Something that people don’t seem to consider in this question is that the two parking directions are not symmetric. A car only steers at one end. This means that the geometry of the turn required to park with the steerable wheels first versus the steerable wheels last changes the possible geometry of the parking. In general, parking rear first provides the driver with a wider range of control on the way in, and it is possible to park in a more constrained space. This seems counter-intuitive to many, but is a simple verifiable fact. Trouble is that it does require more skill/practice, and when people without that skill try, they can get into a mess.
I have parked in car parks that prohibit backing into some spaces- particularly ones that are on the main pathway for cars entering the park. And then there are spaces that require that you back in - usually ones where it is critical that you have a clear view when exiting the space. I will always back into a difficult tight space, as that provides me with the most options, and makes a safe exit easier. If the space is easy I will go in frontwards, as that takes less brain effort, and I am not worried about issues when leaving.
In our office garage back-in parking is forbidden between 8:15 and 8:45. Other times it’s allowed. That’s because most of the ~600 cars arrive in that time slot and one idiot trying to back into a space on the fourth floor can cause a back-up all the way down to the street. A very busy downtown street. The spaces are extremely narrow, it’s much quicker to back out than back in.
There are always a few idiots who ignore the rules, get into fights with people behind them. Our mailroom and printshop staff are assigned to enforce the restrictions.
That said there are definitely circumstances where even in our garage, it would be safer to be pulling out head first than backing out between 5:00 and 5:30 if you are between two SUVs. If you want to do that, get there before 8:15.
It is easier and safer to pull out again if you’ve parked by backing in
The more incompetent a driver is at backing up, the more value they get from pulling out forwards.
Yup.
I don’t have enough foresight to routinely back into parking spaces, but if the space is especially awkward and I am worried about getting out again, I will do so.
In addition to the aforementioned advantages of backing in, it’s also a lot easier when you drive a longer wheelbase vehicle such as a pick up. This is especially true in certain parking lots in which the spaces and aisles are narrow. When I do this, and assuming it’s possible, I pull off to the side and let traffic pass.
It’s amazing how virulent the anti-parking-correctly people are – they have to pass regulations and accuse people of sadist sexual motivations because they have so much cognitive dissonance over their lifetime of doing it wrong.
Being able to maneuver in reverse, into a parking space in a lot or in parallel, is part of driving. If you aren’t capable of parking, don’t drive. If you’re so angry at other people doing it right, don’t drive and set your car on fire.
Sigh. With all the misconceptions abounding at SDMB, I think I’ve spent as many posts trying to fight this ignorance as any other.
Perhaps the facts are clearer to me than others because my vehicle is slightly longer than most and because I’m used to the crowded under-sized parking lots of Thailand but … Even ignoring any safety considerations, backing in to parking spaces is geometrically easier; Indeed it may() be possible when front-in parking is geometrically impossible.* Moreover, even when front-in parking is geometrically possible, it may become geometrically impossible to exit if a new arrival blocks your path. (Obviously, no one backs into diagonal spaces.)
If this isn’t clear, think about parallel parking into a cramped space. I’ll ask OP: Do you enter a cramped parallel space front-first? (Front wheels turn when you turn; rear wheels don’t. Do I need to explain the geometry further?)
(* - For Thailand, replace “may be geometrically impossible” with “very often will be geometrically impossible.”)
FWIW, I “err” in the opposite way, going to an easier spot 100 yards out of my way if the alternative is to make someone wait for me to park. And, oh, backing-in doesn’t take long unless the jerk behind you pulls up and blocks the path.
Every car that “saves time for the people behind them” by pulling in head-first has to make everyone wait later while they reverse out – except now they’re doing it blind, doing it with less skill (since the people who park head-in are the ones who don’t know how to operate a car in reverse) and doing it with a longer line (at an office or an entertainment venue people arrive over the course of the morning but all leave at the same time).
There’s no benefit to politeness. And it’s quite impolite to smash into another car, or a pedestrian, or a bicyclist, which you’re going to do if you keep pulling out of parking spaces blind and in reverse.
Why are we doing this again, especially in GQ? Factually speaking, it is always better to back in. The OP doesn’t want to hear that. Why the OP doesn’t want to hear that is better left for the pit. But that doesn’t change the fact that everybody else is right and he is wrong.
That’s crap. Like I said, if you think it’s easier or faster to get out then that means you think it’s harder and slower to get out parked normally (front in) - if that’s the case your driver’s license should be torn apart and you should never be allowed to drive again. Shouldn’t even be allowed to ride a bike.
