Mercedes drivers revealed as the worst parkers

In first place is Mercedes, with 25% of this brand found to be parked incorrectly. We found that the city with the most incorrectly parked Mercedes models was Barcelona, with Mercedes making up 11% of cars in Barcelona that failed to park properly.

Mercedes drivers may have a bad reputation when it comes to driving habits. In another study, we found that Mercedes-Benz drivers were the second most likely to not use their turn signals!

In second place with 24.4% of Citroens parked incorrectly are Citroen drivers. We found that Citroen drivers in Barcelona and Paris, in particular, had difficulties parking within the lines; we even found some cars in Barcelona and Rome had parked illegally in handicap spaces!

In third place is BMW, with 21.7% of these cars being parked incorrectly. There were several BMWs parked outside the lines in Barcelona, Rome, and Amsterdam. While parked annoyingly wonkily, we found that no BMW drivers parked in handicapped spaces without a valid permit.

Like some luxury car brands, BMWs get a bad rep; drivers of this brand in particular are known for not using their turn signals. In fact, they came in first place in our other research about this!

Coming in fourth place with 20.5% parked incorrectly are Tesla drivers. There were several Teslas parked incorrectly across Barcelona and Manchester, but none in the other three cities.

Volkswagen drivers are in fifth place, as we found 20.4% of these cars to be parked incorrectly. From our data, Volkswagens made up 13% of all cars that either weren’t parked within the lines or parked in handicap spaces without a permit.

We found that the highest number of Volkswagen drivers who had parked incorrectly were found in Barcelona, with 13% of all badly parked cars across this city’s shopping mall car parks being Volkswagens.

One of the most famous parking mishaps from a Volkswagen driver is one you may recognize. In 1969, a Volkswagen Beetle was parked improperly on the sidewalk—now captured forever in the background of The Beatles’ iconic Abbey Road album cover!

In sixth place with 18.3% of these cars being parked incorrectly are Seat drivers. Almost all of the badly parked Seat cars were spotted in parking lots across Barcelona, aside from one found in a popular shopping mall parking lot in Manchester.

In seventh place with 18.1% of these cars parked incorrectly are Ford drivers. Parking lots in Barcelona and Amsterdam had the most Ford cars parked outside the lines, but there were zero in Paris.

Audi drivers came in eighth as 17.7% of Audis were parked incorrectly. We found that Audi drivers who had trouble parking were in Barcelona and Manchester. While a few of these cars weren’t parked within the lines, there were none parked illegally in handicap spaces.

Coming in a tie for eighth place with Audi are Renault drivers, as 17.7% of Renaults were found to be parked incorrectly. We found that a parking lot in Paris had the highest number of badly parked Renaults out of all five cities.

Peugeot drivers land in ninth place with 14.2% of this brand being incorrectly parked. Amsterdam was found to have the highest number of badly parked Peugeot cars, followed by Barcelona.

Rounding up the top ten are Kia drivers, as 10.8% of this brand were found to be parked incorrectly. Overall, most Kias in our research were parked perfectly within the lines, with just a few outliers in parking lots in Barcelona and Amsterdam.

Though Toyota was the most popular brand that we observed, it had one of the lowest percentages of incorrectly parked cars at 10.5%. We found several Toyotas parked outside the lines in Barcelona and Rome, but none in the other three cities.

Our research showed that the city with the highest percentage of badly parked cars was Barcelona, as 19% of cars observed were found to be parked incorrectly. Paris follows closely behind in second place, with 18% of cars recorded in this city being parked either outside the lines or in handicap spaces with no permit. We found that 16% of cars weren’t parked properly in Rome, Amsterdam and Manchester.

Overall across all cities, the total percentage of cars that were parked incorrectly came to 16%.

It seems like Mercedes drivers are the most in need of brushing up on their parking skills! When parking up, it’s important to check you’re parked properly within the lines to consider other drivers. If you’re parked a bit wonky and going over into the adjacent spot, it makes parking harder for other drivers, which is not what you want when looking for a spot in a busy mall parking lot! Always double- check you’re parked within the lines, and never park in a handicap space without a valid permit.


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