Motormouth: Scoring that elusive parking space is like winning a medal in the Olympic Games

Circling a carpark in the search for an empty parking space can be quite a competition, with a podium finish for the “faster, higher, stronger” competitors. 

[Story by guest columnist Tan Ah Lin]

These parking “Olympics” for motorists compel them to devise their own strategies of increasing their chances of securing a parking space in the shortest possible time - whether or not the official timekeeper is Omega. These parking athletes must perform at their peak, in response to the different layouts of different carparks, whether multi-storey or open, above ground or basement. 

In the process of circling the carpark, it is not uncommon to encounter “road blocks” - drivers who crawl at a snail's pace, without regard for the long trail of cars stuck behind them. The way these slowpokes are going, one would think the parking lots are Polly Pocket-size, or they just need magnifying windscreens designed for Mr Magoo. 

Then there are those inconsiderate drivers who obstruct the entire driveway while waiting for another car to vacate a parking spot. The track playing in their car is probably "When you're smiling, the whole world smiles with you, and when you're waiting, the whole world waits with you".

After circling for a few futile rounds, you decide to activate the hazard lights and wait, a few car spaces behind another waiting hopeful. 

You jolt to attention at the sound of a car unlocked, and from your rear view mirror, you spot a man walking towards his car. "Please let it be the car nearest to me", you pray. He walks past your car, and gets into a vehicle midway between you and the other hopeful in front. 

Short of pulling out a tape measure to determine who is nearer to the soon-to-be-available parking space, how do you determine who is the rightful successor of the lot? 

I seem to be nearer, but should I give way because he was here first?" To be gallant, or every motorist for himself/herself?

Finally, you spot a vacant parking space, or so you think. As you drive nearer, you realise it is actually half an empty lot because the selfish driver has parked his vehicle straddling two lots.

In my opinion, no matter how tiny the lot, not even a Mercedes S-Class or BMW 7 Series is justified in occupying two lots. A full-blown Rolls-Royce limousine, maybe. 

And if anyone's parking is so off the mark, he or she shouldn't be on the roads in the first place, or in carparks for that matter. That person doesn’t qualify for the parking “Olympics”, but takes part anyway.

The driver has to be "faster, higher, stronger" to win a spot in the parking "Olympics".

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