It is not easy to get out of the car parked in the parking garage in Ålesund. Terese Kvalheim Yildirim pries to get the eight-month-old baby out, without scraping open the door of the car next to it. – It’s crowded. At least with a pram and car seat. And you have to get the kid out, says Yildirim. The problem is well known. Our cars have become larger, while many car parks in shopping centres, in apartment buildings and car parks have been adapted to the cars of the 70s. You have to be careful so the door doesn’t hit the post It’s so narrow between the cars that Terese Kvalheim Yildirim has to hold her hand in between when she opens the car door so as not to scratch up the car next to it Getting the pram out is often a problem. It’s crowded between the cars at Storsenteret in Ålesund Expand the spaces Anders Kirkhus in Sintef says it’s time to expand the parking spaces as the cars have become wider in recent years. Photo: Mikkel Moxness / Sintef Now Sintef believes that it is time for change. They recommend that new car parks should be built larger. The recommendations from Sintef will come into force shortly after they have been out for consultation. – There has been a good deal of arguing about the size of parking and the increase in disputes. Residents believe that the places they are allocated are too cramped. We also register a number of dent cases, says Anders Kirkhus, senior advisor at Sintef. Sintef believes that ordinary parking spaces should be 10 cm wider. This means that the parking spaces go from being 2.5 meters wide to 2.6 metres. Is 10 centimeters enough? – The starting point is that passenger cars have become 10 centimeters wider in the course of a few years and then we think that the car space must be correspondingly wider, says Kirkhus. Don’t get out of the car For car parks that are obstructed by walls and pillars, it will be more clearly described how they should be designed. – In some cases, the driver has to crawl out of the tailgate to get out, says Kirkhus. Elsewhere, passengers must get out of the car while the driver parks. There is thus a risk of small children running around and of having to put the goods down on wet and dirty floors. This has consequences for traffic safety. Parking spaces in the Byggforskserien Sintef has revised what concerns parking spaces in the Byggforskserien, which is a guideline for the building and construction industry. Sintef recommends that the width of the car parks in general be expanded from 2.5 meters to 2.6 meters because today’s cars have become larger. Sintef makes no demands, but makes recommendations. Those planning new buildings must document that the car park is designed in line with its function. Bad for the wallet The industry association Norsk Eigedom is critical of the recommendation to build new car parks wider. They believe that an expansion is both bad for the climate and the wallet. – The more material you have to use, the more expensive it will be for home buyers. And the more material you use, the more Co2 emissions we release. This is actually connected, says director Tone Tellevik Dahl. Dahl believes that Sintef and the governing authorities must challenge the car industry, so that the cars do not continue to disappear. In addition, you should look for other ways to park, where you drive the car onto a slab and then the car is lifted into a free space. Such system parking requires much less space. Sintef believes that the best thing for the climate is to build solutions that are functional and usable for a long time, rather than building cramped and small, with many car damages as a consequence. Takes two places Lars-Petter Rye Aarseth is afraid of scratching his BMW and has found his own solution to the problem. He often parks diagonally across two parking spaces when he is at the shopping center at Moa in Ålesund to get clearance on both sides. – It’s really boring to get this Moa dent, says Aarseth. He is positive about the new proposal to build wider parking spaces. – There are many other car enthusiasts who are afraid of their cars, so it’s nice that there will be better space in the car park, says the 21-year-old. Lars-Petter Rye Aarseth often parks in two spaces to avoid scratching the car. Photo: Remi Sagen / news Mother of small children Terese Kvalheim Yildirim was dangerously close to falling into the car door of the car next to her when she was going to lift the baby out of the car seat, but it went well. She often also has major problems maneuvering the pram between the lanes. She welcomes the proposal for larger parking spaces. – It’s absolutely great. It’s tip, top thumbs up, says Yildirim. Terese Kvalheim Yildirim is positive that car parks will be built wider in the future. Photo: Øyvind Sandnes / news
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Want new parking spaces to be built wider
