# Back-in Parkers - You Bastards! **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [February 20, 2026, 7:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/back-in-parkers-you-bastards/1027858 "2026-02-20T19:31:58Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 10
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2026, 8:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/back-in-parkers-you-bastards/1027858/181 "2026-02-25T20:39:24Z")
I cut them some slack they are doing extensive work around the hospital apparently building a new wing or area or something. But really Home Depot sells ‘reserved’ signs all day, every day. Couldn’t someone run over and get one? ---
**Author:** ![Atamasama](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atamasama/32/12961_2.png) [@Atamasama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atamasama)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2026, 8:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/back-in-parkers-you-bastards/1027858/182 "2026-02-25T20:41:33Z")
> [@wolfpup](#): > > Of course! I’ve never heard of reserved parking spots anywhere that didn’t say they were reserved. How TF are you supposed to know? Apparently they’re just too cheap to put up signs. Depending on where you live, you can just ignore their **opinion** and park there. Around here without a sign you can’t legally enforce any parking rules. When I worked at Toys R Us, we had spots with handicap logos painted on them but the store was too cheap to have signs. We complained when people ignored the markings but without signs they weren’t official and couldn’t have them towed or anything. ---
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2026, 8:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/back-in-parkers-you-bastards/1027858/183 "2026-02-25T20:53:31Z")
In Arkansas, the painted on the ground handicap sign is not functionally enforceable. The upright sign with clear lettering, size and height requirements are needed to pursue a legal case. “Reserved Parking” signs have their own rules. From what I read funeral and church reserved parking temporary signs are not really legal. I think most people make allowances though. You’d be a real jerk to call cops on cars of people at a funeral. But, Jerks are everywhere. So I guess my idea of running to the Depot for a sign is bad advice. They should fix it somehow, if it’s gonna be more than a day or two. Not everyone is nice as me. @wolfpup thx ---
**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:** [February 27, 2026, 7:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/back-in-parkers-you-bastards/1027858/184 "2026-02-27T19:57:58Z")
> [@wolfpup](#): > > Also, I find the concept of ER staff only working certain shifts a little odd. Are you not allowed to have an emergency in Arkansas when there’s no staff in the ER? Hopefully you don’t expect ER staff to work 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. The claim that there were some unused parking spots doesn’t mean no one was staffing the ER (ever hear of drop-offs?). Also, some providers may come on duty later than others and are given the exalted privilege of dedicated parking spots at their workplace. I don’t know about any ER staffing issues in Arkansas, but if there are significant ones, [they’re not alone](https://www.cbc.ca/news/marketplace/hospital-wait-times-9.6983849). ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2026, 8:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/back-in-parkers-you-bastards/1027858/185 "2026-02-27T20:29:18Z")
Why do I keep reading the thread title as ‘Pack-in Barkers’? ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2026, 4:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/back-in-parkers-you-bastards/1027858/186 "2026-03-01T16:33:46Z")
For sure space availability varies by area. E.g. anywhere in NYC you will never find a parking space except by vulturing. Never. Which of course obstructs traffic. So it’s an understood and accepted feature of local driving culture What is irritating to me is when such drivers do the same thing in areas with spacious parking lots and many empty spaces available at a glance. Traffic obstruction without benefit. ---
**Author:** ![abcdefghij](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/43a26b/32.png) [@abcdefghij](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/abcdefghij)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2026, 9:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/back-in-parkers-you-bastards/1027858/187 "2026-03-01T21:39:29Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#): > > Traffic obstruction without benefit. Traffic obstruction is its own reward? ---
**Author:** ![wolfpup](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolfpup/32/10618_2.png) [@wolfpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfpup)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2026, 10:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/back-in-parkers-you-bastards/1027858/188 "2026-03-01T22:55:31Z")
> [@Johnny\_L.A](#): > > Why do I keep reading the thread title as ‘Pack-in Barkers’? You’re probably thinking of me! 🐶 ---
**Author:** ![Railer13](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/railer13/32/9742_2.png) [@Railer13](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Railer13)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2026, 12:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/back-in-parkers-you-bastards/1027858/189 "2026-03-02T00:55:42Z")
> [@Johnny\_L.A](#): > > Why do I keep reading the thread title as ‘Pack-in Barkers’? Well, I keep reading it as ‘Back-in Packers’. Which brings up all kinds of negative connotations. ---
**Author:** ![Atamasama](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atamasama/32/12961_2.png) [@Atamasama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atamasama)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2026, 1:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/back-in-parkers-you-bastards/1027858/190 "2026-03-02T01:33:33Z")
Laxatives might help, or just drink more fluids. ---
**Author:** ![Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/q.q.switcheroo/32/5713_2.png) [@Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.Q.Switcheroo)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2026, 2:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/back-in-parkers-you-bastards/1027858/191 "2026-03-02T02:24:52Z")
> [@abcdefghij](#): > > > [@LSLGuy](#): > > > > Traffic obstruction without benefit. > > Traffic obstruction is its own reward? Otherwise it’s just malfeasance for malfeasances’s’ sake. ---
**Author:** ![digs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/digs/32/14889_2.png) [@digs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/digs)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2026, 3:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/back-in-parkers-you-bastards/1027858/192 "2026-03-02T03:52:10Z")
> [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > That’s why you need a turntable in your driveway, so you never need to back in or out. Hey, it worked on the old Batman TV show! And since my garage is based on the Batcave, I swivel around, hit the jet engine flames, then I just have to steer around the giant penny and the Bat-Computer (labeled “Bat-Computer”, of course)… ---
