Is it a peculiarly British trait?

[otherclive]

There we were sitting enjoying our sandwiches and tea looking out over the Salisbury Plain Training Area after having visited Imber, the ghost village The area we parked in is a bit remote and is hard gravel about half the size of a football pitch. When we arrived we were the only car, that’s why we like the spot, plus the views are grand. Then this van turned up and parked next to us. Must have read advice that old people need company !

It’s the same in supermarket or other car parks. Our vehicles have a magnetic attraction. 😂

 

[borderbilly]

Maybe it was your old spice or brut that attracted them 🤔

 

[Banus]

Naaahhh you're not on your own. Happens all the time. I parked early morning on our local retail park last week with an area the size of a football pitch all around my XC60. The nearest vehicle must have been 50m away. Within seconds of pulling up a 'lady' parked her tatty old hatchback within 18" of my drivers door. The passenger struggled to get out and then had to use all her considerable weight to stop the rear seat passenger smashing the door into the side of my car. The mentality of it as there were literally dozens of empty spaces all around that meant they'd have been able to fling their doors wide open making it easier for everyone to alight.
I swear that if I parked in the middle of the Sahara and went for a pee I'd come back to find a 4x4 parked 12" next to me!

 

[borderbilly]

Naaahhh you're not on your own. Happens all the time. I parked early morning on our local retail park last week with an area the size of a football pitch all around my XC60. The nearest vehicle must have been 50m away. Within seconds of pulling up a 'lady' parked her tatty old hatchback within 18" of my drivers door. The passenger struggled to get out and then had to use all her considerable weight to stop the rear seat passenger smashing the door into the side of my car. The mentality of it as there were literally dozens of empty spaces all around that meant they'd have been able to fling their doors wide open making it easier for everyone to alight.
I swear that if I parked in the middle of the Sahara and went for a pee I'd come back to find a 4x4 parked 12" next to me!

Aye, but it would be a Toyota not a Land Rover

 

[toad a caravan]

It's the flocking instinct, notable on supermarket car parks at early hours when they're almost deserted but mostly during the holiday season on campsite ie a dozen or so hand basins but someone HAS to use the one next to you,, leaving all others unused 🙂

 

[Steve1962]

Naaahhh you're not on your own. Happens all the time. I parked early morning on our local retail park last week with an area the size of a football pitch all around my XC60. The nearest vehicle must have been 50m away. Within seconds of pulling up a 'lady' parked her tatty old hatchback within 18" of my drivers door. The passenger struggled to get out and then had to use all her considerable weight to stop the rear seat passenger smashing the door into the side of my car. The mentality of it as there were literally dozens of empty spaces all around that meant they'd have been able to fling their doors wide open making it easier for everyone to alight.
I swear that if I parked in the middle of the Sahara and went for a pee I'd come back to find a 4x4 parked 12" next to me!

Oi…. Just because you’re in a Volvo doesn’t mean you own the parking spaces 🤣🤣🤣
Merry Christmas by the way👍

 

[Beardy]

I've found that this only happens if you have a nice car. Years ago I had an old Ford Maverick that I used to drive around farm land and never once washed it in 4 years of ownership. Originally it was red, but over the course of time it had faded to a myriad of shades of pink, not a single panel on it was undamaged. People didn't park next to it if they had a choice, and when they did they generally left plenty of space for me to get in and out. White vans and the odd (I assume) company cars were the exception.

 

[Sam Vimes]

I seem to recall a comedy sketch from way back with Peter Cook and Dudley Moore. (Possibly two other comedians)

One of them is seated in the cinema and is the only person there. The other one comes in and sits behind them. When the film starts the one at the back leans forward and asks the other to remove his hat as he can't see properly.

 

[Lutz]

I can assure you that it's not a British trait. Whenever I take my wife's car to go shopping, I tend to park in the far corner of the supermarket car park because although it's only a small car, it's a two door with very wide doors, so one needs to open them quite wide to get in and out of the car. Invariably when I return to the car, there's another one right next to hers and I have to jiggle myself between the door and the pillar to get in.

 

[Gafferbill]

Proving we are all different......
I don't see a problem with the OP's scenario

Different scenario Boxing day 2023....arrived at a car park up on the Ridgeway for a bracing walk.
Not a single free space in a 100 space carpark.
Youths kicking a football about in the access roads between the rows of cars.
Promptly escaped the scene!

Always look on the bright side of life.......
De Dum De Dum

HAPPY NEW YEAR ​

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[otherclive]

Proving we are all different......
I don't see a problem with the OP's scenario

Different scenario Boxing day 2023....arrived at a car park up on the Ridgeway for a bracing walk.
Not a single free space in a 100 space carpark.
Youths kicking a football about in the access roads between the rows of cars.
Promptly escaped the scene!
Always look on the bright side of life.......
De Dum De Dum

HAPPY NEW YEAR ​

​

​

Perhaps, but I wasn’t able to look on the “bright” side because my view to the “right” side had been severely curtailed and that’s a direction that occasionally you might see a Great Bustard. The neighbours didn’t even stay to enjoy the view and toddled off down the road. So clearly they were not seeking social intercourse.

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[Beachball]

Yesterday took my car where we always park in the town there are disabled parking spaces on my boot it says leave room for my mobility scooter well when we came back from shopping this car had park near my rear bumper so you are not on your own .

 

[JTQ]

Much the same on 5 van sites, probably serves me right carefully considering the options and picking a pitch with the greatest pluses I supposed.

 

[Mel]

It’s a British conformity thing. Same as when 2 British people meet they form a queue.
I would like to bet that if the car park had marked spaces then they would have parked in one further away( probably the next but one. However, in the absence of marked spaces they parked next to you with the same sort of distance as a marked full car park. This is to comply with a notion (sadly not held by all) that you park in a conventional manner to maximise the car parking potential of a car park.
I have been guilty of critiquing OHs car parking if, in an unmarked car park he has left a “space and a half” rather than just a single car space between us and the next vehicle.
Mel

 

[otherclive]

It’s a British conformity thing. Same as when 2 British people meet they form a queue.
I would like to bet that if the car park had marked spaces then they would have parked in one further away( probably the next but one. However, in the absence of marked spaces they parked next to you with the same sort of distance as a marked full car park. This is to comply with a notion (sadly not held by all) that you park in a conventional manner to maximise the car parking potential of a car park.
I have been guilty of critiquing OHs car parking if, in an unmarked car park he has left a “space and a half” rather than just a single car space between us and the next vehicle.
Mel

Thing is that it’s not actually a car park, it’s just a large area of hard core where tracks across the training area come together and it allows more manoeuvre space for the various army vehicles as they go from one track to another. I suppose I should be grateful it was only a VW van and not a Challenger 2 that parked alongside. 😀

 

[Banus]

I've found that this only happens if you have a nice car. Years ago I had an old Ford Maverick that I used to drive around farm land and never once washed it in 4 years of ownership. Originally it was red, but over the course of time it had faded to a myriad of shades of pink, not a single panel on it was undamaged. People didn't park next to it if they had a choice, and when they did they generally left plenty of space for me to get in and out. White vans and the odd (I assume) company cars were the exception.

I've always wanted a tatty old Series 1 Landy but SWMBO would flip her lid at the thought of it. The sort of car you can jet wash on the inside and out and not have to worry about where to park it and who's parked next to it and dinked the door.
Years ago I had a nearly new BMW M3 Coupe I bought off a sports celebrity. I was absolutely mint , a real eye catcher and tastefully specked up with carbon but was nothing but a nightmare to own. Was glad to see it finally go.