How to park 129 square feet of Buick

SWEDEN. 129 square feet of Buick was about to be crammed into a Swedish parking space designed for a Ford KA and Hyundai Atos. By Jan Silén. Translation Ellen Kay Krantz.

The time had come for the mandatory-government-humiliation-process at the vehicle inspection office the Buick has to go through every other year. Fia joined this big event as she had som errands to run in the city. After the inspection we headed downtown where she checked some things of her to-do list. She then suddenly sprung on me a spontaneous mall visit in search for new outfits.

– Just a quickie, in and out, she said. “In and out” in clothing stores means approximately 1½-2 hours.

This is the moment where 129 square feet of Buick was about to be crammed into a Swedish-sized parking space designed for a Ford KA and Hyundai Atos.

Backing into the parking space with precision went kind of smoothly but then she realized she couldn’t get out of the car. The doors couldn’t be opened! It’s about 3 inches of room left to the cars on the sides! I have to pull out of the space and let her out before backing up again. And I have to wait in the car in case the owners come back and want to get into their seats. I’ve backed it up as far as it goes but a third of the Buick is still sticking out of the white space.

My body is almost aligned with the tailgate of the car next to me. Checking out other parked cars around me and spot an old SAAB 16 ft ahead. Wondering what the owner looks like. Surely an elderly couple. Two cars went head to head in front of the Buick and one of the cars with an old lady had to back up because the Buick makes it impossible for them both to pass by.

She starts waving he hand for me to back up further. I respond by gesturing that I can’t and receive a nasty glance from the lady. The owners of the SAAB return and sure enough, it’s an elderly couple. I turn on the ignition with one hand on the horn just in case they get to close.

But it all runs smoothly. The old man knows his car. As I sit there I notice that other “ordinary” cars are having trouble with the small space between the doors as well.

Almost everyone lightly touch the neighboring car. 

I spend one hour in the car.

– Almost everyone getting in and out touches the neighboring car with the door.

To get a stroller in between the cars is out of the question.

And don’t even get me started on the ones returning to the car with a cart filled with 4-5-6 shopping bags. It’s apparently totally ok to let the cart rest against the car next to yours. I wonder how many parking damages there is every year?

If it’s really tight Mrs. Krantz (Myran) position her car across two spots to show her stand point.

This is the way the driver’s test feel about it but I wonder if not Myran is correct.

Why does it have to be so darn narrow and tight on Swedish parking lots?

At one end of the lot there’s often a planted bush or tree, just ram them down and make wider spaces. But if Swedish municipalities chose to do that they would probably just make more parking spaces instead of widening the existing ones.

Same thing at the gas stations. It’s narrow and tight everywhere. One time when I was filling up gas I heard a smacking sound in the front, 19 ft ahead. It was an old man in a Hyundai Atos, instigating a fight with the Buick. Luckily, no danages were made to the grill but the Asian mini-car got a hefty fender bender in the rear. American 50’s plate against Asian foil can only end in one way, American steel always win.

Another thing I don’t get is why you don’t back it up into the parking space?

It makes it so much easier when leaving. As I sat on the lot I saw all these women in a rush getting into the stores, they threw themselves into first, best space, some of them adjusting when their coming in wrong, but many just leaving the car in a 45 degree angle in the square.

I don’t think the number of costumers will decrease because of larger parking spaces, the opposite. Who wants to park their new car on these lots? They are almost guaranteed a fender bender or paint damage when they return.

Municipalities and shopping malls should be held accountable and be deductable for the insurance. Then wider spaces would magically appear as soon as you can say “park”.

And who’s in charge of deciding how big the spaces should be? Probably someone who never owned a car and travels by train or subway. And then, where do they get the measurements?

Do they measure the smallest car on the market and add eight inch all around?

– Guess the politicians want all Swede’s to drive mini-cars.