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A warning has been issued over a "frustrating" epidemic sweeping car parks in England. 75 per cent who have used a mobile app to pay for parking in the last 12 months experienced difficulties doing so, the RAC has warned. Of those that ran into problems, top of the list of frustrations by a considerable margin is a lack of reliable mobile phone signal in the car park (70%). This was followed by the mobile app not correctly recognising the car park the driver was in (36%), and the app in question crashing (35%). RAC senior policy officer Rod Dennis said: “There’s no doubt mobile apps have an important and increasing role to play when it comes to parking our vehicles, and the best ones make parking an easier task. READ MORE Free bus passes could be extended to one group of under 66s "But our figures show there’s still plenty drivers find frustrating about using them – whether that’s a lack of mobile signal, problems registering bank cards, or the app crashing or behaving strangely. “Parking should, in theory at least, be one of the simplest tasks any driver completes but having to navigate a variety of differently designed apps – and register an account, vehicle details and bank cards with each one – can be a pain. "Having card details saved with a myriad of different providers also isn’t ideal from security perspective, as unlike using conventional websites there’s generally no reassuring padlock symbol on parking apps to show card details are being shared securely. “The launch of the National Parking Platform, which we welcome, should spell the end of drivers needing to download lots of separate apps just to park and simplify things enormously. "This does depend on enough local authorities and parking companies up and down the country signing up, though. “In the meantime, we encourage drivers to ensure they’re always using the latest versions of each parking app they use. This reduces the chance of the app not functioning and ensures they always benefit from the app’s latest features. "But even then, those with older smartphones need to be aware that over time, parking app developers stop supporting their devices. This means these drivers will no longer be able to update their apps, which could lead to future problems using them to pay for parking. “For anyone running into difficulty when paying by app is the only option, whether that’s struggling with phone signal or the app just not working, we strongly recommend they collect evidence of their attempts to park, including screenshots of any app errors. "This can be used to challenge the parking operator in the event they send the driver a parking charge notice for apparently not paying to park, as it shows the driver did everything they reasonably could to pay. “We also continue to believe that all parking operators, whether public or private, should offer drivers at least two different ways to pay. "No-one should be forced to use to a mobile app when parking if they don’t want to, especially those who struggle with technology or just don’t have a smartphone.”