Any comparison to parallel parking is comparing rotten apples to fresh oranges. Completely 100% irrelevant. Yes, you back in when you parallel park. Because the front wheels turn and the rear wheels do not - you even pointed out the reason it’s irrelevant.
I started backing in when living in an apartment complex that had a lot of children. When pulling up to my parking spot, I could see if there were any children around and safely back in. Then when pulling out, I could better see if any kids, adults, and other cars where going to be in my way.
Just a few days ago in my local area there was an elderly man killed when a parked car backed over him coming out of a garage.
Oh! I also like doing a ‘pull-through’ at shopping centers and other larger parking lots as long as it’s not angled parking.
I back in (in my own car) because I am required to do so in my company’s vehicles. I’m not used to it, so I prefer to practice when I can in my much smaller car (If I can’t do it in a Honda Fit, I’d better not try it in anything else!). If people are behind me, I don’t do it in my own car, because I don’t have to, but I will do it in the more difficult to maneuver company vehicle, because I am required to.
Sometimes if I am with a person using a walker and there are no handicapped parking spaces available, I might back in if that will make it easier for them to get out of the car. I can imagine parents making this calculation based on where the baby seat is located.
If I were more comfortable doing it (and not fearing physical retribution from people foaming at the mouth about it), I would probably back in more often, I do think it reduces accidents on exit, and your insurance company will just as likely find you at fault in those, even if you are in a small car and can’t see behind you due the SUVs and minivans on either side that weren’t there when you originally parked.
And I agree with the people who point out that it is a net issue for time. Every person who makes way for you parking nose first is slowing you down when they back out.
I find backing in a much easier way of parking, especially with full size vans or trucks with poor turning radius. There is a reason most forklifts have rear steering; tighter maneuvering ability. I can get my van into a much tighter space backing in. More specifically in a lot with narrow lanes I can back in in one go if I judge it properly where it requires a multi point turn to park evenly if I do not back in.
The visibility backing out is a huge issue; I have no side windows other than driver and passenger doors in my work van. When I just drive in I cannot see anything backing out and have to inch out slowly and hope there are no assholes that just drive past when they see me start to back out; and there are always assholes.
That being said I do not give a shit how someone else chooses to park as long as when done they are parked decently in their spot not interfering with the spots around them. On the other hand the jerks that think the loading zone is their private storefront parking spot…
And thus we see round 37 of exactly why this discussion is almost as safe-and-sane as the one about which way to install toilet paper rolls or which gender deserves more money in a divorce.
But because it involves cars & ego in public, it gets nastier quicker.
The issue has a factual answer, though. Back-in parking is safer and easier. Every place that has implemented it has found this to be statistically true.
Seeing the moving, unpredictable traffic flow while driving forward out of the space is safer than reversing into it blind in order to avoid reversing into the unmoving, inanimate curb.
There is no “time savings in letting the line move” when you have to stop the line to reverse in either one direction or another.
It’s a perfect factual answer. Head-in parking is objectively inferior and less safe.
Agreed. Ref post #7 by me and several subsequent by others.
I merely assert that this potentially factual topic is, for whatever reason, unusually resistant to our usual ignorance fighting. Instead it triggers ignorant fighting.
Toilet paper roll installation is controversial? What idiot would install toilet paper in any other than the obviously correct way?
My 2¢ on this is that it depends on the circumstances and usually doesn’t matter, but in situations like driving into a garage or tight parking spots it does matter, and one or the other is better depending on the circumstances, the size of the vehicle, and the rearward visibility it offers.
For instance I find it much preferable to drive nose-in into a garage with a narrow doorway since the critical clearances are clearly visible on the way in and out, whereas backing in might risk putting the ass end through the door frame, especially with a big vehicle! Whereas in a narrow parking spot, especially with a limited distance to the opposite row of cars, backing in is much preferable because the front end swing-around happens out in the open, and not between two jerks who are parked too close to you.
ETA: Aside from that, another really important reason for nose-in to a domestic garage is that you want the exhaust to be directed out towards the garage door, not towards the inside or the house door. Does not apply to Tesla owners!
No one cares what you do in your own home, where the points about traffic flow and the safety of pedestrians don’t apply (I’m picturing a garage facing a back driveway a la the suburbs – if you’re in a city and pulling across a pedestrian sidewalk to get in to a garage then you better back in for all the same reasons).
