# Is this guy actually doing anything wrong (parking lot at work)? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [March 10, 2009, 11:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-guy-actually-doing-anything-wrong-parking-lot-at-work/488938 "2009-03-10T11:27:53Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![tr0psn4j](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/958977/32.png) [@tr0psn4j](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tr0psn4j)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2009, 5:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-guy-actually-doing-anything-wrong-parking-lot-at-work/488938/21 "2009-03-10T17:21:27Z")
> [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](#): > > It’s illegal in several states (including this one) to park backwards outside a convenience store and other often-robbed businesses. Apparently, because it facilitates one’s getaway. > > Are you sure you aren’t thinking of that? Well, I was learning to drive. My instructor told me to pull into a parking lot. So I turned into a parking lot and started to park. I was in a little crooked so I compensated by parking in the space directly in front of the one I should have parked in. This, in effect, caused me to be parked “backwards.” He then went on to tell me it’s illegal to park like that. An explanation wasn’t given and, occasionally, I’ll park in that manner but have never gotten a ticket or a tow because of it. ---
**Author:** ![tr0psn4j](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/958977/32.png) [@tr0psn4j](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tr0psn4j)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2009, 5:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-guy-actually-doing-anything-wrong-parking-lot-at-work/488938/22 "2009-03-10T17:24:03Z")
> [@ShibbOleth](#): > > That’s not true. > If a lane is marked like this > > * * * > > * * * > > \>\> > > and I am a car moving in the direction of the arrows at the bottom, I may cross over the solid line to the left of the dotted line to pass. Cars coming in the other direction may not. > > Turning onto and off of roads there are a lot of reasons you might cross a solid line. That’s the logic I use to justify getting out of carpool lanes whenever I please. Almost always, there is a dotted line on the inside of a carpool lane. Sometimes, it will be like this: * * * * * * * * * And I assume THOSE are the one’s that mean you can’t get out of the carpool lane. ---
**Author:** ![ShibbOleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/848f3c/32.png) [@ShibbOleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ShibbOleth)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2009, 5:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-guy-actually-doing-anything-wrong-parking-lot-at-work/488938/23 "2009-03-10T17:25:00Z")
If you’d have been a Doper at the time you could have shouted “CITE?!?” at him. Out of idle curiosity, what state and roughly what year was that? ---
**Author:** ![Silophant](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a698b9/32.png) [@Silophant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Silophant)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2009, 5:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-guy-actually-doing-anything-wrong-parking-lot-at-work/488938/24 "2009-03-10T17:36:28Z")
As another data point, my dad got a ticket… oh, probably about ten years ago for parking backwards in a parking ramp in Minnesota. I remember he was mad about it, but I was only seven or eight then, so I have no idea if he just paid it or what. ---
**Author:** ![Giles](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/giles/32/60_2.png) [@Giles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Giles)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2009, 5:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-guy-actually-doing-anything-wrong-parking-lot-at-work/488938/25 "2009-03-10T17:47:34Z")
Clearly the rules vary by jurisdiction. I’ve been in places in Australia where the signs direct you to “park rear to curb”, i.e., go into the space in reverse, and drive out forwards. But, in a private car park where there are no signs, I would think you could park either way. ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2009, 7:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-guy-actually-doing-anything-wrong-parking-lot-at-work/488938/26 "2009-03-10T19:45:29Z")
> [@Giles](#): > > Clearly the rules vary by jurisdiction. I’ve been in places in Australia where the signs direct you to “park rear to curb”, i.e., go into the space in reverse, and drive out forwards. But, in a private car park where there are no signs, I would think you could park either way. The OP has New Jersey in the location field. I am a police officer in New Jersey. As I stated upstream most NJ motor vehicle laws do not apply on private property. You can park backwards. You can pull forward. You can take up three spaces. It is not illegal. Owners of the property can put up any sign they want. They mean nothing legally. Stop signs, one way, no parking, speed limits: meaningless (a good idea to follow but you can’t be cited). There are only a few real exceptions. Handicap parking is enforcible as long as the signs are NJDOT approved. Some private properties have the town come in and certify the property and have it entered into the township ordinance. For example the Walmart in town has posted fire lanes in front. They were certified by the traffic inspector and entered into law. This does not mean that parking lots are like the wild west. Two laws that are enforcible on private property are careless driving and reckless driving. So doing burnouts or racing in the parking lot can get you a ticket. If you get into an accident on private property due to your carelessness you can get a ticket. The other driver in the OP was rude but did nothing illegal. ---
