Science Fair Parking Project

Hi All,

My daughter just finished her science fair project which involved parking and parking perceptions. Her question was "do people take longer vacating a parking spot when someone is waiting?"

She did an on-line survey with 100 people, 96% of the respondents thought they went faster or at least the same speed if someone was waiting. Only 4% thought they actually went slower when someone was waiting.

She found 5 parking lots and timed 100 cars, timing started when the person touched their car. The averages were interesting, when no one was waiting the average time was 31 seconds. When someone was waiting the average time was 1:17. Quite a difference. 94% of the people left the spot when no one was waiting in under 45 seconds. Only one person took more than 1:30!

A comment was made that when we were waiting for a car, one lady even lit up her cigarette, put on her lipstick and stared at us like we were rushing her. This particular person was the longest wait time of 3:08 minutes. We just sat there as she glared at us!

Overall, when no one was waiting was the fastest. Only 4% of the people were right in what they perceived would happen. Quite fascinating.

My daughter was made a semi-finalist for the science fair and was able to present to the parents last night. A comment was made that she was the only 7th grader ever to present at the science fair!