The Burrow
Jul 29, 2024
Parallel parking is one of the most anxiety-inducing manoeuvres, with thousands of people all around the world searching for how to parallel park every single day!
According to one survey, two-fifths of Australians have admitted to feeling stressed about parallel parking, with 39% actively avoiding making the manoeuvre.1
Considering that a lot of car insurance claims are made for vehicles that are damaged when parked, it’s not surprising that this manoeuvre can be so stressful. With that in mind, we wanted to see if parallel parking anxiety is apparent around the world, and it turns out, it is! So, if the mere thought of this particular manoeuvre starts to make you feel stressed, don’t worry, as you’re not alone.
We’ve crunched the data across Australian cities, European countries, and American states, to see where in the world is the most anxious, by looking at monthly searches for “parallel parking” and breaking it down per 1,000 people.
Most of us struggle – or have struggled – with parallel parking, but these are the 10 Australian cities that have Googled how to parallel park the most, per 1,000 people:
If we then look at the data for the cities that have searched for “parallel parking” the most, Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Perth, and Adelaide make up the top five, with 4,090, 3,630, 1,570, 1,340, and 1,230 average monthly searches respectively.
Given that these are the larger cities in Australia, it makes sense that these would have the overall highest volumes, but when looking at it from a per-1,000-person perspective, Sydney comes in 36th, Melbourne in 37th, and Brisbane in 41st place.
At the other end of the spectrum, the cities that are the most confident with their parallel parking technique, with the least searches per 1,000 people are:
When it comes to citizens in the USA, these are the states that are the most anxious about their parallel parking technique, with the most searches per 1,000 people:
Overall, Americans seem to be more confident than Australians when it comes to parallel parking – potentially because the roads there tend to be wider and more open.
If we look at the most searches in general per state, then New York, Texas, California, Massachusetts, and Pennsylvania make up the top five, at 22,290, 21,270, 12,730, 9,710, and 9,570 average searches per month respectively – again, making sense as they have some of the larger populations in the country.
In reality, Texas comes 14th overall for parallel parking anxiety, California comes 34th, and Pennsylvania comes 13th.
The states that have searched for parallel parking tips the least per 1,000 people are:
Finally, if we look at this data from a European perspective, the countries that search for parallel parking steps and tips the most per 1,000 people, and therefore are the most anxious about this particular manoeuvre, are:
In terms of the countries that see the most monthly searches, the UK, Poland, Portugal, Spain, and Hungary had the most, at 538,200, 80,040, 69,960, 38,280, and 28,920 respectively. However, the UK and Portugal were the only ones to make it into the top 10 overall. In actual fact, Poland came 19th, Spain in 31st, and Hungary in 13th.
At the other end of the scale, the countries that had the least searches per 1,000 people, and therefore likely to be the most confident with their parallel parking, are:
Technically, Romania and Moldova are the least anxious, with 0 searches per 1,000 people, but that’s because we couldn’t find the data for them.
You could be the safest driver in the world, but unfortunately, accidents do happen. If you’ve tried to parallel park and accidentally hit a parked car, here’s what you need to do.
With it being a parked car, hopefully no one was sat in it and got hurt. However, it’s the first thing you need to check. If someone was in the car and got injured, call 000, and try to stay calm and level-headed.
If someone was in the car but not injured (or their injuries have been dealt with), exchange your names, addresses, phone numbers, registration numbers, and insurance details. Take photographs of any of the damage caused, making sure that your pictures are clear, and detail the full extent of the damage.
If no one’s in the car, you’ll want to leave a note on their windshield with these details. If you don’t have a pen and paper available, try and get some so you can return as quickly as possible, before the other person returns.
Now, you’ll want to look at the full extent of damage done to your car. If you think your car could be dangerous to drive, you should call your insurer so they can tow it away for you, and make arrangements to get it repaired.
If your car is in a driveable condition and you’ve made it back home safely, it’s time to get in touch with your insurance provider. Speaking to them as soon as possible is key, so that you don’t forget any details.
Your insurance company will then be able to assess your claim, and determine the outcome – and you should be able to use your car insurance to cover the damage done to the person’s car you hit.
You may also need to report your accident to the police. Police will usually need to be contacted if someone has been trapped, injured or killed in a vehicle, your car is significantly damaged, or the accident has caused hazards that could affect others, such as blocking the road, or leaking fluids.
Car insurance covers third-party (other people’s) property, but will it cover your own car if you damage it when trying to parallel park? The answer depends on your level of cover.
Adrian Taylor, Executive General Manager of General Insurance at Compare the Market AU states that only comprehensive cover insures you for damages to your own vehicle from accidents caused by you.
“Comprehensive car insurance not only covers you for some the things other policies include, like fire, theft, and damage to other people’s property, but it also covers damage to your own car. This can be from an accident when driving, or from other events too,” Mr Taylor says.
“Parallel parking is one of those manoeuvres that can be very daunting at first, but gradually gets easier over time once you’ve had plenty of practice. However, like we mentioned, accidents can happen – whether you accidentally hit a (parked) car, or someone hits you. That’s why comprehensive car insurance is so important.”
The place you regularly park your car can also have an impact on insurance premiums. Taylor notes that parking in a garage, if the option is there, rather than on the street, may be more cost effective for you.
“A car kept in a garage is more secure than one parked in the street open to the elements and passing road traffic. While not everyone will have a garage, car owners will find that keeping the car in the garage may be a bit cheaper than parking it on the street when it comes to car insurance.”
References:
Sources:
Methodology:
This dataset analyses countries in Europe, states in the USA, and cities in Australia, based on the searches for parallel parking per capita. To do this, we looked at the average monthly search volume for each car model in each country between July 23 – June 24, using keywordtool.io.
All data is correct as of 03/06/24. All data is accurate with regards to the sources provided.