**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:** [March 2, 2026, 3:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/back-in-parkers-you-bastards/1027858/193 "2026-03-02T03:57:16Z")
I’ve wanted a driveway turntable since I saw one in a first-season episode of Modern Family. Or you could just have enough driveway to turn around before getting back on the road. ---
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2026, 11:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/back-in-parkers-you-bastards/1027858/194 "2026-03-03T23:21:17Z")
> [@ZosterSandstorm](#): > > And that’s really where a lot of the objection seems to come from - people view long-term thinking as a sort of overly masculine or geeky trait, mocking back-in parkers as thinking they need to be “prepared for emergencies” or something, when really it’s just basic awareness of the flow of time and space and the ability to resist eating the marshmallow now. Look at the dipshit in the NYtimes article three posts above, First of all, after asking for an email (which appeared to be the only requirement to use the gift link), the FTFNYT asked me to create an account first. Who knows if there’s a third step after that, so fuck 'em. Now AFAIAC, at least, the main objection to back-in parkers is that most of them can’t back in with any smoothness. They start backing towards the parking space, realize they’re off target, pull forward to get a better angle, etc., while you wait and wait until they finally get it right. If you’re one of those drivers who can back into a parking space in one smooth motion, more power to you. But you’re in the minority, at least in the places I’ve spent much time in. There’s another problem too: it’s misleading. (Not deliberately so, but still.) To back into a parking space, one has to drive past it. So if you’re behind one of them, just as you start aiming to pull into the empty parking space they’ve just driven past, they start backing towards it. ---
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2026, 11:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/back-in-parkers-you-bastards/1027858/195 "2026-03-03T23:46:55Z")
> [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > I’ve wanted a driveway turntable since I saw one in a first-season episode of Modern Family. Or you could just have enough driveway to turn around before getting back on the road. I’m not sure what the problem is with backing out of a driveway, assuming people don’t use your street as a dragstrip. The issue with backing out of a parking space is that there are often cars on both sides of you, blocking much of your sight. I’ve never had a yard where there are significant visual obstacles where the driveway meets the road. As I back up towards the street, I can see the kids playing in the street, and can wait until they see me. I can see the driver of Bus #54 (_bus 54, where aaaarre you?_) coming down the street towards me from at least three houses away, and stay in the driveway until it’s gone - the bus drivers around here take no prisoners. And so forth. ---
**Author:** ![digs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/digs/32/14889_2.png) [@digs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/digs)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2026, 12:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/back-in-parkers-you-bastards/1027858/196 "2026-03-04T00:34:03Z")
> [@RTFirefly](#): > > To back into a parking space, one has to drive past it. So if you’re behind one of them, just as you start aiming to pull into the empty parking space they’ve just driven past, they start backing towards it. I love tiny cars, and I often just zip into a space (even parallel parking on the street) with no backing involved. But I’ve had to abandon that move when someone ahead of me starts backing up… I COULD zip in and get out of my mini-car by the time they backed in, but I’m afraid I’d just be watching them crush my car because they had no idea it was there. [2001 Honda Insight:](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/_i7Y-aedxSQ/sddefault.jpg) Total length = small horse Turning radius = large dog ---
**Author:** ![needscoffee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/needscoffee/32/1076_2.png) [@needscoffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/needscoffee)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2026, 12:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/back-in-parkers-you-bastards/1027858/197 "2026-03-04T00:34:54Z")
> [@RTFirefly](#): > > To back into a parking space, one has to drive past it. So if you’re behind one of them, just as you start aiming to pull into the empty parking space they’ve just driven past, they start backing towards it. I’m aware of the possibility of a driver behind me not realizing I’m going to back in, so I’m careful not to overshoot the space before I back up. And where I am, enough people back-in park that it’s not a foreign concept to others. ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2026, 12:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/back-in-parkers-you-bastards/1027858/198 "2026-03-04T00:49:23Z")
I also use my signals to indicate I’m about to turn that way. But truth be told, most of the places where i want to back in park there is little enough traffic that there’s rarely a car behind me. ---
**Author:** ![OttoDaFe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ottodafe/32/356_2.png) [@OttoDaFe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OttoDaFe)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2026, 6:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/back-in-parkers-you-bastards/1027858/199 "2026-03-04T06:13:49Z")
If the aisle is wide enough — and I have thoughts about parking lots with absurdly narrow aisles, but this is neither the time nor the place — rather than doing a right angle reverse into the space I’ll swing the nose of the car slightly away from it before backing (sorry, that’s the best I can describe the maneuver). I find this makes backing in much smoother and greatly reduces the need to pull out again and adjust. As I said earlier, I was taught to drive by a man who felt that someone who couldn’t drive competently in reverse was no better than someone who could only turn left. And he had a heavy hand with which to emphasize his lessons. ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2026, 1:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/back-in-parkers-you-bastards/1027858/200 "2026-03-04T13:25:41Z")
> [@OttoDaFe](#): > > and I have thoughts about parking lots with absurdly narrow aisles, but this is neither the time nor the place This is the pit, think away. But usually lots with narrow aisles and narrow parking places are located where real estate is scarce. Those folks who say, “just park farther out” aren’t parking in the lots where i want a maneuverable car. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/back-in-parkers-you-bastards/1027858.md?page=9) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/back-in-parkers-you-bastards/1027858.md?page=11)