Nose in or nose out?

[Skippy918]

I always park nose in. I cannot back into a parking spot. Too scared of hitting another car. All the pickup trucks tend to back in to spots. It is annoying when you are trying to drive down the parking aisle and someone is backing in.

 

[mrodgers]

Would have been a waste of money for me, I don't go many places with parallel parking. I think in the two plus years we have had our Camry I parallel parked once.

I've said in other driving threads... Took my daughter to show her how to parallel park. I was on my phone when she says, "So, you going to tell me how to do this?" I was looking up to remind how to parallel park. That was the first time I ever had, showing my daughter because State Police was where we took our test when I was 16 and it was so busy only on Saturdays the kids were lined up down the road and spilling out onto the main road. The officer with me said, "Parallel park right... You know what, never mind, just pull straight in here, you passed. It's too busy."

So I never did it for my test, and I'd never done it out while parking anywhere.

 

[sam_gordon]

I've said in other driving threads... Took my daughter to show her how to parallel park. I was on my phone when she says, "So, you going to tell me how to do this?" I was looking up to remind how to parallel park. That was the first time I ever had, showing my daughter because State Police was where we took our test when I was 16 and it was so busy only on Saturdays the kids were lined up down the road and spilling out onto the main road. The officer with me said, "Parallel park right... You know what, never mind, just pull straight in here, you passed. It's too busy."

So I never did it for my test, and I'd never done it out while parking anywhere.

I kind of wondered if those who pull into the parking spot (and back out) also aren't very good at parallel parking. I'm in the process of teaching our youngest in preparation for her test.

 

[Moliphino]

I kind of wondered if those who pull into the parking spot (and back out) also aren't very good at parallel parking. I'm in the process of teaching our youngest in preparation for her test.

I have almost never needed to, so yeah. In theory I know how. I can't even think of the last time I had to parallel park.
The closest is parking in front of someone's house on the street, but I can always just pull in behind the last car, no need to maneuver. I can get out of a spot just fine if someone ends up parking behind me and I leave first.

 

[DisneYE]

This is why I love the DIS.
That such a mundane topic can grow to 7 pages (!!) of replies with the most diverse opinions is a testament to how useful and interesting this forum is.
No - I haven't read all 7 pages on what are people's predilections when parking their cars. I was exhausted by the 2nd page.

That said, in my case, it depends on the place and how busy it is.
At a theme park, stadium, arena, etc, I will always park nose out - No way I'm waiting God knows how many minutes for the kindness of strangers to let me back out.
At the grocery store or place that isn't busy I'll always park nose in.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

I have almost never needed to, so yeah. In theory I know how. I can't even think of the last time I had to parallel park.
The closest is parking in front of someone's house on the street, but I can always just pull in behind the last car, no need to maneuver. I can get out of a spot just fine if someone ends up parking behind me and I leave first.

I got really good at parallel parking when I worked on campus but I'm in a tiny car with a good turning radius. I'm pretty sure I can parallel park other vehicles applying the same rules that I learned in driver's ed but I do think the vehicle someone is driving makes a big difference. I'm much more comfortable in my tiny coupe than I would be in a bigger car. Even my husband's Madza 3 has a slightly worse turning radius than my car, he can parallel park too and had to do a lot of that when he was on assignment in Long Beach as all parking was dual sided street parking although in fairness he bought a backup camera to install in his car to help out because heaven's CA drivers were not very good. But it's all what you end up getting used to and comfortable with.

Most of the time we encounter parallel parking in Downtown area but in our suburbia there's also a push for mini city centers that have this more and more. Generally though those spots are fairly wide enough that it's not too too bad.

 

[mrodgers]

I kind of wondered if those who pull into the parking spot (and back out) also aren't very good at parallel parking. I'm in the process of teaching our youngest in preparation for her test.

I said I never did, not that I couldn't. I showed my daughter how to do it, so did it myself easy enough on the first try, LOL.

Not sure the relation. I can back a large truck or SUV into a spot with inches on either side left. Sales girl said just park here and I said, no problem, and whipped their van around and backed between the other cars. Then we had to open our doors and squeeze out without getting into the other brand new cars a few inches from the one I parked, LOL.

Back to this nose in/out, I just don't see the issue with backing out of a space. I've been driving a small car since 2010 pulling in and backing out of parking spaces among enormous SUV and trucks.

99.9% of issues people have in cars could be solved very simply by paying attention. I just had to move over into the oncoming lane an hour ago (with no one in that lane) because of someone one driving from the parking area into the roadway around the parking lot with her head turned facing whoever she was talking to as she just drove through the empty lot and out into the roadway directly next to me as I moved over into the oncoming lane. She just drove out as if I wasn't even there.

 

[goofyernmost]

Outside parking is always nose in, for some reason I cannot explain. That is shopping or restaurants or visiting friends or family.

At home, for the last almost 50 years, always nose out. Just a habit I got into and see no reason to stop.

