I thought this would fit in a minirants thread, but fuck that shit. I think we need a forum for this topic!
I have a Mazda6. Not a huge car. But the lots at Central Market, the hospital, and the freakin’ parking garage appear to be designed for smartcars. And to top this off, I live in Texas. So a good number of drivers have F-250s and other military grade land vehicles, which are larger than typical cars.
And to top the whole thing off, there are those jagoffs who reverse into the spot, which means the logic of parking as far to the right (so to allow drivers to get in easily, or even back out and let passengers in) is totally hosed.
I’ve spent three of the past five days this week sliding my ass on the side of my car to escape these tiny spaces. Seriously, engineers, would it kill you to take one space less so that the rest of us could comfortably park? I have a 35" waist and I can barely squeeze through the space between spots. What about the, er, more Rubenesque among us?
Is this a local phenomenon, or are drivers elsewhere being squeezed thusly?
Wahhh, we can’t fit our SUVs and our fat asses into the parking spots here in Jesusland! Waaah!
Maybe having to park a ways out will get people to rethink driving cars that are too big. And some exercise might help them lose the wieght.
i noticed this in college, when I drove an EXP ( a small car by any standard). I only weighed about 120 lbs, and it was still a trial to park, then get out. I figured thats why the rule of the school was “shittiest car gets right of way”
I had a nice illustration of how unrealistically small the parking spaces are in some lots a while back. I parked my Corolla (one of the smallest cars in the Canadian market) between two other cars of similar size, and I still could barely get my doors open (and all three cars, miracle of miracles, were all parked properly). All I can conclude is that when people design parking lots, they forget about room for opening doors.
Don’t blame the Engineers, I’ll wager I know exactly how the situation went:
Manager: “We need 100 parking spaces in this section here.”
Engineer: “But that’s insane - given the size of SUVs and minivans and idiots who drive F-350 Crew Cabs in the city, plus factoring in the average American BMI of, I don’t know, 107 or something, that’s not going to happen.”
Manager: “It’s not? Well that’s a Goddamn shame to have to fire you right now, what with your 2 mortgages, 3 kids in private school, and a prostate the size of a casaba melon. But hey, you can rely on mortgage bailouts, public schools, and Obamacare to help you make ends meet while you work at your new job as the Wal-Mart greeter from 1:00am-noon every day. IF they’re hiring.”
Engineer: “Did you say 100 spaces? By Lucifer’s left hand, I’ll bet I can fit 200 spaces in there!”
Manager: “Good man! Whew, all this managing stuff makes me stressed and horny. I’d better pick up a teenaged hooker and hit the links! Mix me a drink while I make a few calls. G&T, easy on the ice.”
The only logical thing to do is to ignore the lines, and park so that you have enough room to get out. Of course, that will lead to another Pit thread about how people can’t park within the lines any more.
Seriously, though, I do have to wonder at the logic of some people who ignore the basic laws of physics…how are we supposed to get out of our cars if we can’t even open the door two inches? When I learned to sew, I had to learn the concept of ease…that is, of allowing enough extra fabric so that the wearer could move in a garment. There’s not nearly enough ease in most parking spaces.
Not only have I never seen this convention implemented, I’ve never heard of it before. I’m not even sure what the logic behind it would be–it’s not that hard to center your car in the spot, regardless of how narrow it is.
But yeah, I’ve been in parking lots that looked like one giant compact section. Bummer for the H2 drivers, but thems the breaks.
Most zoning codes in the United States establish minimum dimensions of 9’ x 18’ (2.75m x 5.5 m), with handicapped spaces having much larger dimensions (usually 12’-15’ x 18’). Codes in Canada generally have the metric equivalent, with reduced dimensions permitted for spaces at the end of a row. Zoning codes that required a percentage of compact car spaces are mostly a thing of the past, thanks to Hummers and SUVs squeezing in.
Parking spaces in private ramps and lots are often smaller, usually 8’ x 16’, when such spaces provide supplemental parking above what’s required by zoning codes. Parking spaces in New York City are also smaller.
This is one of those things, like everyone on an airplane agreeing not to recline their seats, that would possibly help the situation.
If you’re in a lot with tiny spaces, if you park more to the right, you give a few more inches of space on the left, which makes it easier for the driver to get out (which of course, every car has). Drivers can always back out and let passengers in.
It’s not perfect, people have car seats, etc. But I always try to give more space on the left.
And The Facts, that’s a pretty remarkable post/username combo. As others have said, the Mazda6 is a bog standard sized sedan.
I think this goes back to the energy crises of the 70s, when it was fashionable to give preference to compact cars (ie, better mileage cars) by giving them preferred parking spaces. They used to be explicitly labeled “compact cars”, and you still see that in some places.
Last place I worked, they deliberately made the parking spaces narrower to fit 1 more in each aisle. Management got tired of people whining about not enough parking spaces, so they managed to squeeze maybe a dozen more spots. Who cares if adjacent cars got banged up by doors - the managers all had regular-width, reserved spaces.
But… then you’re reducing the space on your right, which is likely to be the next guy’s left. If he wants as much room as you have, he has to park even farther to the right. Your “solution” very quickly makes the “problem” worse.
The best approach is for everybody to be exactly centered.
BTW, I do drive a large truck, and I almost never have any trouble parking.
Number one, you missed the part in the OP where she said everyone else is driving pickups and hummers. Fuck the people in hummers and pickups. Let them have a long walk in and get some damn exercise.
Number two, the “standard-sized” American car is too big. If smaller lots helps get Americans out of their land yacht and into sustainable forms of transportation is a good thing. If they can’t fit into the spots designed for properly-sized cars, maybe they’ll stop using transport as status symbols and penis substitutes. (And what does “bog-standard” mean? Are you driving in swamps or something?)
There are a few places here in SoCal with small spaces, but for the most part the parking spaces are big enough even for the large SUVs and pick-ups that some people drive.
Some places do have the “Compact car only” spaces, mentioned by John Mace, but the rest of the spaces are generally big enough for large vehicles.
This does not mean, of course, that people who drive large SUVs and pick-ups always manage to fit their behemoths in the spaces. I was at Trader Joe’s a while back, and this woman with a massive, jacked-up crew cab took about 5 minutes and 7 reverse maneuvers to guide her barge into place, and even then was parked at a 20[sup]o[/sup] angle, with the tail across the lines and blocking the adjacent space.
Hello! I am the OP. I’m not in love with Hummer drivers and the like, but I live in Texas. People have big vehicles, partly out of necessity. So to design parking lots like we’re in Manhattan is ridiculous. I’m perfectly happy parking far away from the store, but even the spaces there are tiny.
Now if they made “large car” parking zones further out, I’m all for that.
My “land yacht” is classified as a compact car:
Not only that, it’s Japanese. My car hardly fits into these spaces! The majority of cars at a Central Market are compact and subcompact, and that’s where the problem is.