Interesting thread. I drive* a big pickup (crewcab, longbed) and backing in is definitely easier in most parking lots. Also, as you’ve probably noticed, an exceptionally long pickup tends to have a lot of itself “hanging out” into the lane when parked forward. If I can find a spot on the edge of the lot, backing in will allow the overhang (behind the read wheels) to hang out over an empty piece of concrete or grass, and keep the lane more clear for traffic. (Look closely at a pickup truck, there’s a whole lot of truck behind the rear wheels, but not much in front of the front wheels)
That’s a good reason to look in all direction before pulling out of a parking space. Not a particularly good reason to prefer one orientation over the other.
Also, cars have turn signals too, which allows me to signal my intention to move out of the parking space and drive to the right or to the left. (It’s extremely rare that I head out and drive straight.)
Not to mention the whole issue of your car not starting when you want to go out and needing to be jump-started or towed out. Being nose out makes either a lot easier.
There are these things on your head called eyes and ears. You might try using them and processing the information from them while walking in a parking lot.
Cars make noise when they are running. If the car is silent it is either parked and you are in no danger, or it is a Prius. If you still aren’t sure, look inside the car. No driver = no danger of being run over by the driver pulling out.
It really isn’t that hard.
Do you still back in in lots with one-way rows and angled parking spaces? It’s a much greater angle to get in and to pull out without going the wrong way, and the lanes tend to be narrower because it isn’t necessary to “swing wide” when parking head in.
The places I have seen rules against backing in are with angled spots on the street, where backing in may require you to swing the front end wide enough to cross the center line.
I’ve also seen the rule at parking lots adjacent to residential properties; apparently the residents complained about car exhaust.
Also, some parking lots at my workplace (university) has that rule, and they also require the parking sticker (permit) to be on the rear window or trunk. Fortunately I don’t need to park at those lots, but I still wish they’d do the reverse.
I can’t believe it took this long for someone to mention this. This is why I back into spaces. I conditioned myself to it with years of driving poorly-maintained cars, and I still have that nagging “what if today’s the day” feeling when I don’t, even though I can (kind of) afford to keep my car in better shape these days.
Of course not. Nor do I, at least, always back in no matter what, even when the spot is perpendicular to the traffic lane. There are occasions when head-in is just fine. Examples might be when you are going to load the car from the rear or when the slots are generously wide and exit visibility is not an issue. The point is that, for most perpendicular spots, backing in is often superior. Simple as that.
Most British car parks are made so tight that you pretty much have to back in if you want to get in in one go - there’s often not enough width in the lanes between rows of spaces to be able to swing wide and get in frontways.
Plus, of course, it makes it easier and safer to leave, as you don’t have to edge out in reverse with your view blocked by adjacent vehicles.
Hmm, can’t say I’ve noticed that. I always go in forwards and I can’t remember having to shuffle round. Well, naturally the odd occasion when I’ve misjudged the approach, but that’s my fault.
It just seems to me that reversing into a large area is easier than reversing into a confined space. As for risk of hitting other cars or children, I just reverse out carefully and slowly. Of course, I have smallish Euro-style hatchback. With a big SUV or something with poor rearward visibility, reversing out of a space would be trickier.
Just looking at the car park here at work, at least 90% of the cars are parked forwards.
Backing out in my SUV is a lot easeier than backing out in my car. The SUV is high and I can see all around me, and see quite well even if surrounded by SUV’s. Aside from the increased elevation, it’s all glass, and straight back. My car has a curved roof and big, thick C-pillars that block my view.
On the other hand, my car is easier to parallel park, and the automatic, tilting, side-mounted, rear-view mirrors are something that I wish my truck had.
Right. All my latest cars have been new and my current truck is only 5 years old (the longest I have ever had a vehicle). But there was a time when my car starting on its own was the stuff of miracles and wonders.
Old habits just die hard. They do slip, though. I sometimes enter a spot nose first. Care to guess how my truck has been parked the two times the battery has died on it? The stupid thing.
I am sorry. You don’t get Batman points unless you also drive nose first and then a turntable leaves it nose out for you to do your tire squealing thing.
Many, many good reasons have been given for backing in, and most of the reasons for not backing in boil down to drivers that don’t know how to back up their own cars.
I’ll add another. I drive a long pickup truck. Backing out of a tight parking space without hitting the cars beside me requires quite a bit of room behind me. If I back in, I can always get out. If I nose in and someone crowds me, I can get stuck there, unable to leave. In icy and slippery conditions, backing in is almost always safer.
Either you encounter a lot of incompetent drivers, are suffering from confirmation bias, or just have a bad attitude. I very rarely take more than one pass to back into a spot. In a tight parking lot, it may take me two passes to pull head-in, though. So I can back in faster and pull out faster, thus saving you time and making the whole experience safer. Yet I’m a douche for doing it? Your logic eludes me.
Hear, hear! I hate laws that address a symptom instead of a problem. It’s like our stupid open container law they just enacted here. I can get a ticket for driving with zero alcohol in my system just because I am taking home a half-empty bottle of wine my friend gave me.
soooooo you never had to wait for someone to back out of a space?
please
this one is a pain, the best cure I have found is the swoop, where instead of passing the space in a straight line you turn towards the space then cut fast away leaving the back of your car pointed at the spot.
fyi every year in America 50 parents back over and kill their own children, there isnt even a stat for those that run over them. Backing in is so much safer that companies that do it (Ups and a billion others) get an insurance break. for every argument about backing into a spot the counter is simple, backing out dramatically reduces your visibility and increases the chances you are going to hit something or someone.
there is a Jamba Juice in Bellevue where I take my students with a large light pole in their parking lot with a sign on it. the Sign says (in reverse) “HEY Watch Out For This Pole” and the pole and its concrete base are beat to hell…I seriously doubt that anyone has ever driven into it.
on a related note, a couple of my students were bitching about backing in and how no one does it after I had them park at the Queen Anne Dicks…while we were talking about it outside the car someone backed into the drivers ed car.
and for those who arent lazy the answer 90% of the time is super easy, park a bit further out and drive into the space on the other side…zero backing involved.
I beleive the justification for not allowing backing in is for areas where only one plate is required, like Michigan. Police (or repo men, I suppose) can do a quick scan of license plates and see if there are any stolen cars, etc in the lot. Can’t do that if they are backed in.
Why other areas with two-plate laws would make this rule is left to the imagination, I guess…I certainly don’t understand it.
Anecdotes are not data, but FWIW I’ve never lived any place where front plates were used, and I don’t think any of the places I’ve ever lived made “nose-out parking” illegal. I’ve seen parking lots that were marked “nose-in only” or something like that, but I’ve always assumed that was just to prevent traffic backups and the like.
