Half of Britain’s drivers break the law – just to find somewhere to park

The UK’s hard-pressed motorists, already struggling with spiralling costs and increased congestion, have revealed that parking is adding significant stress and expense to their lives.  I can confirm that this annoys the hell out of me given that I park at a local train station everyday, where the cost is continually going up and spaces are getting fewer and fewer, week on week.

New research commissioned by spacehopper shows the true misery of modern day parking in Britain, with almost half of drivers (47%) admitting that they have broken the law and parked illegally because they had no other choice.  Further findings of the poll of 1,500 UK motorists found that two thirds (67%) said they had cancelled day trips and family outings because they couldn’t face the stress of finding a place to park. And nine in ten (92%) respondents said they had driven past empty spaces they weren’t allowed to use.

Parking is, according to the research, far more stressful than many other everyday issues we face. For four in ten (39%) respondents it was more stressful than visiting the dentist. And 19% found parking more nerve-wracking than asking someone out on a date, whilst 17% of motorists found searching for a spot to leave the car more worrying than losing their mobile phone.  It isn’t just the frustration of searching for a space that affects motorists though. Parking is also costing drivers thousands of pounds. Over a quarter of respondents (26.4%) said that they pay £30 or more on parking each week, totalling over £1,500 a year. One in 20 pays over £60 a week just going about their business – £3,100 pa.  spacehopper, a peer-to-peer parking service, is helping British motorists ease their parking stress by unlocking previously unavailable parking spots that would otherwise sit empty.  The spacehopper service connects people who have underused spaces with drivers who are looking for a place to park, and offers driveway owners and businesses an opportunity to earn some extra cash from their assets.  According to spacehopper, the UK has 2.6 million business parking spaces* that savvy businesses and organisations could be turning into revenue. Not only is it a convenient way to earn extra cash, it’s also helping to ease Britain’s parking crisis by freeing up parking spots that would otherwise be going to waste.

Typical brick town houses in Oxford. England, UK

spacehopper director Alex Walker said: “A recent survey showed that 98 per cent of Brits say they are law abiding, but in reality it seems that half of us have been forced to park illegally just to get on with our lives! It’s crazy to think there are so many parking spaces that sit empty when parking is such a stressful experience across the country.  1 in 4 motorists work for an organisation that has at least one parking space sitting empty on a regular basis. So, enterprising businesses and clubs should take full advantage of the sharing economy by making the most of their available assets, while liberating parking capacity and helping drivers everywhere.”

Britain has been dubbed one of the worst places to park in the world, and nine in ten (93%) of those questioned think that the Government and local councils should do more to address the issue. Spacehopper is calling on businesses across the country to release their underused spaces for everyday motorists to use, and earn additional income in the process. Sign up at https://www.spacehopper.com/ where you could earn money by renting out your driveway or garage. Pre-book parking spaces. Shared economy parking solutions for the UK. You can also follow them on Twitter here.