Pulling into a parking space backwards....

[DizBelle]

FTR - I have a bigger beef with the situation when the cars are parked in the space rather than the logistics of pulling in forward vs. backward.

If your SIDE VIEW MIRROR does not impede my ability to get to the front of my car or open my back door and get into my back seat then, by all means, back in if you like.

 

[Lisa loves Pooh]

Goodness! So much discussion over the issue of pulling in or backing in to a parking slot!

Anyway, this is exactly why, when I go to the grocery store or mall, I simply parallel park in three parking spots (handicapped, preferably, since they are so close to the store entrance). No muss, no fuss.

Joking aside--I saw two motocyclists parking in between the handicap slots earlier this week at a store--AND they had pulled straight through, so were facing the pathway in DIAGONAL parking. They were parked on the cross marks (or whatever it is called) right next to the driver's side door of a person parked LEGALLY in the handicapped spot.

They were sooo proud.

I was tempted to do something and tempted to post about it on the DIS, but figured Karma would bite them in the butt one day.

And had they been legally able to park in the handicap slot, they would/should have used the vacant handicap space next to them.

 

[auntie]

I've been thinking about this..and I haven't done a study on it, but it makes sense when I think about it. We own a body shop. In my experience I don't recall any claims where customers had an accident while pulling out of a spot..yet, we have heard plenty of claims that start with "I was backing out...when" or "they were backing out when"...
Now..again, I'm sure they happen, but in my experience...I haven't seen it.

 

[Mrs.Toad]

Just wait. Why would you drive through a parking lot with lots of kids wandering through it? I'm a school bus driver and I've learned to wait. You should too.

Personally, I think backers are doing it for some sort of satisfaction. I find it an odd thing to do for gratification but that's what it seems to be.

You wait for the entire lot to be empty of children before you drive through it? If you did that here, you'd be sitting there for 20 minutes and be late to your next bus stop. You'd be out of a job pretty quick. And if you did that in the regular parking lot (our busses have separate lanes with much less pedestrian traffic), you'd cause a huge traffic jam with all the other cars lined up behind you, trying to get to the pick up / drop off lane.

I'm not the person you were responding to, but of course people drive through lots with kids in them. Besides schools, there are kids in parking lots at stores, zoos, amusement parks, swimming pools, rec centers, soccer fields, etc. Most of these differ from schools in that people are in and out constantly. A person could not possibly wait for it to be clear of children, unless they waited until it was closed.

We drive slowly and wait for kids we can see to be clear of the path we plan to take. We stop and wait again when we see a new kid dart out in front of us. But waiting until there are no children in the lot is not usually feasible.

As for your last sentence What kind of satisfaction do you think people get for backing into a spot? It's just a method of parking, no more gratifying than any other. What's really odd to me is that someone would use the word gratification in conjunction with parking.

If your SIDE VIEW MIRROR does not impede my ability to get to the front of my car or open my back door and get into my back seat then, by all means, back in if you like.

thanks for your permission.

 

[legalsea]

I will also add that here in Texas (and, I believe, in Wyoming) it is the usual thing for an owner of a pick-up truck to back into a parking slot. The reason is simple: if you pull your truck straight in, then people walking by can easily see what type of guns you have hanging in the gun rack of your back window.

However, by backing in, it is harder to see the guns. Of course, if you are absurbly proud of the guns you have hanging in your back window, and want to show them off, then you pull straight in.

My guns are pretty pathetic, so I always back in. Since the front window of my truck is tinted almost black, people can't see through to my gun rack (the tint does make it hard for me to see out while I drive, but that is what the GPS is for).

 

[DizBelle]

I will also add that here in Texas (and, I believe, in Wyoming) it is the usual thing for an owner of a pick-up truck to back into a parking slot. The reason is simple: if you pull your truck straight in, then people walking by can easily see what type of guns you have hanging in the gun rack of your back window.

However, by backing in, it is harder to see the guns. Of course, if you are absurbly proud of the guns you have hanging in your back window, and want to show them off, then you pull straight in.

My guns are pretty pathetic, so I always back in. Since the front window of my truck is tinted almost black, people can't see through to my gun rack (the tint does make it hard for me to see out while I drive, but that is what the GPS is for).

 

[kaytieeldr]

I did it! I backed in! I got to the doctor's office, the two parallel parking handicap spaces were taken. The only remaining (perpendicular) space has the striped area on what would be considered the passenger side. Waste for me, I'm the driver, I have no passengers. So, I backed in. I drove past the space, stopped, looked in my rear view (as labeled by the car manufacturer) mirror, no cars coming, looked forward, no cars coming, put my car in reverse, put my right blinker on, made a reverse 90º turn pretty much straight into the parking space, adjusted slightly by pulling out a couple of feet - again, no traffic coming from either direction - backed up again, put car in park, turned off engine, exited and locked vehicle (and found out I had the wrong time... but that's an embarrassing story for another thread )

 

[cheermom1]

I didn't read all the posts but what does it freaking matter??? good grief is that all you have to complain about? I mean come on who gives a flying flip if they are front or back? the only thing that irks me is if they take up 2 spaces and I don;t care if in front or backwards just make you are in 1 space. it shouldn't matter at all which way the car is in a space as long as it is in that space!! This whole thing is stupid and pointless.

eta: I know a lot of companies where their employees travel and they are requiered to back into the spots b/c it is safer.

