The driver of an American-style van has come under fire for a major parking snafu at a shopping centre.
The driver of the Ford F-250 took up two parking spaces in the outdoor car park of a Coles store in Melbourne’s south-east.
An amused shopper photographed the embarrassing park and shared a picture on Facebook.
“You should have your own traffic control equipment riding on it with the size of that platform,” they wrote.
A motorist has reignited the debate over American-style vans after the driver took up more than one parking space (pictured) in a car park.
The image showed part of the utility vehicle taking up two spaces because the vehicle was too large to fit in a single parking space.
Social media users were divided, with some defending the driver.
One argued The vehicle would not have been able to fit into a single space as parking spaces in Australia have not adapted to the size of the massive vehicles.
“Look, it’s not their fault the parks aren’t big enough,” they wrote.
“If I tried to park inside the lines I would be wasting my time,” [it’s] It is logical to park like this to leave room. Get 2 parks instead of 3 (sic),’ wrote another.
Others chimed in saying drivers don’t need to travel in “huge trucks.”
‘Why the hell do you need something so big?’ one wrote.
Dozens of Australians have complained about the size of the vans, as motorists remain deeply divided over the presence of large vehicles on Australian roads.
Experts have expressed opposition to the growing popularity.
Julian O’Shea, a sustainable transport researcher at Monash University, said these vehicles would force a redesign of public parking spaces.
‘The question is: how do we use this space?’ he he said yahoo.
“If we want to enlarge our parking lots, we will have less, we lose space for bike lanes, we lose space for parks, we lose space for shops.”
Mr O’Shea said the American-style vans would disrupt traffic in heavily congested areas.
Motorists said truck drivers have little choice but to take up more parking spaces (pictured) as the size of parking spaces in Australia is too small.
Australian motorists remain deeply divided over the presence of US-style vans on Australian roads (pictured), with experts warning the vehicles are causing more congestion.
Standards Australia, a not-for-profit group that oversees the development of internationally aligned road and infrastructure standards, has proposed increasing the length of the standard parking space in Australia.
The current size for on-street and off-street parking is currently 2.4m by 5.4m.
Daily Mail Australia has contacted Standards Australia for comment.
The popularity of American-style vans has been growing steadily in Australia.
Almost 800 large vans were sold across Australia in August 2023, representing a nearly 50 per cent year-on-year increase in vehicle sales growth last year.
Despite the growth of American-style vans, passenger vehicles such as sedans, hatchbacks and 4x4s remain the vehicles of choice for tens of thousands of Australian motorists.
More than 20,000 mid-size SUVs were sold during the same period.