London - The UK is a nation of dozy parkers, with six million Britons losing their parked car over the last two years.
A survey has revealed that one in seven drivers (14 percent) have forgotten where they parked their vehicles – and have spent a collective 200 years looking for them.
Women are more absent-minded, with 16 percent forgetting compared to just 12 percent of men.
However men took almost twice as long to find their car, spending an average 50 minutes a year hunting compared to women’s 27 minutes.
The average overall is 40 minutes – meaning that each year Britain’s motorists collectively spend 78 000 days, or 213 years, looking for their misplaced vehicles.
The poll of 2000 adults by insurers Direct Line DrivePlus also found that men were more likely to lose their car in a city centre, while women were most prone to mislaying it in the supermarket car-park.
THE REAL COST
And seems it is more than just a nuisance – it can also be costly. Almost a quarter of those who forgot where they left their vehicle had to pay extra parking charges, amounting to more than £432 000 (R7.9 million) in a year.
On top of this, one in eight motorists found themselves landed with a parking ticket. The total amount for both fines and extra payments in the last two years is around £11.3 million (R206.8 million).
But despite gender stereotypes when it comes to asking for directions, men are actually much better at asking for help finding their lost vehicle. Twenty-five percent of males were happy to seek assistance, while only 14 percent of embarrassed females were happy to do the same.
Daily Mail