Replies

Here is my rationale, as I have had to explain it to my wife, but most of my guy friends understand without being told.

This is not a knock on my wife, but it is a classic male-female difference where many guys look at things in this fashion, but to a woman, it isn't worth the brain cycles to actually think about it. Women might well be right, but I believe it is a fundamental difference in the hardwiring. And it doesn't mean theirs is better and ours as men is worse, or vice versa. I tend to hold that we each bring something valuable to that table, and together have the potential to be better than either of us as an individual. It doesn't apply to all men or all women, but I view it as a general view...:)

But I freely admit...I get a lot of entertainment both observing the differences and analyzing them, as this guy does in this hilarious video: A Tale of Two Brains - Men's Brain Women's Brain - Mark Gungor. Even if you don't find backing into parking spaces interesting, the video is worth watching...:) When I discuss this with guys, most of them I have talked to not only practice preemptive park positioning by backing in, and, they do it for much the same reasons I do. EXCEPTIONS: There are two valid exceptions that override the need to back in. First, when you can pull into the spot headfirst and park in a way that you may be guaranteed to exit headfirst. That is almost always preferable overall, as no backing up is needed to position the vehicle for later egress. The other one is posted signs that prohibit backing into spaces (Do Not Back Into Spaces). (Though I admit, I sometimes want to back in when I see them just to be contrary...but I don't.)

EXPLANATION FOR BACKING INTO PARKING SPACES.

First, when you arrive at a parking space, you have generally been driving for some period of time to get there, so you are, so to speak, "warmed up". You are acclimated to the vehicle, to the road, the conditions, etc. You didn't pay attention to any of it, but you can drive a car better at the point of parking then you could when you jumped in backed it out of your driveway.

If you didn't back it in at home, that is.

Your brain and body are in driving mode. Your brain has already adjusted to your view from the inside looking out. Your brain has mapped the blind spots for you (hopefully). The head rest on the passenger seat. The pillar just behind it that blocks your view, etc. You also have the feel of the car, the responsiveness of the engine, the needed pressure on the accelerator, the condition of the brakes, etc.

This pays dividends when you have to leave.

There is no location that puts your car in peril of suffering a scrape or a dent than a parking lot. The danger is worse in a poorly designed parking lot. And gets even worse when it gets busy with both pedestrians and cars.

Never mind your causing a scrape to yours or another car due to a really tight situation.
In that light, the act of prepositioning your car for a successful exit from any location while your brain, body, and vehicle are running optimally and working with each other at the best possible levels, is one of the most low hanging of the fruits of the reward tree of a minimally dinged car.

So now you are parked. When you come out of wherever you were, you might be severely distracted. Maybe it was a date. Maybe it was a movie. Or maybe it was a divorce lawyer's office. But your brain, and body might need some time to get back in synch.

You're still thinking of your ex-wife's lawyer playing a nasty child custody card. If you have to back out into a busy parking lot, your thought process might be "How the hell could my ex-wife stab me in the back like that?" while in the BACKGROUND your UNCONSCIOUS mind is saying "PUT IT INTO REVERSE. LOOK BACK TO YOUR LEFT. CARS? LOOK BACK TO YOUR RIGHT. CARS? LOOK DIRECTLY BACK. CLEAR?"''

That is the worst thing.

It is far better to have your conscious thoughts saying "Put it in reverse. Look back to your left. Are there cars?" and have your UNCONSCIOUS brain mirroring it: "PUT IT INTO REVERSE. LOOK BACK TO YOUR LEFT. CARS? but we know that isn't always going to be the case.

Therefore, you must habitually strive to increase your chances of a successful accident-free exit from the parking space by ALWAYS parking by backing in.
Secondly: you never know when you are going to have to leave in a hurry. I am not talking about movies with people with guns chasing you. I am talking about any kind of everyday possibility...a flood or tsunami, a fire, whatever. You never know when you might have to skedaddle in a jiffy. Just increase your chances all the time for when you need it. The last thing you need is when making tracks, having to start by going backwards, especially with a lot of things going on.

Imagine a nasty, irritating, poorly designed, very busy grocery store parking lot at night, with people walking to and fro, carts left all over the place, people trying to drive in, people trying to back out. Now imagine in an emergency, that same parking lot on steroids with people and drivers running and driving with their hair on fire. Heck, your only chance at survival might be getting out of that parking lot.

On second thought, maybe bad guys with guns IS a good example...:)

It is at this part of the explanation that my wife's eyes roll. I can't say I blame her one bit. But...she asked!

My favorite backing out story:

When I was going to college after I got out of the Navy, I was driving a 1976 MG Midget, my first car I purchased when I was in the USN.

I really fixed it up, completely stripped it down took out everything on the interior and had it repainted that piss yellow color because that was what it was, and I grew to like it. It was some kind of hardened paint called “Emiron”...it was a big deal for me!

Anyway, a few weeks after it was repainted, I drove it to college and backed in. Parking spaces were scarce, and there was on right next to me. This guy drove nose-first into the space, and there was about four inches between my newly painted car and his door.

Our eyes met, and the message I conveyed was clear: “Don’t even think of it.”

The guy looked straight ahead and paused for a second or two, then threw it into reverse (it was the shift on the column then) and floored it to back out of the space and totally t-boned a passing car!

Needless to say, I got out of the space I was in and parked elsewhere. I think that guy woulda keyed my car...

Basically, we men have evolved (or been gifted by our Creator with) better spatial and movement perception. As you say, a VERY fundamental difference in hardwiring. Two somewhat overlapping bell curves, but the vast majority of males have more brain area devoted to processing things in 3D and time/motion, just like women usually have more brain area used for emotional intelligence, nonverbal communication and pattern recognition as relates to gathering.

I think of it as a strategic option:

If it is somewhere I can easily back up with space and time to do so, then it’s less time to just pull in. If it is a situation where it would be dangerous to back out, then I’ll back in; the reason being that my visibility when backing IN is better than my visibility when backing out. “Visibility” both in the sense of what I can see and of being seen.

For me it’s always a calculation of the value of my time NOW vs value of my time after whatever brought me there, the stress of non-zero chance of accident due to the inattention of others given traffic patterns, and the need to maintain, test, and improve my spatial and time/distance observations and physical coordination (like parallal parking even when you don’t have to, just to stay in practice.)