Asked to list the things men do better than women, most Australians males would put parking right up next to map-reading and not getting over-emotional in an argument — but they’d be wrong.
A new study has found that women outperform men in nearly all aspects of car parking, making them better overall.
Researchers studied parking manoeuvres carried out by 2,500 drivers over the course of one month at an NCP car park in the UK.
Drivers were judged on various aspects of parking, including technique, speed and accuracy.
These factors were combined to calculate a ‘parking coefficient’ which is an overall judgement of how well people parked.
Out of a maximum score of 20, women had an average parking coefficient of 13.4, while the average male scored just 12.3.
Appropriate space finding speed: Men 64 percent; Women 92 percent
Good or very good ‘pre-parking pose’: Men 53 percent; Women 77 percent
Reverse into space: Men 28 percent; Women 39 percent
Forward into space: Men 72 percent; Women 61 percent
Speed of manoeuvre: Men 16 seconds; Women 21 seconds
Reposition shuffle: Men 29 percent; Women 56 percent
Central finish: Men 25 percent; Women 53 percent
Total co-efficient (max 20): Men 12.3; Women 13.4
The first area men let themselves down was in finding a spot. Researchers found men were far more impatient, often missing spaces because they drove through car parks too fast.
Men fell further behind when it came to the angle of approach, with nearly half of male participants choosing a poor ‘pre-parking pose’.
When it came to speed however, men far outperformed women, completing their manoeuvre five seconds quicker than men.
Men were also on top when it came to repositioning their vehicles, being far more likely to be happy with their first attempt, while more than 50 percent of women chose to straighten up.
This reposition paid dividends for the ladies, with their final park position being twice as good as the blokes.
