Last week, I notice that tend to back out of a parking spot differently than most people. Most people back out straight and then turn the steering wheel. I start turning the steering wheel as I’m backing out. Apparently, this scares some people who think I’m going to hit the neighboring car. So, which do you do?
I turn as I back out, assuming I’m not super-tight up against the other car. This has almost gotten me in trouble this past week when I was borrowing my parent’s Volvo station wagon which has a much longer hood than I’m used to…a couple close calls.
But with a car I’ve been driving a while and am familiar with, I’ve never had an issue. It allows you to use less space behind you to back out into. I can’t count the number of times I see someone back almost all the way out before starting to turn, and then not having enough room to get straight, and have to go forward, back up again, forward again, back again, etc…
Nobody has bitched about me for turning while backing out, but I get really annoyed by the consequences of not doing it. They then have to pull forward and back 3 or 4 time to turn turned 90 degrees into the lane while pedestrians and other drivers wait for them.
I’ll skip the poll, which is confusing. I think I do the same as you: start turning the wheel slightly as I’m backing out, but not so tightly as to clip the next car, which in most cases around here is sitting halfway across the line, or is sitting at a 70 degree angle instead of 45, or is sitting only halfway into the fucking parking place and is blocking five feet of the travel lane pant pant but I digress . . . and then cut the wheel sharply once I’m clear.
Assuming cars are parked on either side of me, I back straight out for a little ways before turning the wheel, not out of fear of hitting the car next to me, but because that’s the only direction in which I have a 100% clear line of vision. Once I can see clearly out my side rear windows, I begin to turn.
Doing it any other way runs the risk of plowing into the imbecilic pedestrians who see nothing wrong with walking into the path of a moving vehicle whose driver they can’t see, apparently under the assumption that said driver possesses the gift of x-ray vision. Personally, I tend to feel that a solid rear bumper to the midsection would do these dolts no small bit of good, but the law has a different take on the matter…so, careful backing it is.
I back into the space in the first place so I don’t have to back out while watching six things at once and go on faith that I haven’t overlooked a pedestrian or that I can’t see that car coming down the aisle at 50kph and then be unable to stop in time then hitting me and having it be all my fault because I was the one in reverse.
It totally depends on the situation. When I’m at school, I usually back straight out because none of the morons who park around me are capable of staying inside their own lines and even though I’m always in a small vehicle, they never leave me enough room to get out. Hell, I have more than once had to climb in through the hatch and then fold the side mirrors in just so I can get out. Friggen morons.
Any other time I will start turning as I’m backing out.
I’ve always turned only slightly and then turned more once I had clearance. But I always thought of that as being because I didn’t have enough experience to do it the “right” way.
I think it depends on the vehicle and the parking space, uh, space. In the van and a large parking space I’ll yank the wheel over, but in a smaller car or if the parking spaces are tiny I’ll back out a little then crank the wheel over.
I was turning on the way in, so I’m turning on the way out. I guess I turn less when I’m backing out, because of the visibility issue, but I don’t back out straight and then start to turn - it’s more of a gentle curve.
I skipped the poll, because the answer is “it depends.” Given my druthers, I’d turn the wheels all the way before backing out, but sometimes the space is too narrow for that; the front of the car does extend past the front wheels, after all, and moves a bit to the opposite side when backing out. There might very well be room, as my car has a pretty short hood, but that also means I can’t see the front of the car, and I prefer not to play the “very last inch” game with other people’s property (or mine, for that matter).
ETA: there’s also the back end to worry about; large vehicles often extend way past my own, and turning immediately would guarantee that I run into them.
I guess it depends on how narrow the aisle is and the size of the vehicle next to me.
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You turn as much as you can while backing out, and crank it as soon as you can clear the other cars.
x 2
Usually, you are restricted by the cars parked on either side as to how much you can crank the steering wheel. Not sure how there could be other options
I drive a compact and somehow far more often then you’d think by chance alone, I end up between two SUVs or pickup trucks. I have to back up three feet before my back wheels even clear the cars to the side. Another vote for “I always back in if I can so I don’t have to back out”.
It depends very much on the amount of space on either side of me and behind me. Given my druthers, I prefer to turn the wheel as I back out, but more often than not it’s not an option.
Funny story: I almost hit the car next to me in the parking lot when taking my driver’s exam. I started turning my wheel as soon as I started to go, and didn’t have room for that. The man was silent almost the entire time, and my test afterward consisted of 4 right turns. The friend I had gone with, who went earlier that day, said that his was a much longer one, with left turns and a chatty man beside him. Passed though!
I have a 1/2" deep dent beside my right headlight because someone turned before backing out, then hit me and run/ran.
I do what ever’s required to back out and get myself facing in the direction I want to go. Normally this means backing out a bit then turning as my front bumper clears the rear bumper of the car next to mine. I don’t think I’ve seen anyone do anything different to this, not that I’ve been paying attention to other’s reversing habits.
I guess you don’t live in Sydney? Watching other people drive and/or attempt to park can be the highlight of my week.