# Don't park facing the wrong way - why? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [August 14, 2005, 2:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dont-park-facing-the-wrong-way-why/316922 "2005-08-14T02:11:51Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Bearflag70](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/8e7dd6/32.png) [@Bearflag70](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bearflag70)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2005, 12:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dont-park-facing-the-wrong-way-why/316922/21 "2005-08-15T00:09:07Z")
> [@Patty O'Furniture](#): > > No. You can be fined for going too fast based on the skid marks you left when you applied your brakes to avoid an accident. Skid marks prove speed. Being parked on the wrong side of the street does not prove that you drove your car to get to the wrong side. You could have pushed it or towed it backwards. ---
**Author:** ![Patty\_O\_Furniture](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/96bed5/32.png) [@Patty\_O\_Furniture](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Patty_O_Furniture)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2005, 12:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dont-park-facing-the-wrong-way-why/316922/22 "2005-08-15T00:19:50Z")
> [@Bearflag70](#): > > Skid marks prove speed. Being parked on the wrong side of the street does not prove that you drove your car to get to the wrong side. You could have pushed it or towed it backwards. Wow, does your arm hurt now? ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Blue\_Sky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d26b3c/32.png) [@Mr.Blue\_Sky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Blue_Sky)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2005, 12:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dont-park-facing-the-wrong-way-why/316922/23 "2005-08-15T00:37:21Z")
This could be one of those laws that made more sense when it was first written. Or, it could just be a money maker. ---
**Author:** ![Richard\_Pearse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/richard_pearse/32/13144_2.png) [@Richard\_Pearse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Richard_Pearse)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2005, 1:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dont-park-facing-the-wrong-way-why/316922/24 "2005-08-15T01:00:20Z")
> [@GorillaMan](#): > > My objections to some of the suggestions so far… > ‘Having to drive the wrong way to reach the parking space’ - no more than turning across the street involves driving the wrong way. > > ‘Obscured vision, as you pull away’ - no more than at certain parts of a three-point-turn. But when you have to turn across the street, you have no other option, and it is a predictable and expected maneouvre. When you park the wrong way, you DO have another safer option, park the right way. Why would you even want to park the wrong way? ---
**Author:** ![GorillaMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/50afbb/32.png) [@GorillaMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GorillaMan)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2005, 1:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dont-park-facing-the-wrong-way-why/316922/25 "2005-08-15T01:05:21Z")
> [@1920s Style "Death Ray"](#): > > Why would you even want to park the wrong way? You’ve never parked in London, have you? And even parking outside my parents’ house earlier today, on a wide and fairly quiet road, it was simple to park on the ‘wrong’ side, pausing at the centre of the road to check it was clear, and checking it was clear when departing (the latter speicifically featured in my driving lessons). All of the answers so far have been about modern driving situations - but I presume the laws in question are fairly old. If anybody could work out when they might date from, it might help work out what the explanation(s) might be. ---
**Author:** ![GorillaMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/50afbb/32.png) [@GorillaMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GorillaMan)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2005, 1:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dont-park-facing-the-wrong-way-why/316922/26 "2005-08-15T01:09:37Z")
> [@GorillaMan](#): > > You’ve never parked in London, have you? Actually, this was a bit snippy…I’ll give a (non-London) example of what I’m taking about… One particular road I have to park on once week dates from the early 1900s. It’s not very wide. It’s terraced housing on both sides, so each house has about one car length in front of it. With a vehicle parked on each side, it’s a single-track road down the middle. The other adjoining roads are identical. So if you are driving down it, looking for a parking place, you take what you can, be it left or right. You aren’t going to spend five minutes finding a place to turn your car, because the space won’t be there. ---
**Author:** ![Bearflag70](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/8e7dd6/32.png) [@Bearflag70](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bearflag70)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2005, 1:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dont-park-facing-the-wrong-way-why/316922/27 "2005-08-15T01:09:54Z")
> [@Patty O'Furniture](#): > > Wow, does your arm hurt now? Last I checked it was possible to push or tow a car without hurting an arm. My arm is just fine, thanks. ---
