# Why be a back in parker? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [February 27, 2026, 8:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-be-a-back-in-parker/1028062 "2026-02-27T20:12:51Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![ricepad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/b38774/32.png) [@ricepad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ricepad)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2026, 8:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-be-a-back-in-parker/1028062/81 "2026-03-02T20:02:03Z")
> [@DSeid](#): > > do you back in parkers back in to your garages Yes. Always have. ---
**Author:** ![Spiderman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spiderman/32/230_2.png) [@Spiderman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spiderman)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2026, 8:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-be-a-back-in-parker/1028062/82 "2026-03-02T20:14:18Z")
> [@DSeid](#): > > Curious - do you back in parkers back in to your garages, those who have? Sometimes, but more often than not, no. I live on a narrow cul-de-sac, it’s actually easier to get out by backing out than fronting out due to where cars can park across the street & the low volume of traffic on my street. Also have a small, tight garage; car has to be just about perfect otherwise I either can’t close the garage door or walk around the front of it. I do have a thing on the ground, similar to [this](https://api.calcarcover.com/data/default/images/catalog/1000/Turnkey/7/PXL_20210111_175547714-4732.jpg), to ride over to know when I’ve got it right that works for fronting in but I intentionally have to miss it when backing in otherwise I can’t open the door to get out. ---
**Author:** ![needscoffee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/needscoffee/32/1076_2.png) [@needscoffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/needscoffee)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2026, 9:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-be-a-back-in-parker/1028062/83 "2026-03-02T21:22:39Z")
Just never mind. ---
**Author:** ![Dinsdale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/97f17d/32.png) [@Dinsdale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dinsdale)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2026, 9:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-be-a-back-in-parker/1028062/84 "2026-03-02T21:31:36Z")
> [@puzzlegal](#): > > I do more back-and-forth when i park head in, because of the geometry of having the turning wheels on the front of the car. Yeah, I get that. And I’m always attentive to where the steering wheels are when I’m pushing a cart or something. But with driving, in my case I think the improved “steerability” while backing is vastly outweighed by the fact that I spend vastly greater time driving forward rather than reverse. As such, I am far more experienced in judging angles and such when going forward and looking through my windshield, than when backing, craning my neck, using mirrors and camera…. Periodically I am mildly surprised at how readily I can pull into a pretty narrow space. I just put it down to the fact that since I do it so often, I readily know how. It is one of those things where if I slowed down and really thought about it, I would likely be worse at it. It is quite infrequent that I ever need to do any backing and forthing when pulling in. Cannot recall ever having dinged a neighboring car when doing so. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2026, 1:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-be-a-back-in-parker/1028062/85 "2026-03-03T01:30:14Z")
> [@Dinsdale](#): > > I was surprised that the study **puzzlegal** linked referred to fatal and serious accidents. Silly me, I was thinking the average accident was clueless driver backing out of parking space too quickly meets inattentive driver likely driving too fast through a parking lot, resulting in fender bender. > > I guess the fatalities primarily include pedestrians. Yeah, I would expect just as many minor fender benders from backing in. Especially when they want to back in a Ford Bronto 😀 or similar oversized vehicle. And those are what annoy me. I am waiting to drive on in the parking lot, and someone is trying to squeeze one of those behemoths into a narrow spot- by backing. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2026, 2:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-be-a-back-in-parker/1028062/86 "2026-03-03T02:13:29Z")
Yes, of course. I exit my garage like Batman does. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2026, 8:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-be-a-back-in-parker/1028062/87 "2026-03-03T08:49:38Z")
My off-road parking is just a small lay-by, bordered on one side by a wall that runs perpendicular to the road - parallel reverse-parking is the only way to get into it. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2026, 8:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-be-a-back-in-parker/1028062/88 "2026-03-03T08:52:59Z")
