# 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:** 4
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2026, 3:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/back-in-parkers-you-bastards/1027858/61 "2026-02-21T15:46:35Z")
“Backing into versus backing out of a parking space” is the new “which way should the toilet paper unroll” debate. Lots of heated reasons why on both sides. > [@Dinsdale](#): > > But it seems the recent trend is for spaces to be getting narrower and narrower. I’ve noticed this in some lots, but I also think that increasingly wide-ass trucks/SUVs are part of the problem, too. ---
**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 21, 2026, 3:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/back-in-parkers-you-bastards/1027858/62 "2026-02-21T15:56:00Z")
IDK. I’ve always thought of parking spaces and lots as a courtesy from a business or entity. Not a “right”. If I park my car as politely as I’m able and mean no disrespect to my fellow drivers I feel like I can do as I please. Parking lots are hazards in so many ways. My big beef with parking lots is shopping carts and mobility scooters being left scattered about. Why do people NOT put their carts away? ---
**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:** [February 21, 2026, 4:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/back-in-parkers-you-bastards/1027858/63 "2026-02-21T16:10:54Z")
> [@kenobi\_65](#): > > “Backing into versus backing out of a parking space” is the new “which way should the toilet paper unroll” debate. Lots of heated reasons why on both sides. 😆 I think you are right. ---
**Author:** ![colinfred](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colinfred/32/21338_2.png) [@colinfred](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/colinfred)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2026, 4:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/back-in-parkers-you-bastards/1027858/64 "2026-02-21T16:17:59Z")
I would never park in a space that leads straight into traffic, forwards or backwards. ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2026, 4:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/back-in-parkers-you-bastards/1027858/65 "2026-02-21T16:22:50Z")
> [@colinfred](#): > > I would never park in a space that leads straight into traffic I suspect that people who are talking about “traffic” in this case are talking about “traffic in the parking lot / parking ramp,” not “street traffic.” ---
**Author:** ![vbob](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/vbob/32/4439_2.png) [@vbob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vbob)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2026, 4:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/back-in-parkers-you-bastards/1027858/66 "2026-02-21T16:23:30Z")
Somewhere about 1972 my Mom and I went halvsies on a $50 Rambler with push-button transmission, which wouldn’t go into reverse. We got good a picking out parking spots on slight slopes, so we could roll back out in neutral. Hey, it got me & my date to the prom on time, though we WERE a bit late getting home… ---
**Author:** ![hideousidiot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/858c86/32.png) [@hideousidiot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hideousidiot)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2026, 4:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/back-in-parkers-you-bastards/1027858/67 "2026-02-21T16:23:42Z")
Drives me insane that I’m prohibited from parking by backing in. My spot is between two humongous SUVs and I’m in a Toyota very close to the ground. I have back out slowly, six inches at a time so I don’t get clipped by someone rushing past my spot. If I could back in, it would be 1000% safer and more convenient. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2026, 4:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/back-in-parkers-you-bastards/1027858/68 "2026-02-21T16:25:44Z")
‘Traffic’ is what you and your car _are_ in the moments before you park there. It’s literally impossible to park your car in a public place that doesn’t have traffic next to it, unless you’re lowering it in there via a crane. ---
**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:** [February 21, 2026, 4:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/back-in-parkers-you-bastards/1027858/69 "2026-02-21T16:43:26Z")
> [@Mangetout](#): > > Do you even drive? Why yes, I do, thank you for asking. In fact I might add that I’ve been driving for over 50 years with no accidents – zero. My insurance carries what the company calls a 6-star accident-free rating, the highest possible rating. Still, I’m always open to new ideas, but I tend to take lectures on driving best-practices with a grain of salt. > [@ZosterSandstorm](#): > > No it isn’t! I know you THINK this way, but that’s the entire issue. The area you are backing into is full of TRAFFIC GOING PERPENDICULAR TO YOUR CAR, comprised of other cars, pedestrians, and more. It is not