Posted on 05/28/2019 2:42:37 PM PDT by dangus
I can't handle it anymore. My curiosity has burned for decades about this, and I finally decided that hey, there's a thing called the internet so I can ask:
Why do between about 1 in 5 and 1 in 10 people insist on parking backwards, despite the fact that it's obviously MUCH more difficult. I always get stuck waiting for these people why they try over and over to straighten their cars out. WHY?
I can't detect any trend in demographics... young v old, north v south, city v urban, white v non-white, men v women... just a consistent portion of people who INSIST on blocking me for fifteen minutes while they park backwards! Please... I'll just presume you're someone who can do it in one move, every time and never cause massive jams in parking lots... someone just tell me WHY you do it!!!
Terry Kath was Jimi Hendrick’s fav guitarist.
Never did think much of any of them until I saw an documentary on Kath. He was pretty awesome.
They have OCD
I back in at the Amazon parking lot.
I was recently in Austin, Texas and on some streets they required you to back-in to a parking spot. The streets were angled to make it easier.
At my company it was a requirement, no questions!
Also an OSHA note:
https://www.osha.gov/Publications/motor_vehicle_guide.html
****
https://safestart.com/news/4-reasons-backing-parking-spaces-safer/
Lol - then THOSE people are dopes. Even before I got the rearview camera, backing in was simple - picture a straight-line ruler parallel to either the line on the ground or the car next to you. Laws of physics applied, just keep the wheel straight enough to follow the line - the car will back in straight. Practice that and you can back-in park in about 5 seconds. And yes, even though us bimmer/former-bimmer owners typically do it 8/10 times, I do attribute it to this - when you arrive at your destination, you’re typically not going anywhere for a length of time, so the ‘extra’ 15 seconds is worth it up front than taking a risk when you leave and get smacked by someone whipping through that you didn’t see when you did the observe/enter/start/backup. It’s just safer.
That’s why I have a pet peeve against the municipalities that demand tail out - for license scanning by the cops. They are demanding a much unsafer situation for their convenience to scan plates. (And yes, as a former programmer for cop’s MDTs, I get that they pick up n’er-be-wells doing such.)
Just my two cents.
The “Smith System” of driving which was required training on the job, recommends parking like this. Either pull through the parking space or back into it. Their rationale was you can see better, and it’s less damage to get clipped on the front and less expensive to repair.
I have used their techniques for 20 years and it works.
“So it’s easier to leave.....................”
What red badger said.
Little boy syndrome. They think it makes them look manly.
As far as backing in, THAT DRIVES ME NUTS! To say it's safer is ridiculous b/c you back into the spot or you back out: no difference. Someone could walk behind your car as you back up in either scenario. Someone asked why it's harder to back into a spot than to go in THE RIGHT WAY. It's b/c when you pull out you have the entire parking lot to pull into, backing up you are pulling into a small finite space.
At several companies I worked with it is part of the “safety culture”. Allegedly you have less chance of backing over someone backing into a spot than backing out. Never mind that it caused fender benders in the parking garage.
You could make a million dollar screw-up and nothing would happen at all. Fail to back into your parking space and you could get called into the manager’s office for counseling. Ditto for saying something that “offended” anyone which included telling them to shape up.
Because it’s 100% effective in preventing backing into some one! Works every time it’s tried.
“He was really adamant about backing into a parking place, and pulling out forward when you leave. A lot safer for pedestrians. and escaping any ‘unfriendly’ encounters...”
Those who have deployed call it “combat parking”. An obvious tactic when you’re in the box, but lots of guys who never deployed park that way stateside to make it look like they went.
I don’t combat park unless there’s a need. I drive a minivan and have collided with low-slung sports cars that I couldn’t see in my mirror while I was backing out.
I distinctly remember being taught in driver’s ed that the only vehicles that had the right to back into a space were police vehicles, and that they needed to do so so they could quickly pursue a lawbreaker in a vehicle. Otherwise, you should never back into a space because it’s more dangerous, e.g. if there was child, animal or object in the space you could not see.
Of course, this was almost 45 years ago.
One of my co-workers and I have a running joke about this. If one our vehicles is backwards, it’s because hubby had it during the day. We’ve decided its a guy thing.
Someone needs to invent a Stealth bomber-like coating to apply to license plates so the cop scanners don’t see them.
I don’t know about everybody else, but my vehicles have the lights on automatic...When the car starts, the lights come on...Anytime, day or night...
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