# Are you familiar with the term ‘granny parking’ and if so, how would you define it? (Upd name: Batman parking) **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [December 4, 2021, 7:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-familiar-with-the-term-granny-parking-and-if-so-how-would-you-define-it-upd-name-batman-parking/955513 "2021-12-04T19:40:20Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![solost](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/solost/32/11776_2.png) [@solost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/solost)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2021, 7:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-familiar-with-the-term-granny-parking-and-if-so-how-would-you-define-it-upd-name-batman-parking/955513/1 "2021-12-04T19:40:20Z")
Or if you’re not familiar with the term, what would you guess it to mean? My wife and I were in the car with our younger son who was driving on his learner’s permit, when my wife told him to ‘granny park’. I asked her what that was, having never heard the term in my life. She answered: as everyone knows but apparently you, it’s when you pull into a parking spot backwards so you can drive right out of it without backing up when you leave (or, when there are two empty back to back spots, driving through to the opposite one so you’re facing out). Spoiler info in case anybody who doesn’t know wants to take a guess. ---
**Author:** ![Roderick\_Femm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/roderick_femm/32/14875_2.png) [@Roderick\_Femm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Roderick_Femm)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2021, 7:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-familiar-with-the-term-granny-parking-and-if-so-how-would-you-define-it-upd-name-batman-parking/955513/2 "2021-12-04T19:42:23Z")
WAG: double park? Anyway, doing it the easy way, whatever that is in the circumstances. Not parallel parking, I would guess. eta: I’ve never heard the term, my guess was wrong, but the location where this took place would probably provide a further clue. ---
**Author:** ![alovem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b38774/32.png) [@alovem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alovem)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2021, 7:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-familiar-with-the-term-granny-parking-and-if-so-how-would-you-define-it-upd-name-batman-parking/955513/3 "2021-12-04T19:46:36Z")
I wasn’t expecting that (I guessed wrong). I’ve done that many times, especially the second part of the definition, and it’s the first time I’ve heard the term. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2021, 7:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-familiar-with-the-term-granny-parking-and-if-so-how-would-you-define-it-upd-name-batman-parking/955513/4 "2021-12-04T19:52:07Z")
> [@alovem](#): > > I’ve done that many times, especially the second part of the definition, and it’s the first time I’ve heard the term. I’ve heard it called _Batman_ parking. ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2021, 7:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-familiar-with-the-term-granny-parking-and-if-so-how-would-you-define-it-upd-name-batman-parking/955513/5 "2021-12-04T19:52:29Z")
> [@solost](#): > > …or, when there are two empty back to back spots, driving through to the opposite one so you’re facing out). Never heard that term. I don’t take the trouble to back into spaces, but if given a choice I’ll pull through a double-empty space in a shopping center to face out, so I don’t have to reverse when leaving and risk colliding with unobservant/reckless pedestrian or automotive numbnuts. I would’ve figured “granny parking” was taking innumerable ultra-tiny repetitive maneuvers in order to fit into a parallel parking space, thus driving everyone waiting behind you crazy. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2021, 8:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-familiar-with-the-term-granny-parking-and-if-so-how-would-you-define-it-upd-name-batman-parking/955513/6 "2021-12-04T20:00:12Z")
I also prefer to pull into a spot that lets me leave without backing out and I am leery of backing into parking spaces (because I’ve misjudged the distance and whacked something behind me). I expect to have a backup camera in my next car and then maybe I’ll back in more often. And I see no reason to call this granny parking, since it’s just a good thing to do. (And at least one writer at Jalopnik [agrees](https://jalopnik.com/is-it-okay-to-pull-through-one-parking-spot-into-anothe-1841005241).) ---
**Author:** ![alovem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b38774/32.png) [@alovem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alovem)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2021, 8:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-familiar-with-the-term-granny-parking-and-if-so-how-would-you-define-it-upd-name-batman-parking/955513/7 "2021-12-04T20:01:00Z")
Cleaner getaway for sure. ---
**Author:** ![Si\_Amigo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/si_amigo/32/2877_2.png) [@Si\_Amigo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Si_Amigo)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2021, 8:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-familiar-with-the-term-granny-parking-and-if-so-how-would-you-define-it-upd-name-batman-parking/955513/8 "2021-12-04T20:09:59Z")
The last four cars I have owned have had rear view cameras that made it much safer to back in and park, leaving me facing forward when I leave. Ten years ago people would comment on it, now most of them are doing it. That is the ones who have figured out how to actually use the cameras. ---
**Author:** ![Tarataratara](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f4b2a3/32.png) [@Tarataratara](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tarataratara)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2021, 8:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-familiar-with-the-term-granny-parking-and-if-so-how-would-you-define-it-upd-name-batman-parking/955513/9 "2021-12-04T20:11:56Z")
> [@Jackmannii](#): > > I would’ve figured “granny parking” was taking innumerable ultra-tiny repetitive maneuvers in order to fit into a parallel parking space, thus driving everyone waiting behind you crazy. Sorry. ---
**Author:** ![solost](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/solost/32/11776_2.png) [@solost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/solost)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2021, 8:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-familiar-with-the-term-granny-parking-and-if-so-how-would-you-define-it-upd-name-batman-parking/955513/10 "2021-12-04T20:13:59Z")
> [@Roderick\_Femm](#): > > eta: I’ve never heard the term…but the location where this took place would probably provide a further clue. SE Michigan, metro Detroit are specifically. My wife and I both grew up in this are and she seems to think it’s a common term and I never heard of it. I suspect it’s a term she picked up from her family perhaps. ---
