LAUREL, Md. (WUSA9) -- Competing for the best parking spot might not be the smartest strategy.
Psychologists who have studied parking behavior on the busiest shopping days say often the people who park farthest away and walk the longest distances save time and are inside stores quicker than those who compete for prime parking closer to entrances.
Andrew Velkey of Christopher Newport University conducted his studies in the parking lot of a Walmart store in Mississippi. He found motorists who compete for close-in parking spend their time circling the lot or waiting while another motorist backs out of a targeted spot.
Meanwhile, researchers at Penn State determined that the person vacating a parking spot takes an average of 11 seconds more to move out when there is another motorist waiting.
Velkey says the behavior has less to do with parking and is likely more rooted in a human instinct to stake out and defend territory.
