French cyclists launch competition to find worst-parked cars in their city

Go for a spin around any built-up area and you will likely find at least one badly-parked car left blocking a cycle lane or pavement.

One group of French cyclists are taking matters into their own hands to raise awareness of the problem — launching a competition to find their city's worst-parked vehicle.

The tongue-in-cheek 'garé comme une merde' roughly translates to the 'parked like crap' award, and was founded by Lyon cycling association La Ville à Vélo Lyon Métropole.

The Connexion, a French-based English language news site, reports special mention will be given to those who park in cycle lanes, but there will also be various categories for inconsiderate motorists to be entered into.

Vehicles badly parked in front of free dedicated parking spaces, badly parked vehicles that cause queues, badly parked cars in front of shops for 'urgent stops' such as cigarettes or toilet breaks, or even those parked so drivers can have a chat are all up for grabs.

Drivers parking badly in front of police cars or police stations will also be part of a separate category.

The competition will close on Thursday 24 March with submissions welcomed on Twitter using the hashtag #GCUM and tagging @LaVilleaVelo.

There are some early front-runners for the multitude of categories...

Proposition #2: https://t.co/Z1Hzi2EBdn

— La Ville à Vélo Lyon Métropole (@LaVilleaVelo) March 20, 2022

Proposition #3: https://t.co/Cmk7WyiMG4

— La Ville à Vélo Lyon Métropole (@LaVilleaVelo) March 20, 2022

Urgence la poste + cumulard bande et racks vélo ce midi place des pavillons pic.twitter.com/zLA5Obagq4

— Jérôme Foray 💉💉💉 (@meroje01) March 1, 2022

If such a competition was to hypothetically cross the Channel it might be an open-and-shut case of simply giving the Lancaster motorist whose remarkable parking is pictured at the top of this story, and appeared on the road.cc live blog on Friday.

Or perhaps awarding a winner would not be that simple. Last May, the president of the AA said it "doesn't look great" after one of the breakdown company's vans was pictured parked in a cycle lane.

Despite the AA's official Twitter account originally defending the display, saying it looked as thought the mechanic was attending a breakdown at one of the houses, Edmund King OBE stepped in, under the context of a social media firestorm, to admit it was not the best look for the company.

Feel free to fill the comments with your own snaps of badly-parked cars where you live...