**Author:** ![solost](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/solost/32/11776_2.png) [@solost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/solost)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2021, 8:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-familiar-with-the-term-granny-parking-and-if-so-how-would-you-define-it-upd-name-batman-parking/955513/11 "2021-12-04T20:15:48Z")
> [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > And I see no reason to call this granny parking, since it’s just a good thing to do. (And at least one writer at Jalopnik [agrees](https://jalopnik.com/is-it-okay-to-pull-through-one-parking-spot-into-anothe-1841005241).) I agree, it doesn’t deserve a seemingly negative term like ‘granny parking’. ---
**Author:** ![BippityBoppityBoo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bippityboppityboo/32/5745_2.png) [@BippityBoppityBoo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BippityBoppityBoo)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2021, 8:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-familiar-with-the-term-granny-parking-and-if-so-how-would-you-define-it-upd-name-batman-parking/955513/12 "2021-12-04T20:17:14Z")
> [@solost](#): > > I agree, it doesn’t deserve a seemingly negative term like ‘granny parking’. And us grannies don’t deserve it either. ---
**Author:** ![susan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/susan/32/17537_2.png) [@susan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/susan)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2021, 8:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-familiar-with-the-term-granny-parking-and-if-so-how-would-you-define-it-upd-name-batman-parking/955513/13 "2021-12-04T20:19:40Z")
Never heard it, wouldn’t associate the practice with grannies. ---
**Author:** ![erysichthon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/d07c76/32.png) [@erysichthon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/erysichthon)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2021, 8:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-familiar-with-the-term-granny-parking-and-if-so-how-would-you-define-it-upd-name-batman-parking/955513/14 "2021-12-04T20:30:36Z")
> [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](#): > > I’ve heard it called _Batman_ parking. When I was a kid, my siblings and I would beg Mom to park in “Batmobile position” in our garage, so that later we could blast out of there like Batman and Robin leaving the Batcave. I think she indulged us once, but that was it. I’ve never heard this called “granny parking” before, and it doesn’t sound like something a granny would do. ---
**Author:** ![Dendarii\_Dame](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/bbce88/32.png) [@Dendarii\_Dame](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dendarii_Dame)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2021, 8:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-familiar-with-the-term-granny-parking-and-if-so-how-would-you-define-it-upd-name-batman-parking/955513/15 "2021-12-04T20:38:02Z")
I always do the second part of the definition if at all possible. I never do the first part. ---
**Author:** ![thorny\_locust](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thorny_locust/32/431_2.png) [@thorny\_locust](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thorny_locust)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2021, 8:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-familiar-with-the-term-granny-parking-and-if-so-how-would-you-define-it-upd-name-batman-parking/955513/16 "2021-12-04T20:41:26Z")
Never heard the term. Made two guesses, and they were both wrong. > [@solost](#): > > when there are two empty back to back spots, driving through to the opposite one so you’re facing out I do that whenever I can find such spots. Never heard any term for it, though; I think of it, and have sometimes referred to it, as a “drive-through spot.” (I am old enough to be a granny, though I’m not one. I think it’s got more to do with being short; most cars these days have good forward visibility even if you’re short, but rear visibility is another matter and about twenty or thirty years ago seemed to pretty much disappear. I drive old cars for financial reasons, and they don’t have backup cameras, let alone warnings that somebody’s coming down the aisle at you.) ---
**Author:** ![Kedikat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ed655f/32.png) [@Kedikat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kedikat)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2021, 8:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-familiar-with-the-term-granny-parking-and-if-so-how-would-you-define-it-upd-name-batman-parking/955513/17 "2021-12-04T20:42:19Z")
My employer requires/prefers we back in. It is supposed to be safer. Even though we are driving large pickup trucks, some with extra large custom beds. I personally think this may lead to more vehicle damage of the smaller type. But maybe less major damage incidents? ---
**Author:** ![Seanette](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/seanette/32/9139_2.png) [@Seanette](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Seanette)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2021, 8:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-familiar-with-the-term-granny-parking-and-if-so-how-would-you-define-it-upd-name-batman-parking/955513/18 "2021-12-04T20:50:00Z")
Hadn’t heard that term for it, but I favor the pull-through approach (hate backing up). DH likes to back into spaces, which he didn’t do before becoming a construction worker. ---
**Author:** ![Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mean_mr.mustard/32/3865_2.png) [@Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mean_Mr.Mustard)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2021, 8:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-familiar-with-the-term-granny-parking-and-if-so-how-would-you-define-it-upd-name-batman-parking/955513/19 "2021-12-04T20:57:39Z")
Put me down as never having heard the term. > [@Si\_Amigo](#): > > The last four cars I have owned have had rear view cameras that made it much safer to back in and park, leaving me facing forward when I leave. Ten years ago people would comment on it, now most of them are doing it. That is the ones who have figured out how to actually use the cameras. Conversely, now that I have a back-up camera I feel _less_ need to Batman Park (although I still do it), since I am much less likely to hit something - or someone - with the camera in use. mmm ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2021, 9:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-familiar-with-the-term-granny-parking-and-if-so-how-would-you-define-it-upd-name-batman-parking/955513/20 "2021-12-04T21:08:11Z")
I never heard of it, and would have assumed it would relate to ideas about how older people drive: maybe it would take way too long to do. Or maybe it would involve parking as far away from others as possible, because older drivers are more risk averse. Maybe it would mean parking too close, because they couldn’t see clearly. Back-up parking is not what I would have considered at all. That’s just something you sometimes do when a place looks a bit precarious to get out of, and the parking lot isn’t too busy. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-familiar-with-the-term-granny-parking-and-if-so-how-would-you-define-it-upd-name-batman-parking/955513.md?page=2)