Gender parking wars

January 31st, 2012 - Daniel Barron

In terms of the preferred entry method, 39 percent of women opted to reverse into a space - the method preferred by instructors according to NCP - compared to 28 percent of men.

Parking studyStudy examines behaviour of men and women

A car park company in the United Kingdom used several criteria throughout the course of a month-long study to research how well people park their vehicles. In the process, the company concluded who is better at parking, men or women.

The newly-released NCP Parking Report showed that women are more skilled at parking, scoring 13.4 out of a possible 20 points using NCP’s “parking coeffient” scoring system. Men finished with an average score of 12.3 out of 20.

Of the seven measures NCP used in its scoring system, women scored higher in five of them. Although women repositioned their vehicles more often (56 percent of the time compared to 29 percent for men), 53 percent of them ended up with an ideal “central finish”, compared to one quarter of men.

The criteria also included the ability to find a quality space, the speed it took to park, whether a “repositioning” was done, and the final positioning of the vehicle once the parking manouver was completed.

NCP also spoke with drivers to question them about their parking beliefs and behaviours. Although women scored as the better parkers overall, only 18 percent of them believed they were better than men in that respect.

When asked how long they thought it took them to complete a parking manouver, men on average said it took 28 seconds, when in reality it took an average of 16 seconds. The average for women was 21 seconds.

Neil Beeson, senior driving instructor for the U.K.’s “Last Chance Driving School” TV program, wasn’t expecting the results that NPC ended up with.

“I was quite surprised by the results, because in my experience men have always been the best learners and usually performed better in lessons,” Beeson said. “However, it’s possible that women have retained the information better. The results also appear to dispel the myth that men have better spatial awareness than women. What the ‘NCP Parking Report’ shows is that … men need to give (their) partners more respect when it comes to parking. The facts don’t lie.”

The hardest part of parking, meanwhile, was “getting the angle right the first time”, according to 50 percent of all respondents.

In terms of the preferred entry method, 39 percent of women opted to reverse into a space – the method preferred by instructors according to NCP – compared to 28 percent of men.

NCP also notes the study showed men love to “pose park” when accompanied by a female passenger, choosing to squeeze into a small space when a bigger one is available.

The parking coefficient final results are as follows:

Activity Men Women
Appropriate space-finding speed 64% 92%
Good or very good ‘pre-parking pose’ 53% 77%
Reverse into space 28% 39%
Forward into space 72% 61%
Speed of manoeuvre 16 secs 21 secs
Reposition shuffle 29% 56%
Central finish 25% 53%
Total co-efficient (max 20) 12.3 13.4

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9 comments

  1. Jinnnnty says:

    So this basically confirms what we know already about the genders. Men want things done faster and are more inclined to say “OK, good enough, I’m done” when they feel they’ve completed their parking. Women are more cautious and are more interested in doing a “good job” than just parking quickly and being done with it.

  2. fgtytyu wert says:

    That is a complete bogus study…just look what happens in the traffic…

  3. michael says:

    its funny cuz women would be better at parking cuz they go shopping more and yes this is bogus cuz who gets in more colistion *women* point proven

  4. jeff says:

    No credibility…. Article just intended to seek attention…… Please disregard this waste of time and useless information…. A human with a penis cannot park a car better than one without……

  5. Blahblah says:

    seriously? Where are taking your stats from? Go on YouTube and see a the horrendous parking methods that the female sex use.

  6. jeff says:

    I guess it makes sense that all the women who prefer their husband to drive were not available during the survey.

  7. Cress says:

    Female drivers are the worst, it’s not even open for debate. It’s hilarious watching them try to parallel park too. Just check out youtube for some of the smart car parking videos, it’s pathetic.

  8. @Blahblah – if you read further than the headline, you’ll see where we took our stats from. I am fairly certain, though, that the stats we used in the story are more reliable than what would be provided by a cursory Youtube search.

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