Women better at parking than men, study shows

Women are better at parking than men, according to research which contradicts popular belief.

Stereotyped views about women’s spatial skills should be put into reverse gear and beat a swift retreat, it appears, following a study by British car parks operator NCP which gave women a higher average score at parking than men.

They analysed technique, accuracy and time taken to park, giving women a score of 13.4 out of 20, compared to 12.3 for men.

Women are slower than men at parking, taking an average of 21 seconds compared to 16 for men.

However, they scored better on finding a space, positioning the car, reversing into spaces and making sure the car was centrally placed in a space.

The study found men often missed available spaces by driving too quickly.

More than one third of women opted to reverse into spaces, compared to just over 25% of men.

Men were also happier with the position of their cars once in the space, with only 29% choosing to start repositioning the car.

Most women found themselves shuffling to try to obtain a better final position, resulting in more than half of women parking centrally, compared to only a quarter of men.

The study found men also loved to “pose park” when accompanied by a female passenger, by squeezing into a small space when a bigger one was available.

The study was conducted by looking at CCTV footage of 453 drivers parking, as well as taking the views of 2,000 drivers.

The scoring system was designed by driving instructor Neil Beeson of ITV’s Last Chance Driving School documentary.

He said: “I was quite surprised by the results, because in my experience men have always been the best learners and usually performed better in lessons. 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.”