KEY POINTS:
Be careful when driving to your favourite Christmas shopping destination - the seemingly innocuous New Zealand carpark has been revealed as a hotbed for collisions, scrapes, stolen spaces and expensive insurance claims.
The 2008 AA Insurance Drivers Index surveyed 2573 New Zealand drivers aged between 18 and 75.
It found more than half of those surveyed (53 per cent) said that another driver had stolen a parking space they were obviously waiting for.
And while 92 per cent thought it was wrong to use a disabled space without a permit, 82 per cent said they had seen it happen.
But the damaging, costly and all-too-common habit of bashing into an unoccupied vehicle and leaving no identification was the worst carpark transgression.
Almost three-quarters (72 per cent) of drivers had returned to their parked car to find it damaged. Most of those victims - 88 per cent - said the person who did the damage had not left their contact details.
But most of the surveyed drivers were keeping mum about their own bad habits - only one in six drivers (16 per cent) saying they would think twice about leaving their details if they damaged a car without being seen.
AA Insurance deputy general manager Martin Fox said the company received thousands of claims each year from customers who had found their parked car with broken lights, broken mirrors, dented panels or scratched paint - and no evidence or details of who caused the damage.
"There is a legal responsibility to own up if you damage another person's vehicle," he said. "This matters because if we don't know who did the damage, we can't contact them or their insurer to manage the claim."
That meant the innocent victim was more likely to have to pay their excess and potentially blemish their no claims record.
The most frequent cause for claims for damage in carparks came from cars reversing into a vehicle parked behind them, or which had stopped and waited behind them. In most cases it was the reversing driver's fault.
Mr Martin said the offending drivers often looked around, saw the way was clear, and then began reversing. But while they were putting their car in gear another vehicle or person had moved up behind them.
Other carpark collisions were caused by hitting oncoming vehicles, trolleys, walls and poles. Mr Martin estimated the average carpark prang caused about $1200 worth of damage.
CARPARK ETIQUETTE
* Take it easy. Many carpark accidents are caused by frustration and impatience
* When reversing into or out of a park, go slowly and don't just rely on your mirrors - look over your shoulder too
* Don't pull out around cars waiting to drive into a parking space - be patient and give them room to move
* If you are involved in a collision and hit another parked vehicle, do the right thing and leave a note with your details
* If your car is damaged and no one has left a note, report it to the carpark or mall security firm - they may have CCTV footage of the incident
