PARKING in the city is an increasingly risky business, as drivers keen to get a spot close to their destination ''nudge'' aside other vehicles instead of searching further away.
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Research by NRMA Insurance reveals ACT drivers are less than honest when it comes to car park scrapes or scratches, with people parking in Civic the worst offenders.
Car parks in the suburbs of Greenway and Oxley were next most likely to cost drivers an insurance claim, as office workers compete for increasingly scarce parking spots. NRMA spokesman Andrew Tubb said the research showed the overwhelming majority of ACT drivers thought only of themselves.
Nine out of 10 refused to take responsibility for car park collisions they caused and more than half turned a blind eye when they witnessed car park collisions - even though almost three-quarters had suffered the same fate at some point.
''Our research showed that a note is left by the offending driver in 8per cent of cases,'' Mr Tubb said. ''We think that at times maybe out of frustration, drivers may try to squeeze their car into a tight spot to rush to their destination.''
But a recent report by international consultants Luxmoore said ''demanding'' Canberra drivers don't appreciate the oversupply of government subsidised car parks on offer.
''There appears to be an incorrect perception of shortage of parking bays,'' the report says.
Its survey of Civic car parks found there were about 680 spaces for every 1000 workers, with some ACT town centres supporting a car parking spot for every worker in the area.
But Liberals' transport spokesman Alistair Coe says people in the ACT are being forced to park illegally by a Government plan to push people on to buses by cutting the number of spaces.
''ACT Labor refuses to acknowledge that Canberra was built for the car and that needs to be met with proper planning,'' he said.
''To drive into the city and to find a car park or to drive into one of the town centres is a real ordeal.''