Parking Style: Front in or Back in?
 

Can you explain to me if there's some sort of cache about parking ass in? I see all these people in my apartments carefully backing into parking spaces.

I can't see that it matters whether you back up going in or out--you still have to do it. Is it a guy thing? A Texas thing? Is it for a quick getaway?

:headshake

I don't think it's worth the effort myself.

I have to say at first glance I thought this was going to be some kind of sex innuendo thing. I guess my mind's just in the gutter....

Now, would I imply something like that? ;)

i go both ways.

The trunk is at the curb, the doors open toward the curb, and it's safer to pull out than back out.

And it's faster to get away if her husband comes home.

safer to pull out . . .

hmm.

Safer to back in than out, but in MI we only have plates on the back, so one must park front in in public lots

Certainly I can see if you are unloading something and need to be closer, that's one thing. I honestly don't get why it's safer to back in. In fact, if you are backing out into a parking lot, you have more room to maneuver, so I would think it would be less safe.

I'm suspicious, you see, since it's usually big trucks with lots of chrome or some kind of flashy car.

i usually back in on an end spot so that i can hug the curb/wall/shrubs with my passenger side and have room to get out on the driver side - the FJ has hidden suicide doors to get lil lookout in and out. It also leaves more space between cars reducing the likelihood of doordings.

I back in. Probably mainly for the quick getaway, and the reasons xoxoxoBruce mentioned (except, possibly, the husband one). And also, when you are parking, you have all the visibility you need, but if you are backing out of a spot, you are much farther from the leading end of your car, and if you are between two SUVs, you just have to hope that nobody is driving by as you leave the spot.

If my little car is emerging from two larger vehicles on either side, and I don't see a car coming, I'm gonna get creamed either way. And I'd rather it be my ass that was reamed.

:angel:

Typically, you are not backing into moving traffic when you are parking.

So would Sheldon.:p

Perhaps that's what started it. Hiding the plates?

The sweetest victory is spotting the pull through spot, drive in drive out. I usually just park out in the middle of nowhere to avoid hassle/door dings.

thing is, my apartment rules specifically state that you are to park nose in, and most places where I've seen parking regulations set out also state this. Why?

I question the "safer" concept, really. Unless it's safer because the driver is too lazy to look behind him, in which case it's the driver's fault anyway. Who's to say they would see cars coming toward them facing forward? Plus, backing in to park between two other parked cars is a much trickier maneuver to pull off and raises the potential for scrapes and dings.

Just a bit of a bitter pill here, because parking is tight at my place, so I frequently get stuck between two large face-out vehicles. So these people are exhibiting their flashy vehicles by flouting the rules. Like little boys getting away with stealing candy.

Nose first, it's much easier to see the car coming.

I think its just a personal preference for the most part. What difference does it make which way the car in the spot next to you is facing? You are parking between two white lines. They could both be tanks for all it matters. Just park your car between the lines and go about your day. :neutral:

aggravating fuckers.

I mean people who don't park between the lines, of course.

Now thats a totally different issue - I make sure that I park so close to them they couldn't fit the key into the door lock. That way they can crawl through their passenger side to get into their car.

I think half the time it's showing off. "Look what I can do." Ii can do it too, I just wait until I'm leaving so that at least if I am holding up traffic they get a parking space out of the deal. But then, I don't mind parking in BFE to avoid all the numnuts. Then you have the people who pull forward in diagonal parking so they are facing the wrong way when they leave.

I guess it all messes with my OCD need for symmetry and direction.

Shawnee.......what the hell...I'm disappointed. Certainly you can find a joke for this thread title?!? Jeez the door is wide open here Shawnee!!

Ok. Who has taken over Shawnee's account?!?

Shawnee is being held ransom in an undisclosed location. You must place 1 million in unmarked bills underneath the magnolia tree next to the Cellar at midnight next Saturday. Do not contact authorities (read: they're in on it.) If you fail to comply with my demands, Shawnee will be drawn and quartered in the Cellar courtyard the following Sunday. Refreshments will be served, and you can show off your dancing skills to the music stylings of DJ Jazzy Toad and the Fresh Posts. There will be a silent auction for Shawnee's effects (basically a jar of peanut butter and a couple cats) to offset costs. Bring the family!

By far, the most dangerous way to enter into moving traffic is to back out. 'Back out' visibility is near zero, driver is in the worst location to see oncoming traffic. Driver's peripheral vision is always obscured in at least one direction when backing out into traffic. And then are owners so silly as to have a $400 wing that does nothing but further obstruct rear visibility. Those cars must enter traffic going forward.

Backing into a parking space is no more difficult that forward parking. When are kids most often harmed by the moving vehicle? When it backs out. A frequent problem for SUVs that have no rear visibility. Zero. The safest time to back up is when the entire parking location has been completely observed clearly before backing up. Worst time to back up is after a vehicle has been sitting there. Driver has no idea of everything around it. Latter is when a backing SUV kill most kids.

Some locations do not want backup parking because car exhaust (when warming or just starting) is directed at building windows.

Finally, the most damage when pulling out after a snow storm is to back out over snow. Cars are generally constructed so that snow mounds do least if any harm when moving forward. I rarely shovel snow. I park to drive the car forward over snow. A technique that is difficult if backing out without shoveling.

Just a few reasons and recommendations for backing into parking spaces: for significant safety and for getting out of snow plow piles without shoveling. Safety reasons being so significant that I wonder how often those who back into traffic accept those near misses as routine - as if failure was acceptable.

And it looks cool, too!