 

[tzolkin]

I'm "nose-in" 90% of the time because I typically park when I'm shopping and need to access my trunk. It drives me nuts to see people squeezing a shopping cart in between vehicles to load groceries and things into their trunk when they are parked "nose out"

If you "nose in", do you do a complete walk-around before starting the car? Didn't think so. People (kids especially) are watching for you when you arrive. Not so much when you are departing, and you don't know what got left behind the car while you were stopped.

I know you're talking about in a driveway since you mention kids, but I think most have been answering assuming parking lot spaces, not driveways. I typically approach my car from the rear in a parking lot so I do check the surroundings. When I have parked "nose in" at my previous home (used the garage) I did check the driveway and behind the car before backing out.

Including in one way aisles with diagonal parking spots?

This also bugs me. There are a few places nearby that have one way/diagonal parking spots and a huge percentage of people pull through. When they pull out, they are always going the wrong direction and then get annoyed at everyone else for being in their way. I assume a good number of people do not understand how one way/diagonal parking spaces are supposed to work.

 

[EveDallas]

Nose in. People that hold everyone up to back in drive me nuts. Especially when they can't do it well and take forever.

 

[Cheburashka]

I figure there's already enough inane threads going, what's one more?

For those of you who drive... what's your preferred parking style (in lots)? Nose in? Nose out? Nose out only if you can pull through? I'd say 95% of the time, I'm nose out. Backing in doesn't bother me. And I feel it's SO much safer when leaving the spot.

I hate waiting around for people to back in. It always seems to take them twice as long as it takes for someone to back out, I suppose because they're backing in between two cars and that's harder than backing out into the open.

It's inconsiderate to back in when people are waiting.

 

[sam_gordon]

I said I never did, not that I couldn't. I showed my daughter how to do it, so did it myself easy enough on the first try, LOL.

Not sure the relation. I can back a large truck or SUV into a spot with inches on either side left. Sales girl said just park here and I said, no problem, and whipped their van around and backed between the other cars. Then we had to open our doors and squeeze out without getting into the other brand new cars a few inches from the one I parked, LOL.

No true relation. I was just poking fun.

Back to this nose in/out, I just don't see the issue with backing out of a space. I've been driving a small car since 2010 pulling in and backing out of parking spaces among enormous SUV and trucks.

99.9% of issues people have in cars could be solved very simply by paying attention. I just had to move over into the oncoming lane an hour ago (with no one in that lane) because of someone one driving from the parking area into the roadway around the parking lot with her head turned facing whoever she was talking to as she just drove through the empty lot and out into the roadway directly next to me as I moved over into the oncoming lane. She just drove out as if I wasn't even there.

Definitely agree with your last paragraph. And there's generally no issue with backing out of a space. I thought it would be a fun discussion instead of "Name a song with the word 'song' in it".

 

[sam_gordon]

Nose in. People that hold everyone up to back in drive me nuts. Especially when they can't do it well and take forever.

I hate waiting around for people to back in. It always seems to take them twice as long as it takes for someone to back out, I suppose because they're backing in between two cars and that's harder than backing out into the open.

It's inconsiderate to back in when people are waiting.

I still argue it's safer to pull out and folks who complain about waiting for those to back in think their time is more important. Because of this thread, I've paid attention to how long it takes me to back in. MAYBE 15 seconds total. So what, 5-10 SECONDS more than someone pulling into a spot? Yup. Don't feel bad about making someone wait.

 

[JaxDad]

I hate waiting around for people to back in. It always seems to take them twice as long as it takes for someone to back out, I suppose because they're backing in between two cars and that's harder than backing out into the open.

It's inconsiderate to back in when people are waiting.

I agree that waiting for someone who has less than good backing skills is no fun, but it’s just as bad waiting on poor drivers backing OUT of spots as it is for those backing in.

 

[Lumpy1106]

Nose in. People that hold everyone up to back in drive me nuts. Especially when they can't do it well and take forever.

Imagine how bad they are at backing out

 

[mrodgers]

Imagine how bad they are at backing out

You don't have to line up to a hole only a little bit larger than your car that is 90° to your side to back out of a spot. You just back straight out. The ones who can't back out of the parking spots, the backing out part isn't their issue. Their issue is they don't know you can turn the steering wheel more than a quarter turn so you don't have to make driving off a 7 point turn to get straight with the drive lane.

 

[Moliphino]

Imagine how bad they are at backing out

You have a lot more space available when you're backing out of a spot compared to trying to fit in between two cars.

 

[Mysterian]

I thought it would be a fun discussion instead of "Name a song with the word 'song' in it".

Apples and oranges. Those threads may remind/introduce people to some good music.

 

[Mysterian]

I always park nose in. I cannot back into a parking spot. Too scared of hitting another car. All the pickup trucks tend to back in to spots. It is annoying when you are trying to drive down the parking aisle and someone is backing in.

I see many pickups take up a space and a half parking. Many don't use their blinkers either, but that's a whole other thing.

 

[Disneylover99]

You have a lot more space available when you're backing out of a spot compared to trying to fit in between two cars.

Not necessarily.

You pull in, shop, come out an hour later and see that two new cars on either side of you have parked too close plus there are now a few oversized vehicles hanging out too far in the aisle behind you.

Or maybe that’s just what happens to me every time I don’t back in. Lol.