by PJ Smith
They say that size doesn’t matter, but when it comes to the motoring world, I beg to differ.
You see, in the latter part of 2022, I got to spend some time in the latest Kia Carnival. A superb, technological beast that is more than capable of moving you and your family in sheer comfort. But like any other vehicle, there comes a time when the beast needs to be parked. Whether this be at your local shopping mall or curbside while you run into the local store to grab a few essentials. And therein lies the problem because this particular vehicle is just over 5 meters long and just 5 millimeters shy of being 2 meters wide.
Being a wedding weekend I got to do my fair share of running errands in the Carnival and with one such mission, I found myself in the parking lot of Kenilworth Centre shopping mall in the Southern Suburbs of Cape Town. Now, this particular parking lot is challenging, to say the least, with its somewhat narrow roadways and many twists and turns in its undercover parking lot. As I drove around nervously looking for parking I immediately felt like a bull in a china shop and I was very aware of the many faces around me sizing up “my” Carnival in comparison to the size of the parking spaces available.
The parking attendant, thankfully, noticed the anxious look on my face and quickly advised that parking for bigger vehicles was toward the back, something I was unaware of. With a huge sigh of relief, I made my way to where I was being escorted. It got me thinking; is it not time shopping malls, especially, start dedicating specific parking spaces for SUVs and bakkies?
South Africans are currently obsessed with SUVs, and let’s not forget our long-standing love affair with bakkies. And sure, while many of the current SUVs on our roads fall into the compact SUV segment such as the Toyota Urban Cruiser, Hyundai Venue and the like – the mid to large SUVs have their fair share of sales; think Toyota Fortuner, Ford Everest etc. And when it comes to our bakkies, the Nissan NP200 is currently the only compact bakkie available in SA and the rest are all large (mostly) double cabs coming in at over 5 meters plus in length and, like the Carnival, just shy of 2 meters wide.
Admit it, just like me you too have cringed watching someone attempt to park their behemoth into the tiniest of spaces only to see them squirm and shimmy their way out of the driver’s seat because the space doesn’t allow for the door to fully open. Never mind the poor soul with the modest vehicle parked next to them who, through no fault of their own, finds themselves having to do the same shimmy manoeuvre if they wish to leave the parking lot unscathed.
These vehicles have found their way into more than a few hearts and homes, but their sheer size cannot be denied. It’s the one instance where I dare say that size does matter. And so I implore the drivers of these beautiful beasts, for the love of chips, dents, scrapes and shimmying, until more shopping malls dedicate bigger parking spaces specifically for you, to please think before you park.