UK drivers who feel their skills behind the wheel falter in certain situations could soon grab a set of ‘B plates’ to alert fellow motorists to their less-than-stellar navigation abilities.
Seasoned road users are all too familiar with the sight of specific plates affixed to cars and the mixed feelings they inspire.
Everyone knows that a big red ‘L’ plate means ‘learner’ and you should give them plenty of time and space on the roads as they do their best to get through the ordeal every driver must overcome.
Some who have recently passed will adorn their vehicle with green ‘P’ plates which means ‘probationary’, a sign that the driver has their licence and managed to pass their test but is still relatively inexperienced, so your understanding is appreciated.
Of course, there are plenty of motorists on Britain’s roads who have neither of these plates and leave their fellow drivers baffled as to how they managed to pass their test in the first place.
For those drivers, a car scrap company has come up with something they probably don’t want to have on their car, a set of ‘B plates’.
According to Scrap Car Comparison, plenty of UK drivers feel like there’s one part of their motor skills which could still do with some work even after they’ve passed their test, their parking skills.
Apparently 48 percent of drivers think they could stand to work on their ability to park a car, with parallel parking the most daunting of these tasks followed by reverse bay parking.
As much as you might worry about backing into a tight space in the supermarket car park, you’re going to have to know how to do it eventually, you can’t always hope you can drive cleanly into a waiting space.
This is why the company has launched their B plate, which is supposed to warn other motorists of ‘bad parking’ from the person behind the wheel.
This is their creation, not a new introduction from the Department for Transport, so you don’t gain any official status from the plates, they just broadcast that you don’t think you’re good at parking.
The plates are merely a little something you can apply for via a form on the website. They aren’t actually available for general purchase and hold no ‘legal’ implications.
With Christmas coming up you might want to get it for someone else as a joke, just slap it on the back of their car and see how long it takes for them to notice something’s up.
Parking confidence varies wildly between drivers of various brands, with BMW drivers being the most likely to think they could do with a bit of help at 68 percent, which would demonstrate a startling level of self-awareness given their reputation.
Drivers of other German brands Audi (64 percent) and Mercedes (63 percent) rounded out the top three when it came to parking worries. About a quarter of drivers think they just weren’t taught enough about parking during their driving lessons.
According to the Daily Mail, some road safety groups aren’t big fans of the B plate and think motorists who are really that worried should just seek extra instruction instead of slapping a plate on their car.
Even after you’ve passed your test there are other courses and refresher lessons you can do which can help tune up your skills or teach you about an aspect of driving you might not have been taught much about during your lessons.
Maybe you should just book a refresher driving lesson and tell them you want to spend more time on parking?