in any sense whatsoever “open to you.” I was referring to the geometry of backing out vs backing in. The traffic is a valid point that I already acknowledged, but there are a few more details that need to be taken into account. In all the parking lots I’ve experienced in recent memory, the traffic lanes are neither busy nor is the traffic moving quickly, so backing out is not necessarily hazardous if done cautiously. On that note, when I’m backing out of a parking spot I do not do it in the manner of a Formula 1 race car leaving the starting line. I do it very slowly and cautiously, all the more so if my vision is obscured by some obscenely gigantic vehicle. I’m equally slow and cautious when backing out of my own driveway, and the practice has served me well. A few months ago, for instance, as I was carefully backing out, some lunatic on a skateboard came rushing down the middle of the street at enormous speed. Had I been moving quickly, it could have been a very bad day for all concerned. The same might have been true if I had been moving forward, too, because the lunatic was pretty much invisible in the distance due to cars parked along the street. The other point I’ll add is that around here, at least, the vast, vast majority of drivers park nose-in. Backing into a parking spot is not unknown but it’s rare that one sees it. Yet somehow we manage. > [@eschereal](#): > > > [@wolfpup](#): > > > > > [@Si\_Amigo](#): > > > > > > My last 4 vehicles have had 4 cameras each to allow for a 360° overhead view of parking. > > > > Sounds confusing. Maybe youi need 4 more screens to display reruns of _I Love Lucy_, _Lassie_, _Leave It to Beaver_, and a view of your vehicle from the International Space Station while you’re backing up! > > No, it is not confusing. My car creates an image of itself as if seen from about 30’ overhead and then uses the 4 cameras (two are on the side mirrors) to compose an image of the area around it Obviously I was being a little facetious. But the reality is that drivers have been parking for over 100 years without the aid of camera assists, so it does strike me as somewhat redundant, even if perhaps useful. I don’t find backup cameras especially helpful. ---
**Author:** ![abcdefghij](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/43a26b/32.png) [@abcdefghij](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/abcdefghij)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2026, 5:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/back-in-parkers-you-bastards/1027858/70 "2026-02-21T17:06:40Z")
> [@puzzlegal](#): > > > [@kenobi\_65](#): > > > > Lots of heated reasons why on both sides. > > 😆 I think you are right. No, they’re not! ---
**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:** [February 21, 2026, 5:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/back-in-parkers-you-bastards/1027858/71 "2026-02-21T17:11:13Z")
> [@wolfpup](#): > > so it does strike me as somewhat redundant, even if perhaps useful. I don’t find backup cameras especially helpful. It’s not about you. 🙃 The reason I have had vehicles with all around view cameras is because I worked at the Nissan tech center where we developed cameras for North American market vehicles. So I know how to (and how not to) use them properly. People who ride with me are astounded at how quickly and consistently I can park a car into tight spaces. And while I have taught many people how to do the same I find that some people are utterly confused on how to use them. The multiple guidelines and color feedback confuses them. So I understand and appreciate your remarks. I am now considering getting a car with cameras down by the tires that show you potholes and rocks. That I am hoping will totally piss you off. 😆 ---
**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 21, 2026, 5:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/back-in-parkers-you-bastards/1027858/72 "2026-02-21T17:48:53Z")
I could undoubtedly get a handicap parking lisc. Probably the hardest part of it would be standing in line at the DMV.(Which has horrible parking lot, btw) I’ve resisted because I can and do walk easily. I think they should be for more infirmed. I often wonder when I see these people struggle to get in and out of cars, much less, get into the store without falling over, why are you even out shopping in that condition?(I’m not talking about medical facility parking, don’t get me started on that). I see people I would not judge to be handicapped always in these spots. I’m hoping they’re driving Grandmas van to come pick up her dab of groceries and prescriptions. Or some other justifiable reason. Not my business. I say the same thing when I see seriously _new_ newborn in a store. Why do they have that baby in this virus and germ infused place? Just why? Peeps make decisions without consulting me. Regular like.😀 But I do have private thoughts, when I see. ---
