I’ve also never heard the term “granny parking.” But I’ve also not hear of “curb-scrapers.” When I was a little kid, they were called curb-feelers.
I don’t usually bother to back up into a space, but I will always pull through if I find two slots aligned for it.
Exactly this.
I mentioned that upthread, about forklifts. I used to drive one in the military.
Never heard the term. Firefighters, police and other emergency services people do this all the time because your exit is quicker. It’s also why many firehouses have garage doors on both the back and the front of the building. Pull through just allows for a faster exit to get where you need to be.
In Maryland they make you do this type of backing in as part of your license road test.
Personally I find it easier to back out than to back into a parking space, mainly because I’m already properly aligned to back out, I just have to worry about clearance. Backing in, I ostensibly have the clearance but I have to worry about proper alignment. I find that more onerous.
The only place you never want to use “granny parking” is in lots with diagonal parking and one-way aisles.
I often have to back into a parking spot to use the charging station for our hybrid. It’s fine, whatever. Given a choice, I would drive in, not back in, to a parking spot. I have a notion that backing in is rude. You’re saying, hey, I’m going to make you wait and watch while I take my time and back in so I can blow out of here later. When you drive in and back out, you have to ask people to be polite and let you out, instead of bullying people by backing in. I may be overthinking this one.
Have never heard of “granny parking,” and assumed it was the equivalent of a 47-point turn, as others have assumed. Creeping into the open space in front of me? Yeah, I’ll do that.
I’ve actually not seen anyone do it except in larger parking lots. If it’s one where you park next to a curb or sidewalk, everyone pulls in normally and backs out when they leave.
I did it all the time when I had a small car because small turning radius. Small cars rock.
My rear camera helps guide me when I back up into a spot, Heading in, i often park too close to one side or the other, or just crooked.
I don’t disagree on the visibility angle at all. However, in a very busy parking lot, there’s the issue of having to pull past the space (annoying the driver behind you, who either wants to continue on as well, or wants to nab the space you just apparently gave up). Plus I can park head-first in a space faster than I can back in. So for me to try to back into a space, when there are cars coming and going nonstop, it’s jerkish behavior. When backing out, I do what I think everyone does: move a foot or so back, look again (and listen for honks!), move a little back, and so on. If I’m in the lane and see someone doing so, I’ll pause and give them room.
In a less-crowded lot, this is not an issue - and parking head-first is just a matter of practice. And in the “run over the toddler in the driveway” scenario, well, that’s not a crowded parking lot.
Ease of parking, now: when you pull into a space, you are right there with good visibility of all the immediate obstacles (cars on either side), and those obstacles are close. Backing out, you’re backing into a more open space. Since you don’t see as well behind you, it’s useful to have the extra space.
I do wish there was more focus on teaching people how to back into spaces in driving lessons. It’s a useful skill to have. Even with a backup camera, I don’t find that it gives an accurate enough representation of where the car really is.
Agreed. I’ve tried using the backup mirror in my daughter’s Prius and it just doesn’t help that much.
You need to use the side mirrors. Aimed just low enough so that you can just see the lane lines (as well as the distance from the cars on either side of you).
I think you’ve just amply demonstrated why backing out is more dangerous than backing in - your visibility is severely restricted, and how many times do people to wander past the back of a reversing vehicle? On the rare occasion I pull in nose first in a supermarket, I can guarantee my reversing beepers will ping when I’m backing out, as some dozy person with a trolley ambles past.
Backing in takes seconds when you’re practised at it.
In a parking lot, I don’t pull straight past and then confuse people by backing up. I make my intentions clear by pulling toward the opposite side of the aisle from the space I intend to back into. It makes the angle easier, and it’s clearer what I’m doing. (Generally one-way aisles only).
And if you do it regularly, it only takes a moment more to park, and it’s much faster and safer when pulling out.
I’ve been seeing more people doing it lately, so hopefully it will stop being seen as rude as people get used to it.
I’m well aware of all the reasons for backing in to a parking space, but I don’t do it for the simple reason that it’s much easier to back out than to back in. Yes, almost every time I’m trying to back out there is a sudden flurry of cars and pedestrians directly behind me, but I just sit and wait for them to go by. And of course due to gigantic SUVs and pickup trucks on either side I can’t see a goddamned thing when I’m backing out, but I just maneuver very slowly and it always works out fine.
I do have a sort of philosophical question, though. If there is an empty parking space in front of the one I just pulled into, I will of course move forward and park facing out. But why is it, that when I get in my car and pile in my purchases, and am just ready to pull out into a newly empty space in front of me, that some asshole ALWAYS comes along and immediately parks there – EVEN IF THERE ARE FIFTY EMPTY SPOTS ON EITHER SIDE!. The last time this happened was just yesterday, and the driver was an old granny. It was all I could do to restrain myself from yelling at the old biddy. My engine was on, the auto-headlights were on, I was clearly about to leave. What was this degenerate ancient thinking when she parked directly in front of me with all that space on either side? To be fair to said ancient, she’s not the only one. This happens all the goddam time.
I’ve noticed the same thing. It might be that these people can’t judge distance very well, so they use your car as a guide for how far to pull forward.
Just don’t get me started on the numerous times I’ve parked way out in the back where there’s NO other car, only to come out and find someone parked RIGHT NEXT to me - and still no other cars anywhere near. I always said that car of mine was attractive - it attracted other cars.
(I swear, if I ever was one of those people who drive out on a lake to go ice fishing, and my car broke through, the bubbles would not even stop rising before another car broke through and sank next to mine. No idea if it would be backed in though.)
Near our old house the street spots mandated tail-in parking, and the spots were angled so that anything else was pretty much impossible.
The one disadvantage I see in backing into a space is that your back-up and brake lights are concealed. It’s a bit disconcerting when a car that is backed in starts to pull forward unexpectedly. Being able to see the lights is helpful to pedestrians and surrounding cars as a signal that you are about to move backwards. (I mentioned this to a friend of mine when we were parking and he reminded me that most cars now have front lights that come on when the engine is on. That’s not the same thing at all.)
Don’t get me started on people who get in their cars, turn the engine on, and then sit there for 5-10 minutes doing random stuff before actually proceeding to pull out.
Not to mention that that’s just as annoying to other drivers as waiting for you to back in is. And because you need to hesitate several times, i think it takes longer. I’m really puzzled by the claim that it’s rude to back in. It takes a little time to park and unpark. Every driver knows that. That’s just part of the crowded parking lot experience.
This would only bother me if the lot is absolutely 100% full and I have no choice but to sit and wait for someone to vacate a spot. This doesn’t happen too often. Otherwise, if a driver isn’t already actively moving from the spot, I’ll just move on and find another space. After all, the space belongs to the parker until they decide to leave it. Makes no difference if they are in the car or not.
I actually hate it more when somebody sits there waiting for a spot, blocking everyone behind them, when there are perfectly good spots 20 yards away. I’d rather walk a few extra steps than be one of those jerks.
I always knew them as “curb scrapers”. “Curb-feelers” sounds vaguely obscene.