**Author:** ![Cervaise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cervaise/32/16693_2.png) [@Cervaise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cervaise)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2005, 1:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dont-park-facing-the-wrong-way-why/316922/28 "2005-08-15T01:27:36Z")
The “driving on the wrong side” objection is meaningless on streets like the one in front of my house, which is basically three lanes: two parking lanes, and a bidirectional center lane which drivers going both ways must cooperate to share. ---
**Author:** ![AZRob](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/azrob/32/3003_2.png) [@AZRob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AZRob)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2005, 3:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dont-park-facing-the-wrong-way-why/316922/29 "2005-08-15T03:56:28Z")
> [@levdrakon](#): > > Shouldn’t the cops have to witness you driving on the wrong side of the street? Aren’t we innocent until proven guilty? Maybe I parked on the right side of the street, and used my Shaolin kung fu skills to push my car across the street. **levdrakon** , Well, parking the wrong way could get you a parking ticket only (cost - $25 if I remember correctly) – not a citation for a moving violation. And, yes, to cite for the moving violation, there would need to be direct observation (or the investigation into an accident). I brought up the driving only as a reason for why the parking regulation was developed. AZRob ---
**Author:** ![Tuco](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/46a35a/32.png) [@Tuco](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tuco)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2005, 10:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dont-park-facing-the-wrong-way-why/316922/30 "2005-08-15T10:42:55Z")
> [@GorillaMan](#): > > Does anyone ever actually do this? Thankfully yes, up here in deepest Norfolk there are rarely streetlights in the villages so people parked on the side of the road facing the wrong way leave their sidelights on overnight to stop people driving into their cars. Often they put up a warning triangle up instead which I assume isn’t legal but does the job just as well. ---
**Author:** ![BwanaBob](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bwanabob/32/2985_2.png) [@BwanaBob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BwanaBob)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2005, 11:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dont-park-facing-the-wrong-way-why/316922/31 "2005-08-15T11:27:02Z")
> [@levdrakon](#): > > Shouldn’t the cops have to witness you driving on the wrong side of the street? Aren’t we innocent until proven guilty? Maybe I parked on the right side of the street, and used my Shaolin kung fu skills to push my car across the street. No - there are laws of physics that can be relied on. For instance, on Florida’s Turnpike, they used to time-stamp your ticket when you entered the turnpike system. When you exited, they did a check of the time. Since they know where you got on, they could calculate your average speed. If it exceeded the limit you got a ticket. No witnesses, yet allowed nevertheless. ---
**Author:** ![Patty\_O\_Furniture](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/96bed5/32.png) [@Patty\_O\_Furniture](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Patty_O_Furniture)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2005, 1:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dont-park-facing-the-wrong-way-why/316922/32 "2005-08-15T13:13:11Z")
> [@Bearflag70](#): > > Last I checked it was possible to push or tow a car without hurting an arm. > > My arm is just fine, thanks. I was referring to the reaching you did to come up with: > [@](#): > > You could have pushed it or towed it backwards. If you back into a parking space in a lot that requires front-in parking, do you think that nobody is going to get tickets because the parking enforcement people are all going to say to themselves “I’ll skip this guy… he could have been towed or pushed his car into that space”? You are going to get a ticket. We all have our sad stories - that what the judge is for. ---
**Author:** ![Who\_me\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/958977/32.png) [@Who\_me\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Who_me_1)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2005, 1:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dont-park-facing-the-wrong-way-why/316922/33 "2005-08-15T13:26:29Z")
> [@Bearflag70](#): > > Last I checked it was possible to push or tow a car without hurting an arm. > > My arm is just fine, thanks. But to answer your question, the offense is _not_ driving on the wrong side of the road, it’s for parking facing the wrong way. If your car is facing the wrong way, I think that’s evidence in and of itself. ---
