Another parking dispute

The BBQ Pit
21

Are you kidding me? Wow, I know that not everyone lives in the same area I do, and thus the requirements for road tests are different, but back when I was learning how to drive, back up parking is REQUIRED. They didn’t test us on pulling forward into a parking space, but backing up.

Now, I realise my government aren’t the sharpest knives in the drawer, but there is a reason they test backing up and not pulling forward. The simplest reason being that backing up causes less bumps and dents and “Oops, I guess I made a little ding there.”

Backing up gives you a better range of your peripheral vision. You’ll be able to see the area around you, and the position of your car as opposed to pulling forward where you can barely see the front of your car, and therefore have to be very very careful to pull in slowly as to not make any dents in the other cars.

Also, I hope those who are saying that backing up is ridculous realise that the lanes in which you travel up and down are meant to be two-way unless an arrow indicates that it’s only one direction. So, “the proper” thing to do is to stick to the right side, so that if there are cars from the other direction, you’re not blocking the whole lane. Of course, I realise some assholes who don’t know how to drive don’t do this, but that’s another rant for another day. So, back to backing up. Following the logic that you’re supposed to stick to the right, if you are looking for a parking space and spot the only one left in the parking lot to your right, it’s going to be pretty damn hard to make a near 90 degree turn without crashing into a few cars. However, if you go forward just a little bit and then back up… voila! Perfection!

Once again, I realise that you don’t live where I live, and you didn’t learn how to drive the same way I did, but hell, backing up is NOT unsual around here. We still have many pulling forward into a parking space, but just the same amount of people backing up. Sure, it takes a little more time (What? Like three more seconds of your life.) but if you had learned how to back up properly, it’s much easier and causes less scratches.

22

7 up yours - It sounds like you are talking about parallel parking

23

Nope. I meant back up as into stalls where there are cars line up on both sides. I could dig out my hand book from driver’s ed, but it’s somewhere in the back of the closet. I know what I’m talking about, and I was definately talking about backing up, not parallel parking.

24

7 up uour

Or perhaps they are testing the more difficult procedure, on the theory that anyone who can do that can park going forward.

I disagree. You don’t need to know where the front of your car is, you just need to know where its edges are, since that’s what would hit the other cars. When backing up, you have to look over your shoulder, and you have to keep switching which shoulder. Moreover, the back of your car is even farther away than your front, so any concern you have in that regard is only magnified. And finally, since your front wheels turn, you can directly control where your front goes, but only indirectly where your back goes. I find, unless there is heavy traffic, that pulling out is a lot easier than pulling in, so I leave the backing up to the former part. And actually, if there is no car to the left of the stall into which I am entering, I can pull in at speeds much higher than I should be going in a parking lot to begin with.

Your turn radius is a lot smaller for your front than your back. If I really can’t turn sharply enough, I turn the wheel all the way to the right, drive towards the next stall, then put the car in reverse, turn the wheel all the way to the left, and back up. Then I straighten out the wheel, put the car in drive, and pull into the stall.

25

This is why it’s easier to back in. That was three points you just made [forward, back, forward] trying to pull in. If you backed in it would have only been two: pull forward past the space, turn the wheel to the right and back in. And if the lane is narrow or your car long, backing in is that much easier.

When I was a valet [the car parking type] back in HS, we would always back in the cars. The obvious advantage being that we can now get the car back to the customer quicker [it’s faster to just pull out, rather than back out]. But we can also get more cars into a lot because the rows can be closer together.

Plus there’s the whole pulling out into traffic rather than backing out into it.

26

What about when the parking spaces are angled in a herringbone pattern? Isn’t it a real pain to back in?

27

Yes. That’s an exception.

And can I just add that I hate that kind of layout. It seems I always get stuck behind [in front of?] the guy that takes 15 tries to pull into a space because he’s going the wrong way. Or I’ll see a space but can’t get to it because then I’d be then one going the wrong way.

28

Backing up is the norm and it was taught to me in driver’s ed.

I back up but I do it fast, in one “swoop” as it were. If there is people waiting though, I won’t bother.

Although the op took it well, didn’t you (the op) notice a waiting van? I don’t bother waiting if I see someone there first because I don’t like to “butt” in. If I see no one there it’s first come first serve of course.

It’s rather rude to watch a van start to back up and then you grab the stop. If that was the case, I’m surprised he didn’t key your vehicle (not that I condone it, it’s just people are pricks for far less than taking someone’s spot these days).

29

I must disagree, I much prefer this kind of setup because spots are easier to pull into and out of, with the caveat that people GO THE RIGHT WAY. Pulling in is a breeze and pulling out you really only need concern yourself with traffic from one direction.

30

Badmama: I saw a van idling in front of the store, but didn’t know that it had been waiting for the space or that the driver intended to go into the space. Where I live, and where I was driving, backing into a space is very unusual behavior.