Why do you back into parking spaces in a parking lot when everyone else is head in? It’s easier to pull out, but isn’t it harder to back into a spot than to back out? Is it just about visibility?
I know sometimes cars are head out because they pulled straight through from the other side, but I see cars parked this way where that isn’t possible.
I try to always back in to a parking slot, simply because i feel it is safer to pull strait out then to back out of a slot. i feel the driver’s view is much better when pulling strait out .
nadahappycamperIt’s often recommended to back in for safety reasons.
When pulling out of a parking space (forward), the car only advances a short distance before you can see around the cars on either side to detect traffic coming. On the other hand, when backing out, you may need to get the car almost completely out of the spot before the driver can see to either side, particularly if there are taller vehicles in the neighboring spots.
As well, you have in general less visibility when reversing, so you may not be able to see a small obstacle (say, a wayward child) behind the vehicle. When backing into a parking space, you’ve usually just had a chance to look at it and see that it’s truly empty. When backing out, though, you may have approached the car and seen the space behind it was empty, but then got into the car, fastened your seat belt, adjusted the radio, and done any of several other things over a few minutes, before finally backing away. In that time, who knows what toddler or windblown object has fallen behind your car?
So for these reasons, it’s advisable to back into spots whenever safe and practicable. Obviously if you need access to your tailgate, or some other consideration makes it difficult to back into the spot, it may be best to pull in forwards.
I rode with a utility supervisor once, and noticed that he backed his pickup truck into parking spaces. When I asked him why, he told me that all employees at his utility were required to back into all non-angled parking spaces (if practicable) for the reasons outlined by wolfstu.
Backing up is difficult, yes. But that WILL happen, either when entering or leaving. No other options.
Therefore, if there isn’t a lot of traffic in the lot, I will do my backing in at the beginning. The logic is this: Backing up will not be easier later on, and it just might be more difficult if there are other cars around. So in the long run, I’m better off backing in now.
Depends on the parking space. Often, backing in is much easier, or the only way to do it.
In tight parking garages, I find that backing in is the only way to go.
Look at fork lifts. They have to maneuver in tight spaces. It’s the rear wheels that turn. Not the front.
But it isn’t easy for everyone: video (warning for silly music).
My neighbor on the left backs in. My neighbor on the right does not. I hate that! It means I have TWO flanking cars which might slam their driver’s doors into my car. Bastards!!
I park in a garage that isn’t excessively tight, but isn’t the wide open spaces, either. I, and any other car can whip into a parking spot forward with no trouble. Yet invariably in the mornings there will be a line of cars waiting to continue up the ramps while a vehicle – usually an SUV or huge truck – inches back, pulls forward, inches back again, adjusts, pulls forward, etc. to wiggle backwards into a spot. Personally, I don’t get it. Backing ALWAYS inconveniences everyone else, pulling forward (and backing out) rarely does.
Also: Consider the other cars or pedestrians that you don’t see and might hit.
When entering the parking space, there is relatively little time between when you have a clear view of the whole area and when you go into the space. If you back in, there will be relatively little time for any surprises to get in your way.
But when leaving the parking space, there is a lot more time involved. You walk from the back of the car to the door, unlock it, get in, put your belt on, turn on the car, and finally begin to back out of the space. Sure, all that totals only a few seconds, but still, that’s relatively a lot of time until you finally pull out of the space, and relatively a lot of time for surprises to get in your way.
That’s why, when I can, I back into a space and go straight forward out of it.
I agree. That’s a big part of why I back in only if no one else is around.
With larger vehicles, If you can do it, backing in usually only takes one shot. While going forward takes two or three.
It depends. It’s best to be able to be able to do both.
(Just spent the weekend in Pittsburgh during a race when many streets are closed off driving a Lincoln Town Car).
You do not want to back into the space in the parking area of forest preserves or similar areas, though. This is a signal that you are interested in an anonymous sexual encounter with stranger in the woods. Cite. My coworker figured this out first hand…
People who do this in parking lots where others are waiting to get around them are douchebags. I absolutely cannot stand watching dipshits do 3-4 t turns to back into a parking spot while making others watch them do it. The only people who may NEED to do this are emergency responders, otherwise you’re a douche.
People who do this fall into the same shitbox as the all importan Bluetooth wearers at the grocery store and McD’s.
I would like to note for the record that backing up gives you a tighter turn radius and can often result getting into a space in one try rather then trying to pull head in and having to back up 2 or 3 times to get straight.
The above assumes that the driver knows how to drive.
At the Tim Horton’s where I get my triple-triple in the morning, there’s, as you drive in, the parking on your right, and the drive-through traffic on your left. There’s just enough room to drive down the middle, and just barely pull into the parking spaces on the right. May God have mercy on your soul, if you decide to nose into your spot. It’ll be damn near to get back out. I always back in, it’s easier to maneuvre out without having to wait for some good samaritan in the drive-through lineup to make space.
S^G
Backing in can be a problem in full garages where spaces must be stalked and vultured. The backer must drive past the parking space making the person behind them think that they don’t intend to park there. They drive head first into the spot before the backer can get into reverse resulting in the finger, angry fists, swinging tire irons etc.
Heck, I encouraged my girlfriend to get into the habit of backing into her own driveway (her first house, by the way) by describing the following winter scenario: you’re trying to back out into the street, but there’s some snow-covered ice under your wheels, letting them spin, so you give it more gas and slowly roll backward, watching your mirror and then the tires find a relatively dry spot and your car lurches backward just in time to crush the eight year-old on his way to school who’s just stepped out from behind the hedge that marks the front border of your property and your whole day is ruined. His, too, I guess.
Similarly, when I’m an instructor on a military driver’s course, I encourage students, when parking, to always consider how they’re gong to get outta here in a hurry, should the need arise.
Up where it freezes you back in because your windows are defrosted, and when you go to use the vehicle they will be frosted up. Often you will walk extra distance just so you can pull through a parking space to be facing the traffic lane. The same for fog. It’s bad enough to pull onto a street hoping a vehicle without lights doesn’t slam into you. Backing up increases the dangerous time when you can get slammed.
Really? Your wheels turn farther when the transmission is in reverse than when it is in drive? What kind of car is this? How does it work? I really don’t understand this geometry.
(or have I totally misunderstood you?)