 

[ReneeA]

DH is in construction and is REQUIRED to back into spaces. Therefore, he's really good at it, and does it when he's driving our cars, too. It probably takes him less time to swing backward into a spot than it does most to pull in forward. I don't know that anyone against this practice realize that it's required as a part of a job description at times.

I guess I don't see why something like this would get anyone's panties in a twist.

 

[ols386]

But backing into a space is no different then backing out of a space -you still have to back up at some point .

That's exactly what I was thinking.

And when I'm backing out of a parking space at the grocery store or mall, or places like that, I back out very very slowly for fear that I might not see someone walking behind my car. And some people will walk right in back of your car even when your back-up lights are on, which seems silly to me, but I've seen it many a time.

 

[LiLIrishChick63]

i'm incapable of pulling in backwards, but i'd LOVE to! DH is able to do it PERFECT. he doesn't have to "pull in, pull out" etc, he's pretty good at getting it the first time.

it's more convenient than anything. you can just pull right out of a space and drive off instead of backing out and then pulling forward, then leaving.

 

[LargoLori]

Is there a link or something to point me in the direction of this information?? I've never heard of it being illegal to back in. I've been places where there are signs posted saying "Front in parking only", but I've never known of a place where it is illegal to back in. I know that's not an issue here in Maryland. Anywhere (that I've been) that a person CANNOT back in, has a sign posted saying so.

I don't have a link. There was a post a few years ago about someone who got a ticket for backing into a parking spot. This was in Madeira beach, which is Pinellas County. I asked a deputy at work and he confirmed that it is a law in that city. I also did a google search and it looks like it may be illegal in San Fran as well. There could be lots of places out there that we don't know about.

 

[bumbershoot]

Back in people where I live make me nervous because most of my neighbors with their bigger cars cannot back in for nothing (not sure if this is just their driving or they have a hard time seeing??) and scare me because I have seen them scrape cars and attempt many times .

So...I got no problem if you back in, but please please....only do it if you know how to!!

And that's why I don't, because I don't know how to!

But I live in a condo that is mostly filled with long-retired people (we rent, and for awhile we were definitely the youngest adults here, and DS at 5 is the youngest absolutely), and most of them have "boats", but almost all of them back in. They are professionals, I swear! I think they all took a class, LOL. All of 'em, brilliant at it.

I'm afraid to learn, and so take a year to back out, no, INCH, out, back and forth, so I don't hit anyone's car on my way out...oh yeah, we have a boat of a car, too!


All the men I've ever known (including the older gentleman who live here) do seem to take a big amount of pleasure in backing in...so I definitely agree with the 'gratification' comment said earlier! And DH is one of 'em, and has admitted that it's just more fun to do it that way.

 

[Tiggernut_jadie]

I thought of this thread earlier today after seeing a very near miss in a parking lot at my local grocery store. A man in a large pick-up type truck had driven into the space next to my 'backed-in' car. Like the OP I had trouble getting into my car due to his side mirrors but that is irrelevant....anyway this yoiung woman with a stroller was walking into the store and as she passed my car her toddler threw his shoe on the floor and she stopped to pick it up - just as the guy in the truck began to reverse out of his space! There was no way he could see this girl as she was bent down behind his truck. As he started to move I saw what was happening and hit my horn which thankfully made the guy stop. If he had been facing OUT of the space he would clearly have seen this woman bend down.

He thanked me, as did the young woman, but when I finished shaking I thought about this thread.

 

[Tammi67]

If your SIDE VIEW MIRROR does not impede my ability to get to the front of my car or open my back door and get into my back seat then, by all means, back in if you like.

I have an idea! Why don't you back in? That way, when you are next to a backer, your mirrors will now be even, and you'll be able to get into your back seat!

If this is the biggest issue you have in your life, consider yourself lucky and stop the complaining.

 

[Magic Mom]

FTR - I have a bigger beef with the situation when the cars are parked in the space rather than the logistics of pulling in forward vs. backward.

If your SIDE VIEW MIRROR does not impede my ability to get to the front of my car or open my back door and get into my back seat then, by all means, back in if you like.

If you pull in and I back in, then your mirror impedes my ability to get to my door if I walk in from the back of my car. You should back in so that doesn't happen. It's inconsiderate if you don't.

 

[Mommee]

I've been thinking about this..and I haven't done a study on it, but it makes sense when I think about it. We own a body shop. In my experience I don't recall any claims where customers had an accident while pulling out of a spot..yet, we have heard plenty of claims that start with "I was backing out...when" or "they were backing out when"...
Now..again, I'm sure they happen, but in my experience...I haven't seen it.

thought it was worth repeating