Yeah, I recently drove an Onda 5 and I was kind of overwhelmed by all of the sensor and camera stuff, although the vehicle sensing was a bit hit and miss - especially in traffic - there was a little video-game-like display of the car and the vehicles it had detected around it, but sometimes it would just fail to see one - especially in lanes on major roads, so I just didn’t trust it. The car I drive at home is a 10 year old Aygo with fairly basic options - it has a reversing camera which is useful, but no other sensors or stuff like that. ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2026, 10:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-be-a-back-in-parker/1028062/89 "2026-03-03T10:50:20Z")
> [@Dinsdale](#): > > I was surprised that the study **puzzlegal** linked referred to fatal and serious accidents. Silly me, I was thinking the average accident was clueless driver backing out of parking space too quickly meets inattentive driver likely driving too fast through a parking lot, resulting in fender bender. That may well be the average accident. It’s not why backup cameras were mandated, though, that was because of the number of children killed by cars backing up. Which was disturbingly large. ---
**Author:** ![scudsucker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scudsucker/32/14101_2.png) [@scudsucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scudsucker)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2026, 12:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-be-a-back-in-parker/1028062/90 "2026-03-03T12:31:35Z")
I prefer parallel parking, if available. My car is a 80s era Toyota D4D Double cab truck with very limited visibility, it is a moving blind spot. I can reverse park if necessary, but usually in tight parking or congested parking I try to find a double “drive through” parking space (if that makes sense) so I end up in the second bay facing out. I’m also one of the very, very few people who can park far away from the entrance. I dont mind the walk. I am always amused, while trying to park at a mall with or near a gym, how much effort people put in to be as close as is possible to the gym entrance. I just walk another 50 or 60 steps, although I do not obsessively record that on my smart-watch. ---
**Author:** ![Spiderman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spiderman/32/230_2.png) [@Spiderman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spiderman)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2026, 6:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-be-a-back-in-parker/1028062/91 "2026-03-03T18:30:14Z")
> [@scudsucker](#): > > I am always amused, while trying to park at a mall with or near a gym, how much effort people put in to be as close as is possible to the gym entrance. I hate going to the gym but when I do it’s primarily to do cardio when it’s ugly out - very cold &/or wet; too cold & or wet to go comfortably for a run / walk. I’ll run outside to lower 20°s; below that it hurts to breathe so that’s a gym day. So yeah, I try to park close but it’s not because I’m being lazy it’s because I don’t want to be out in the elements, especially w/o a jacket, which has a much lesser likelihood of being stolen or forgotten in the building than in my car. ---
**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 3, 2026, 7:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-be-a-back-in-parker/1028062/92 "2026-03-03T19:35:22Z")
It’s simple: it is much easier to navigate a 4-wheeled object into a tight space when the pivoting wheels are not facing the entrance. Think about those heavy duty utility carts that have fixed wheels on one end and pivoting wheels at the other end–like a shopping cart–if you try to push one of those into an elevator you often will find it easier to swing it around and push from the “front” of the cart, with the pivoting wheels at your feet. You can turn the cart 90 degrees on a dime like that. Clear as mud, I suspect, but that’s the reason I back my large pickup truck in: the swing is much different. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2026, 7:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-be-a-back-in-parker/1028062/93 "2026-03-03T19:45:53Z")
> [@scudsucker](#): > > I’m also one of the very, very few people who can park far away from the entrance. I dont mind the walk. Are you my dad? Actually…am I now my dad? My kids complain about me doing this, too. ---
**Author:** ![scudsucker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scudsucker/32/14101_2.png) [@scudsucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scudsucker)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2026, 10:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-be-a-back-in-parker/1028062/94 "2026-03-03T22:37:12Z")
> [@Spiderman](#): > > very cold &/or wet; too cold & or wet to go comfortably for a run / walk. People are different, so I am willing to accept your reasoning. I am really into wilderness hiking, and specically what we calll in this country “kloofing” which is hiking/swimming down remote mountain rivers. Getting wet, cold and uncomfortable is part of the package. I double dry-bag everything but inevitably some things get wet, we have to float our packs through over 100m swims and occasional jumps. But I do carry a bottle of Lagavulin or Laphroaig, a treat on a multiday swim/hike trip. ---
