Cars are getting bigger, but parking spaces aren't.

Finding spaces at the end of lines, as in this example, limits the potential for damage. Photo: Trevor Bevins
According to a report by the National Safety Council, there are more than 500,000 parking lot collisions each year, or an eye-popping 1,373 each day. It has increased by nearly 4% since 2010.
Collisions are on the rise as parking spaces get smaller and cars get bigger, costing UK motorists nearly £750m a year in repair bills, says accident repair firm Accident Exchange. .
Why do people need such huge vehicles? I often see elderly couples struggling to get on and off the train. I don't understand why anyone would choose a car that is so inconvenient and difficult to use. Some leave you sitting so high that it would be safer to rappel down to the sidewalk. If someone gets out of a car and you can't see it from the other side, to me it's a van. Look around. Even minis aren't minis anymore. It looks about twice as big as before.
Why can't we just do things small and light-heartedly, instead of fiercely and violently, like in France and Italy?
Cars are getting so big that more than a third of UK drivers can no longer park their cars in a garage. Some 37% of drivers who own a garage told insurance company Churchill that they never use it for its intended purpose. And 42% because the motor is too wide, leaving only a few centimeters of space to open the door.
For over 60 years, my parents were able to fit every car they owned into a small garage on the side of their house. From the Mini Clubman to the last car they owned, a VW Polo that looked like mine.
They had no problem using that little car to transport us as well as other necessities such as shopping, trash, Christmas trees, logs, etc.
Some may argue that these huge cars are necessary to transport large families. My parents had three children and managed their mini Clubman estate perfectly. Friends with large families ran small taverns. I know you could legally cram your child in and have them sit on your lap back then, but even with today's safety regulations, I'm sure people don't need to buy these giant things. I am.
When I was young, large cars were limited to Land Rovers owned by local farmers. That's how it should be.