**Author:** ![Hampshire](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hampshire/32/4887_2.png) [@Hampshire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hampshire)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2009, 8:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-guy-actually-doing-anything-wrong-parking-lot-at-work/488938/27 "2009-03-10T20:28:21Z")
I believe it’s as **Loach** says, you can’t be ticketed for things on private property posted by property owners (i.e. reserved for employee of the month, parking backwards, 10 minute limit, etc.) But can a private property owner legally have you towed at your expense for not following their rules? ---
**Author:** ![tr0psn4j](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/958977/32.png) [@tr0psn4j](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tr0psn4j)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2009, 8:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-guy-actually-doing-anything-wrong-parking-lot-at-work/488938/28 "2009-03-10T20:43:50Z")
> [@ShibbOleth](#): > > If you’d have been a Doper at the time you could have shouted “CITE?!?” at him. Out of idle curiosity, what state and roughly what year was that? Yeah no cite requesting back then. It was in Glendale, CA around the end of 2002 I think. ---
**Author:** ![minor7flat5](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/minor7flat5/32/258_2.png) [@minor7flat5](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/minor7flat5)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2009, 8:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-guy-actually-doing-anything-wrong-parking-lot-at-work/488938/29 "2009-03-10T20:45:25Z")
> [@Loach](#): > > … I am a police officer in New Jersey. As I stated upstream most NJ motor vehicle laws do not apply on private property. You can park backwards. You can pull forward. You can take up three spaces. It is not illegal… > > …The other driver in the OP was rude but did nothing illegal. Straight from a Jersey cop. Can’t get a better answer than that! I’ll just call him a jerk under my breath as I ignore him next time. ---
**Author:** ![Magiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4491bb/32.png) [@Magiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Magiver)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2009, 11:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-guy-actually-doing-anything-wrong-parking-lot-at-work/488938/30 "2009-03-10T23:40:56Z")
> [@minor7flat5](#): > > I try to put myself in his shoes and I think: If I were driving through an open spot to face my car outward in another spot (and I have done so), and I suddenly met someone coming in the correct way, I would not feel that I was in the right. Anyone with manners would have backed up. He’ a git and you handled it right. No sense stirring up trouble because you may end up working for him down the road. Keep in mind that he may end up working for you. 😃 I must have met his wife yesterday because I was trying to pull out of a Dentist’s office parking lot and I was blocked by a soccer mom waiting in line to pick up her kid at school. Mind you, the guy behind HER left enough room for her to back up. It’s a good thing I didn’t have my death ray with me because I would have cut the front of her car off. The ONE day I forget my death ray… ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2009, 1:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-guy-actually-doing-anything-wrong-parking-lot-at-work/488938/31 "2009-03-11T01:19:31Z")
> [@Hampshire](#): > > But can a private property owner legally have you towed at your expense for not following their rules? Yes, as long as tow warnings are clearly posted within X distance of each spot, including the violations that will get you in such a fix. ---
**Author:** ![jasonh300](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/46a35a/32.png) [@jasonh300](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jasonh300)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2009, 2:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-guy-actually-doing-anything-wrong-parking-lot-at-work/488938/32 "2009-03-11T02:02:35Z")
> [@minor7flat5](#): > > Straight from a Jersey cop. Can’t get a better answer than that! > > I’ll just call him a jerk under my breath as I ignore him next time. The guy’s a jerk. Too lazy or incompetent to back into a space. Sounds like the kind of guy you might want to give Guido Soprano a call and have him worked over with a bat (and just fuhgettaboutit). Seems like an appropriate punishment. ---
**Author:** ![Lynn\_Bodoni](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e47c2d/32.png) [@Lynn\_Bodoni](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lynn_Bodoni)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2009, 3:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-guy-actually-doing-anything-wrong-parking-lot-at-work/488938/33 "2009-03-11T03:23:41Z")
> [@](#): > > For the second time in the past couple of months I narrowly avoided having a head-to-head crunch with some random dude from work. Is it the same guy each time? Can you tell? ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2009, 6:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-guy-actually-doing-anything-wrong-parking-lot-at-work/488938/34 "2009-03-11T06:30:02Z")