**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:** [February 21, 2026, 6:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/back-in-parkers-you-bastards/1027858/73 "2026-02-21T18:09:38Z")
This thread is about back-in parking. ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Girlfriend](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr.girlfriend/32/193_2.png) [@Dr.Girlfriend](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Girlfriend)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2026, 6:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/back-in-parkers-you-bastards/1027858/74 "2026-02-21T18:52:27Z")
> [@Mighty\_Mouse](#): > > My employer’s garage has a “Head in parking only” sign on the first level, because the attempts by folks to back into parking spaces was blocking entry into the garage and into the street during the 8 to 8:30 arrival rush, and we are on a major arterial road, so the police are not happy. People leave over a lot longer timeframe, so backing out is not really an issue. I wish my employer’s parking garage had a sign like that. There’s three entry lanes, one goes to the basement and the other two merge into one very narrow lane where there’s barely enough room for two-way traffic. You get someone trying to back their land yacht into the first spot they see between two other cars instead of driving up the ramp and around the corner where nearly the entire floor is empty and the traffic starts to back up fast. Then you get the people trying to leave the garage but traffic is backed up onto the (one-way) street and no one can get out either. ---
**Author:** ![Mighty\_Mouse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mighty_mouse/32/7776_2.png) [@Mighty\_Mouse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mighty_Mouse)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2026, 7:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/back-in-parkers-you-bastards/1027858/75 "2026-02-21T19:08:17Z")
I have seen many “Head in Parking Only” signs in parking garages. I have never seen a “Back in Parking Only” sign in my life. ---
**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:** [February 21, 2026, 7:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/back-in-parkers-you-bastards/1027858/76 "2026-02-21T19:18:38Z")
> [@Mighty\_Mouse](#): > > I have seen many “Head in Parking Only” signs in parking garages. I have never seen a “Back in Parking Only” sign in my life.   My version of that sign would be “park properly, like everybody else, and don’t be a pretentious ass”. 😁 I don’t frequent parking garages very much, but in outdoor parking lots around here, I’d say maybe 1% of cars are facing out, and I’d bet that probably half of those didn’t actually back in, but went in nose-first and then pulled in to the empty spot in front of them. I’ll happily do that if the opportunity presents itself. ---
**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 21, 2026, 7:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/back-in-parkers-you-bastards/1027858/77 "2026-02-21T19:22:20Z")
Yes. I know. Thx for reminding. So kind.🙃 ---
**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 21, 2026, 8:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/back-in-parkers-you-bastards/1027858/78 "2026-02-21T20:06:31Z")
In general, parking lots (especially in crowded shopping centers) are showcases for inept, slow and heedless drivers. Drivers who back into spaces are a small part of the problem. Those very hesitant on backing up are more common in my experience. When possible I park so that I can pull forward into an adjoining space at the edge of the row. The extra visibility when departing gives protection against drivers careless when backing out or going too fast down the space between rows. ---
**Author:** ![SunUp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ea5d25/32.png) [@SunUp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SunUp)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2026, 10:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/back-in-parkers-you-bastards/1027858/79 "2026-02-21T22:21:02Z")
> [@Mighty\_Mouse](#): > > I have seen many “Head in Parking Only” signs in parking garages. I have never seen a “Back in Parking Only” sign in my life. Near the university in our city, there are angle-in parking spaces with the “out” end of the space pointing towards the direction of travel along the street, like this: * * * → (direction of travel) / / / / / They are marked “back-in parking only” and it’s remarkably easy to do even if you don’t have a backup camera - I think having to only turn for a 45 degree angle is simpler. ---
**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 21, 2026, 10:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/back-in-parkers-you-bastards/1027858/80 "2026-02-21T22:47:51Z")
I’ve just counted 5 separate threads on this very subject. Jeez. What’s the _real_ issue? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/back-in-parkers-you-bastards/1027858.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/back-in-parkers-you-bastards/1027858.md?page=5)