As others have said, going into the space, the objects you are maneuveriing between are not moving. When you come out, they are and it helps to be able to see them better, as well as driving forwards presumably being your better direction. Also, you stand a better chance of seeing the toddler who decides to amble in front of your car just as you start moving.

As for why your complex says front end in -do you have front licence plates?

Your comments about needing more room to maneuver and getting creamed anyway make me very glad you don't live near me and drive the same streets. :lol: Perhaps you should consider an advanced driving course to increase your confidence and ability. That bit was serious :)

well, I've never been creamed yet. At least not that way!

My state has front and rear license plates. If it's so damn safe, then why do all parking regulations I see specify nose in?

probably the fumes thing like tw says.

Minivans and pickup trucks are even worse (30ft blind spot on some pickups). Back up cameras work very well to correct the problem though. I had no problem seeing out of the back of my Grand Cherokee, but can't see fuck all in the Commander - especially with the 3rd row up.

I never back in, I find it much easier to back out than in.

The good things in life are never easy ;)

To improve rear visibility, Volvos (S-60) have a dashboard button that drops rear seat headrests. Vehicle still has near zero backup viewing. Backup visibility being that bad on most vehicles. So many are so used to backing up without seeing as to 'feel' it is safe. Therefore numerous kids are run over by their parents SUVs. The parent never noticed how dangerous backup is? Of course not. Too many always 'assume' - then backup. It is that dangerous.

that thing about backing over your toddler--my worst nightmare. every year that happens to a couple of kids in my town. I actually know (of) someone who did that. She was never the same since.

Don't think I would be, either.

I disagree. In the mutant-car I drive (Pontiac Aztek,) I find it much easier to see the other car coming if I park backed-in. It's not that it's a little car, it's just a b!tch to see out of when backing up.

We agree. Nose first, coming out. i.e., backed in.

Yeah, what he said. Although parking sideways, although incredibly rude and inefficient, affords the best view of all. (insert pic here please)

If you're in a lowset sedan and you're parked between two suv's, it doesn't matter if you're nose in or tail in. You still can't see shit.

Some Australian country towns have reverse-in angle parking. It's great for pulling out, but the first time you try to back in to a narrow space around a 45 degree angle ... tricky ... I think they just do it so they can laugh at the city slicker day trippers.

And Coober Pedy, a "frontier style" opal mining town, has given up on parking regulations altogether and put a sign at the edge of town: "ANGLE PARKING. ANY ANGLE."

It makes a difference in how much you have to inch out before you can see.

That's true HM. In my car, virtually the whole front end of the car is in the path of traffic before I get any vision at all. While this is normally ok in shopping centres etc, there are always idiots who don't drive slowly or who simply seem to drive along wth their eyes shut. I've had many near misses in the last 10yrs since every tom, dickhead and arsehole decided they needed an suv.

I reverse in because it causes no damage to my car/s.

In my VE, if I nose in and there is a concrete stop or footpath etc...when the tyres settle, I near have a coronary when I hear that grating sound.

I have to pull my car in that far (nose in) or some dickwad will reverse into my arse.

Nose in at hotels and apartments is common here because of the fumes from idling cars.

I though idling was bad for the engine? I never do it, but I don't live in a realy ice-and-snow zone, either.

I think, if you're not careful backing OUT, you won't be careful backing IN. Aforementioned kid could be playing on an abandoned grocery cart.

Face it, backing in is groovy.

Seriously, all I'm saying is I don't agree with it as a safety measure. The backy people I see tearing out of their space aren't necessarily more safe, in the long run...than backy-outties.

;)

Those who back into a space first completely view what is in that space. Those who back out rarely if ever know what is behind adjacent to the vehicle. Do you walk around the car every time (checking tire pressure) before entering and driving that vehicle? Of course not. Therefore you don't know what is adjacent or the car when backing out. But it is quite obvious (except in SUV with unnecessary and extremely high hoods / bonnets) what is in front of and adjacent to the vehicle when driving out forwards.

How bad is rear view visibility? Recently, it was raining during the day. Obvious in front were cars without headlights on. But cars without headlights behind could not be seen in either rear or side mounted mirros. I never knew one unlit car was back there until another car farther back with headlights on made the unlit car apparent. Rear visibility is that poor as well as restricted; why backing out into traffic is not recommended. First and foremost - backing into an fully inspected parking space IS for numerous safety reasons.

tw is insane.


that is all.

nothing more?

I was born backasswards. Does that count?

One in the breach? Isn't that how to kill your mother before you get to meet her?

just about. both my kids were born that way, too.

Wow, really? Nowadays breech presentation is an automatic C-section.

I had a work friend that had twins, with baby b in footling breech, and she delivered vaginally with a midwife. She was featured on a Baby's Story on tlc.

You have to give your permission for a c-section....

fortunately, I had a really good doctor (same for both) who must have believed in vaginal deliveries. I remember when Daughter No. 2 was born, a number of nurses and other people came to observe the procedure where she was delivered by the doctor, and they were all pretty impressed.

Me too. :)

I'm a DES daughter---my mother took DES, a drug to prevent miscarriage, in the 50s, which later turned out to cause cancer in the female children. Fortunately, I missed the cancer, but it apparently altered the shape of my uterus, so that any children I would have would be positioned wrong. First child was premature; second child almost was. I got lucky, as I said.

Recent studies indicate that things such as malnutrition have long term adverse affects even on the health and growth of grandchildren. Is there any evidence of same happening with DES and other such drugs?

no sign of anything into the third generation, fortunately. Seeing as how I've got 5 little girls in the fourth generation now, too.

The real question is: do you have a wide stance?

I have wide shoulders. Does that count?