> [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](#): > > Yes, as long as tow warnings are clearly posted within X distance of each spot, including the violations that will get you in such a fix. Not in New Jersey. No such signs have to be posted. The property owner can tow off their property. Doesn’t happen very often in business parking lots. Most of the time the property owner is not in the building. Tenants of the building do not have the right to tow even if someone parks in the CEO’s spot. Most of the private tows I have dealt with are due to abandoned vehicles. Other than that it is rare. The tow truck driver wants to get paid. Few property owners will want to pay to fix a temporary annoyance. It is just not important enough the remove the car from the pregnant women only spot. ---
**Author:** ![Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/46a35a/32.png) [@Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tim_T-Bonham.net)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2009, 6:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-guy-actually-doing-anything-wrong-parking-lot-at-work/488938/35 "2009-03-11T06:46:09Z")
He is driving alone in a “huge truck”. That in itself makes it clear that he’s a jerk. A gas-wasting, terrorist-enabling jerk. And his behavior only confirms it. But you are probably right not to have confronted him – quite possibly, he would react badly. ---
**Author:** ![tumbleddown](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e9bcb4/32.png) [@tumbleddown](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tumbleddown)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2009, 6:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-guy-actually-doing-anything-wrong-parking-lot-at-work/488938/36 "2009-03-11T06:51:30Z")
> [@ShibbOleth](#): > > Maybe his reverse gear doesn’t work. Or maybe he hurt his neck and can’t turn around far enough to see to back out of a space. If his neck is hurt that badly, he shouldn’t be driving at all. ---
**Author:** ![mhendo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mhendo/32/3159_2.png) [@mhendo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mhendo)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2009, 7:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-guy-actually-doing-anything-wrong-parking-lot-at-work/488938/37 "2009-03-11T07:26:50Z")
If a parking lot has plenty of empty spaces, i will sometimes pull through a row so that i’m facing outwards, just like the guy in the OP did. BUT… I only do this when i can see for certain that no-one is coming in from the “normal” side, and if someone did try to enter the spot, i would back out and let them in. There might not be any rule or law covering this issue, but in my opinion the general “Don’t be an asshole” rule of driving etiquette says that the person coming straight into the spot should have right of way. ---
**Author:** ![minor7flat5](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/minor7flat5/32/258_2.png) [@minor7flat5](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/minor7flat5)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2009, 11:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-guy-actually-doing-anything-wrong-parking-lot-at-work/488938/38 "2009-03-11T11:20:06Z")
> [@Lynn\_Bodoni](#): > > Is it the same guy each time? Can you tell? Pretty much. Out of a few hundred folks, only 20 or 30 show up at the time I do, and this is some big distinctive dark-colored diesel kind of pickup and the guy looks vaguely similar. I’m pretty certain it’s the same fellow, but I couldn’t pick him out of a lineup :). Besides, what are the odds that two guys who fit those criteria would pull such a bold move? ---
**Author:** ![Dinsdale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/97f17d/32.png) [@Dinsdale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dinsdale)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2009, 1:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-guy-actually-doing-anything-wrong-parking-lot-at-work/488938/39 "2009-03-11T13:50:21Z")
As a general matter, don’t most folk agree that it is common courtesy to follow the parking lot markings? Isn’t it to everyone’s benefit that people drive in a predictable manner? For example, use the marked driving lanes instead of simply cutting across the marked parking slots in a direct line towards your destination? Or at least, if you are cutting across the marked parking spaces and you encounter someone driving down a marked lane, you recognize that the other car has the right of way? I think a similar rationale applies to the OP. Sure, you can pull through as the other guy did. I’ve done it many a time. Or he could have backed into a space to achieve the same result. But if while pulling through you encounter someone who is using the lot the way just about everyone else does, and the way most people feel the lot was designed to be used - well, you take it upon yourself to back up and pull through the next space in the line. ---
**Author:** ![troub](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/troub/32/14802_2.png) [@troub](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/troub)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2009, 2:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-guy-actually-doing-anything-wrong-parking-lot-at-work/488938/40 "2009-03-11T14:27:15Z")
Jeez. I tend to be pretty non-confrontational, but that doesn’t mean I stand to be bullied. If I were pulled partway into a space and some asshole started pushing through from the other side, I’d just shrug at him, put my car in park and get out. No way in hell I would back out for him. The people in this thread saying “why do you assume _he’s_ doing something wrong?” Are you serious? Maybe it’s not illegal, but the markings are there for a reason. The parking spaces are there for a reason, and that reason is not for driving through. Regardless, you were there first, so tough cookies for him. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-guy-actually-doing-anything-wrong-parking-lot-at-work/488938.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-guy-actually-doing-anything-wrong-parking-lot-at-work/488938.md?page=3)