@ Thalia #1: I am a 23-year-old who drives a 4x4 and if I ever hit anybody or even just knocked their car with my door I would apologise and leave my details if there was any damage done. I have had car insurance since I started driving at 15 and have never had to make a claim, but still pay my premiums faithfully every month - and yes, I *do* pay my own premiums. Maybe you should think twice about making such generalisations? It's not just young people who don't have insurance.

@ Andrew #17

I am not sure how $200 dollars for a bumper scrape repair can be called cheap. Add extra for a head or tail lamp, or an actual dented bumper. A simple bit of care by other car owners is all that is needed. Unless I cover all of my doors in rubber, I doubt rubber will help as car doors vary in shape and size so have a wide area of which they can all dent.

I worry about how my car looks because I care about the money I spend and how much I will get when I resell the car.

@Sheila #22, when your car's "rear bumper has a rainbow of scrapes and colours" I suggest you look to the drivers of said vehicle for the cause. Cars that have been hit by others tend to have one or two colours on their bumpers. Cars that routinely hit others, collect the many colours of the cars they hit.

I agree, the carparks in NZ are terrible. However, there are also alot of people that can't park out there, it is not hard to get your car between the 2 white lines yet there are always people who park outside the white lines, their cars always get a good knock from my door when I open it. If you cant park between the lines then your car gets what it deserves.

We witnessed some moron take out the whole front quarter of a parked car in a Queenstown parking building. there was about 5 of us standing there watching as she slowly kept going forward doing more and more damange. We stopped her and took down her rego. Police followed this up and the owner of the rental car she took out had a good finish in the end!

What I don't like is that car-parking companies are happy to take your money but then absolve themselves of all responsibility for any loss or damage caused to your car. Perhaps if car-park companies had to foot some or all of the bill, and therefore installed adequate surveillance, the number of accidents would reduce.

I'm a 21 year old and when i backed into someones car on accident i started writing a note with my details when the car owner came out. She was so suprised that i was leaving my details that she said dont worry about it as she was going to replace the bumper anyway.. So not all young people are dishonest!!

The driving skills are atrocious in this country. Our rear bumper has a rainbow of scrapes and colours from people who can't park. Who ever thought learning to drive from a family member is a good idea should be shot.

I once came back to my car to find it had been slammed into with a towbar causing extensive damage. Quite how someone manages to reverse at full speed in to another car in a carpark is beyond me

I blame the whole "No claims bonus" element and how you must hang onto your bonus to avoid paying more per year for insurance than your car is worth. If I hit someone in a carpark I would probably just drive off too – I'd be happy to pay $300 or so to repair the other car but not if it meant paying $2000 more per year in insurance for the next 5 years.