**Author:** ![Patty\_O\_Furniture](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/96bed5/32.png) [@Patty\_O\_Furniture](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Patty_O_Furniture)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2005, 1:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dont-park-facing-the-wrong-way-why/316922/34 "2005-08-15T13:54:41Z")
> [@Who\_me?](#): > > But to answer your question, the offense is _not_ driving on the wrong side of the road, it’s for parking facing the wrong way. If your car is facing the wrong way, I think that’s evidence in and of itself. You’ve taken us back to square one. WHY is it illegal to park facing the wrong way? I can understand where the OP is coming from because I despise laws/rules/policies that exist without a good reason. Example: let’s say my company bans red umbrellas. I’d be sure to ask why, even though I don’t own a red umbrella. If the answer came back “because that’s our policy”, I’d be furious. That’s a non-answer and it shows that some executive has too much time on their hands. But if the answer came back (humor me here) “there is a species of agressive wasp on the loose that seems to be attracted to red umbrellas”, I’d say that was a pretty damn good reason. Some people like to know the justification behind the laws. ---
**Author:** ![ZenBeam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/3ab097/32.png) [@ZenBeam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZenBeam)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2005, 5:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dont-park-facing-the-wrong-way-why/316922/35 "2005-08-15T17:34:13Z")
> [@](#): > > You’ve taken us back to square one. WHY is it illegal to park facing the wrong way? > […] > Some people like to know the justification behind the laws. How about “It’s illegal because it _encourages_ people to drive the wrong way into the parking space (even though occasionally, someone might conceivably have the car towed there), and it makes it dangerous to pull out due to the driver having an obstructed view (even though occasionally, someone might conceivably have the car towed back out)”. ---
**Author:** ![Bearflag70](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/8e7dd6/32.png) [@Bearflag70](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bearflag70)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2005, 5:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dont-park-facing-the-wrong-way-why/316922/36 "2005-08-15T17:57:43Z")
A skid mark is sufficient evidence of speed because there’s no other explanation for it. The fact that you are parked the wrong way is not sufficient evidence of anything other than the fact that the car is facing the wrong way at the time. It says nothing about how the car got there. Based upon that evidence alone, I would say: Parking violation, yes. Moving violation, no. ---
**Author:** ![Kevbo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/e47774/32.png) [@Kevbo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kevbo)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2005, 9:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dont-park-facing-the-wrong-way-why/316922/37 "2005-08-16T21:11:49Z")
A current pit thread made me think of this: A driver is (should be) trained to always check thier mirror before opening the car door. A passenger may well be a non-driver, child, etc., and foolishly open the door into oncoming traffic. Of course a left rear-seat passenger could cause trouble, but rear doors are typically much shorter than sedan-front or coupe doors. ---
**Author:** ![GorillaMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/50afbb/32.png) [@GorillaMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GorillaMan)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2005, 9:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dont-park-facing-the-wrong-way-why/316922/38 "2005-08-16T21:16:25Z")
**Kevbo** - if that were true, then the laws would have emerged as “only ever park on the left/right (delete as applicable) side of the road”, even on a one-way street. But they didn’t, so that’s not an explanation for their existence (although not a bad reason for encouraging people to park that way!) ---
**Author:** ![SPLUNGE](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/eada6e/32.png) [@SPLUNGE](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SPLUNGE)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2017, 3:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dont-park-facing-the-wrong-way-why/316922/39 "2017-09-17T15:18:37Z")
Besides the difficulty of pulling out into traffic when you can’t see until you are mostly in the street , my biggest problem with facing the wrong way is that when I am driving at night in the rain with limited visibility (fogged up helmet or goggles is the worst), I especially appreciate the red reflective glow of my headlight off of taillights designed for that purpose. Cars parked backwards can be nearly invisible. ---
**Author:** ![Doug\_K](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b5ac83/32.png) [@Doug\_K](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doug_K)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2017, 1:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dont-park-facing-the-wrong-way-why/316922/40 "2017-09-18T01:48:14Z")
> [@SPLUNGE](#): > > Besides the difficulty of pulling out into traffic when you can’t see until you are mostly in the street , my biggest problem with facing the wrong way is that when I am driving at night in the rain with limited visibility (fogged up helmet or goggles is the worst), I especially appreciate the red reflective glow of my headlight off of taillights designed for that purpose. Cars parked backwards can be nearly invisible. The biggest problem is it makes it harder to spot zombies. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dont-park-facing-the-wrong-way-why/316922.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dont-park-facing-the-wrong-way-why/316922.md?page=3)