Male chauvinists may have been right all along about being better drivers than the opposite sex - at least if it involves parking an Audi barge.
The pet theory has been bolstered in an academic study by researchers at Ruhr University in Bochum, Germany, who looked at the length of time taken and the accuracy with which a mixed-sex group of drivers managed to slot themselves into a berth.
Not only did women take on average 20 seconds longer to get into the space, but despite their more methodical approach they also tended to be closer to the edges of the bays.
The study, which looked at a variety of parking manoeuvres - including fronting in, reversing and the dreaded parallel park - asked subjects to park a hefty Audi A6 automatic in a 15ft by 6ft bay in a closed-off car park.
It concluded that men's brains were quicker at taking in the speed and position of the car in relation to the parking space, resulting in better coordination and awareness of where the vehicle was.
Co-writer Dr Claudia Wolf told the Mail on Sunday that she was prompted to look into the old chestnut after growing weary of sexist jokes.
However, she said the findings didn't undermine the search for equality between the sexes - rather, it simply proved what previous studies had concluded about "spatial differences between men and women".
"Besides, it is not as if there was a massive failing by women," Dr Wolf added.
"It is just about parking – not the triumph of men over women."
