One in five road accidents involves a parked car

Collisions with parked cars account for one in five of all road accidents, according to a report.

Overcrowded roads, motorists not concentrating and the trend towards bigger vehicles have contributed to such incidents. Analysis of 100,000 accidents over two years found blameless drivers to be footing a huge repair bill. Some people returned to their parked car to find it damaged; others were in the stationary vehicle when a car hit them.



Accident Exchange found that 700,000 motorists shunt, scrape or hit parked cars each year. Most of the accidents take place in the street. Steve Evans, of the company, said: “The fear is that soon we will have parked car incident hotspots where nearby residents could even be priced out of insuring their vehicles.”

London drivers are most likely to be victims of a parked car crash, nearly one in ten being recorded in the capital. Glasgow, which has less than 200,000 registered cars in the city, was next on the list, followed by Birmingham.