regular supermarket car park provided it’s open air. The big issue has been gaining access in the first place! So many multi-story car parks have low roof lines meaning my taller vehicles can’t fit. I’ve found my shopping choices limited by this unless I wish to walk a km or more with my shopping and tired children. Please spare a thought for those of us who’ve chosen to have larger families. We’re not being ‘image conscious’, just incredibly practical.

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In Vic the weight of a passenger vehicle is not considered in the registration costs but it should be.

Not sure how you expect people to adhere to vehicle type allocated parking spots.
As it is, people without prams park in pram spots, people without disabled stickers park in disabled spots and nobody from the supermarket or car park management ever do anything to police these inappropriate actions.
I reckon you’re pushing the proverbial uphill.

I am a four wheel drive owner and own one due to where I live, it is a needed item. When I visit the city I have no problems parking in car parks as I drive this vehicle all the time. People who complain about reversing out between them its called common sense you reverse very slowly so the car that is coming along sees your reverse lights and stops. So don’t race out of a park you edge out slowly.

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There is another issue beside the size of the vehicle that has been infecting parking lots across southeast Australia especially in Tasmania, that is the insane need to reverse into a spot irregardless of the queue behind them. It does not provide any advantage to the driver other than to shoot out of the spot when they leave, usually without bothering to look for approaching traffic. It takes twice as long to reverse into a spot because you must manoeuvre between two cars and usually they end up on an angle. If they are in a 4WD vehicle this means they are taking up even more space. Driving is a privilege and not a right and it is important to keep this in mind when we share the roads and parking lots with others.

I think this person has a good point. I think that a lot of the newer parking area’s are smaller than older ones but i think that your statements are pure criticism and not helpfull to anyone.

No problem for me. I just Park as far away from other Vehicles as is possible. I don’t mind the Walk as it is preferable than some clown in a 4x4 hitting my poor new BMW. Sorry for using the word Clown as I used to be one of them as well in my A/W Drive. I just like the reaction it gets. Sorry folks, I have a Dry sense of humour. But I really do Park as far away as possible.

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There was an old saw that you could always tell a person who could truly afford a Rolls. It would be the Rolls parked near the entryway sandwiched in amongst the other cars. The Rolls parked out by itself was evidence the owner had some worries about the costs of door dings and carpark prangs.

If you think that by posting on this it will make a difference then I am afraid you are sadly disillusioned. I did this to express my opinion. My opinion will not change the acts of Urban Cowboys and it shouldn’t have to.

I agree with you, tndkemp. As a non-4WD/SUV owner/driver, I experience great difficulty with these larger vehicles in carparks, (and on roads generally) and many of these issues are with drivers who do not have the technical skills to manoeuvre their vehicles well. Some of them are SO big [a quick survey of my own street of 30 dwellings in suburban Sydney, I’ve counted15-one house has three!]- reveals the vast majority of these are women, who drive them to schools for the drop-off/pick-up and then shopping or lunch. I call them 4WD Shopping Trolleys. I know that these vehicles are not used for 4WD country or off-road driving, towing caravans or boats, etc, where extra power may be needed. In those cases it IS a lifestyle decision, as most of these families have two children. What’s wrong with a station wagon if you need to take the kids’ bikes and a dog/dogs along?

An increasing concern (not just the carpark issue) is when driving along a suburban street where cars are parked along both sides and there is an oncoming 4WD/SUV, I keep well over to the left side, but have twice now had my drivers side outside mirror hit by the oncoming vehicle, which in both these cases was over the midline of the road. Both had bullbars. It’s not feasible to make the existing roads wider, and why should people be prohibited from parking on suburban streets, just to accomodate a choice of vehicle that I KNOW is more related to image or prestige than practicality? The issue of the likelihood of killing a pedestrian by these is another worrying subject altogether.

Some of these vehicles are just behemoths, and I’m sure most people know to which I’m referring.

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