(Yes, you may have heard about this already…!)
The mayor of the German town of Triberg has courted controversy by introducing parking spaces for women only, which are wider and have better lighting.
Explaining the policy, Mayor Gallus Strobel said it was a “natural” decision because men are better at parking than women. He then added that there were great women drivers, and all women were welcome to park in the men-only spaces as well. He further pointed out that 10 spaces were reserved for women as opposed to just two for men.
According to the UK Telegraph, the two men-only designated spaces that are causing all the fuss are considered ‘difficult’ because they are not rectangular, at an angle to the road, and placed between walls and pillars.
Meanwhile, on the Sydney Morning Herald, it would seem that Triberg is not the first place to introduce women’s parking zones. A car park in the Chinese city of Tianjin (China) recently introduced a women-only parking zone, marked with a pink paint scheme which includes wider spots, brighter lighting and additional guide rails.
Recent research has thrown up different results on the question of which is the fairer sex behind the wheel.
In January, a UK study found that women were better parkers because they were more careful and took more time to park accurately.
But a more recent study by the UK’s Department for Transportation’s Driving Standards Agency found that females are more likely to fail a driving test than males because they tend to have issues reverse parking.