Off to Edinburgh? Be careful how you park!
EDINBURGH is the worst city in the UK for parking accidents, according to research.
Insurer Admiral found drivers in the capital are the most likely to make a parking-related claim, with 13.2 per cent of all accidents in 2017 made during the manoeuvre.
Motorists in York and Aberdeen had the second and third highest number of parkingrelated claims, at 13.1 per cent and 12.9 per cent respectively.
Admiral’s Sabine Williams said: ‘Parking prangs are common car insurance claims, accounting for one in ten claims we deal with. We’re still a long way from selfparking vehicles and while things like parking sensors can assist with manoeuvring tight spaces and can reduce the risk of bumping into something as you park, they certainly aren’t fail-safe and they aren’t in every vehicle.’
Drivers in Bradford made the lowest proportion of parking claims, with just 6 per cent of claims related to parking prangs.
Luton and Birmingham had the second and third lowest proportion of parking accident claims, with just 6.5 and 6.8 per cent of claims relating to parking accidents.
Analysis of the firm’s policyholder claims also shows women claimed more for parking accidents than men, at 10.6 per cent and 9.1 per cent respectively.
It found 14.7 per cent were made by drivers aged 65 and over.
Motorists aged between 17 and 24 were less than half as likely to have an accident while parking, accounting for just 7.2 per cent of claims.
The company also examined the UK’s worst towns and cities for parking fines issued by local authorities.
Data obtained by Admiral via Freedom of Information requests found that wardens in Brighton, Sussex, dished out 124,069 penalty charge notices (PCNs), meaning that more than one parking ticket was handed out for every vehicle registered in the coastal town last year.
The capitals of England and Scotland came in joint second place.
Both London (3,167,463 PCNs) and Edinburgh (200,812 PCNs) saw 101 tickets dished out per 100 cars registered in both cities.
Miss Williams added: ‘Our advice to all drivers to avoid both PCNs and parking accidents is to try to plan where you will park in advance and to take your time when manoeuvring into and out of parking spaces, especially in older car parks where the bays can be a tight fit for modern vehicles.’