**Author:** ![DSeid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dseid/32/20194_2.png) [@DSeid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSeid)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2026, 1:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-be-a-back-in-parker/1028062/95 "2026-03-04T01:00:23Z")
Last couple of days I’ve experimented with back in parking, at the drug store, and in parking structure at work since it was no traffic near me when I got there. Report: Definitely would be a learning curve, mainly at pulling far enough in the spot. I’ve got to keep going further in than the back up camera makes it look like it is safe to go, and past a rate of beeps that are akin to “warning Will Robinson!!!” to avoid sticking out too far even in a smallish car. Twice I had to get back in and back up more. Could learn that. But the unexpected bit was pulling out. I’ve gotten used to having a pretty good view down each direction in the aisle with the back up camera as soon as I’ve crept out an inch or so. Pulling out headfirst with an SUV next to me I can’t see down the aisle until I am half way out! Not evidence. But as a personal experience not what I had anticipated. ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2026, 2:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-be-a-back-in-parker/1028062/96 "2026-03-04T02:33:43Z")
You have good cameras! Mine don’t give nearly that much view. (Although other sensors will beep if something is coming.) ---
**Author:** ![Dinsdale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/97f17d/32.png) [@Dinsdale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dinsdale)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2026, 12:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-be-a-back-in-parker/1028062/97 "2026-03-04T12:59:45Z")
> [@DSeid](#): > > Pulling out headfirst with an SUV next to me I can’t see down the aisle until I am half way out! Interesting point. I hadn’t thought of that. ---
**Author:** ![DSeid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dseid/32/20194_2.png) [@DSeid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSeid)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2026, 4:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-be-a-back-in-parker/1028062/98 "2026-03-04T16:55:19Z")
> [@puzzlegal](#): > > You have good cameras! Mine don’t give nearly that much view. Huh. I don’t think they’re so special. I noticed this from my first car with it in 2013. Even posted here! > [@Using a car backup camera - Do you have to relearn backing up?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/using-a-car-backup-camera-do-you-have-to-relearn-backing-up/648384/7): > > I am amazed and surprised by how much I love it in my new car. Backing up I can better see cars coming down the parking lot alley that I otherwise would not have been able to see so well and the grid gives a very good sense of how far away the vehicle behind me is and the line I am travelling (avoiding riding into the grass). Still best used as an adjunct. No learning curve. @Dinsdale I didn’t think of it either but experienced it! Of course now I get cross traffic warnings in the front too, so that helps. But visibility with a car next to me pulling out frontwards SUCKS when a car is next to me. ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2026, 6:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-be-a-back-in-parker/1028062/99 "2026-03-04T18:28:10Z")
> [@DSeid](#): > > Of course now I get cross traffic warnings in the front too, so that helps. But visibility with a car next to me pulling out frontwards SUCKS when a car is next to me. Same. I’m most situations, i get better viability forwards. But if you don’t, you should probably continue to park head in, except in situations when everyone is leaving at once. ---
**Author:** ![Dinsdale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/97f17d/32.png) [@Dinsdale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dinsdale)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2026, 8:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-be-a-back-in-parker/1028062/100 "2026-03-04T20:44:29Z")
> [@DSeid](#): > > @Dinsdale I didn’t think of it either but experienced it! Drove to work today - probably the lot I park in the most. Plenty of parking, decent width spaces, little traffic. I momentarily thought, “Should I try backing in?” Then I quickly decided, “Nah!” Just not anything I’ve ever perceived a problem with, so zero incentive to spend any effort trying to develop this skill. And I suspect that if I don’t practice it and don’t use it regularly, I would never develop the facility I currently enjoy pulling in. Interesting, the things different people view differently. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-be-a-back-in-parker/1028062.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-be-a-back-in-parker/1028062.md?page=6)