People who back into parking spots: Why?

Submitted ⁨⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago⁩ by ⁨littlecolt@lemm.ee⁩ to ⁨nostupidquestions@lemmy.world⁩

To me, it seems objectively easier to pull into a parking space forward and then back out of the space when you are ready to leave. You don’t have to line up with the lines while driving backwards, and it’s easier to keep from hitting other cars as well. So why back in? To me, the only advantage I can think of is that you can get out quicker, technically.

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willya@lemmyf.uk ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago
I can do both just as easily. I really depends on if I’m going to be using the trunk or not. Believe it or not it’s actually illegal to back in a lot of states. Cops are supposed to be able to see your license plate easily.

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- Alinor@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago
  Do… Do cars not have license plates on both the front and back of the car in the US?
  
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  - frozen@lemmy.frozeninferno.xyz ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago
    Depends on the state. For example, Texas does, but its neighbor Arkansas does not (last I checked).
    
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  - willya@lemmyf.uk ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago
    They do but not every state requires them.
    
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  - Falmarri@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago
    Neither of my cars have front plates even though the state requires them
    
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- squiblet@kbin.social ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago
  Sounds like basically a way to harass people. If they really cared that much, they’d have plates on both ends.
  
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  - willya@lemmyf.uk ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago
    lol you’re probably right.
    
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- littlecolt@lemm.ee ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago
  In my state, you have to have plates on front and back, but that’s a good point for some areas I bet.
  
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gt24@lemmy.sdf.org ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago
For a certain area, I back in to a parking space so that the sun in the afternoon is coming through the back window. This means that my drivers seat and steering wheel are not the temperature of the sun when I have to drive away. Other people may park in different ways to avoid the sun in the morning should they prefer to drive out to get lunch.

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- littlecolt@lemm.ee ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago
  Excellent logic! Sometimes I do the same at work. When I was a smoker, I used to decide orientation so the sun is not shining on the front of the car or into the driver side directly so i could sit in my car and smoke without my arm sunburning on breaks. (Thankfully, I quit smoking and making my car stinky, tho I let passengers smoke if they want to, just occasionally.)
  
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M4NU@lemmynsfw.com ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago
The rear of my car is ugly

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DebatableRaccoon@lemmy.ca ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago
Because who doesn’t like loading their boot/trunk with shopping in hard mode?

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- littlecolt@lemm.ee ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago
  So much easier if you pulled in forwards.
  
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  - DebatableRaccoon@lemmy.ca ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago
    That was my point. With how tight European car parks are it’s damn near impossible to get to the storage area if you park the wrong way around. Potential damage trying is why I won’t park anywhere near someone who’s parked nose out.
    
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  - pozbo@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago
    Much easier still if you okay someone else to do your shopping for you.
    
    Sometimes something being easier isn’t a good enough reason, with safety in mind this is doubly important.
    
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brainrein@feddit.de ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago
You need less space when you can park backwards. Considering parking in a lane parallel to the traffic.

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JimmyChanga@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago
Safety, driving out of a parking space is safe than reversing out. Also every company I’ve worked for has had a reverse parking only policy, also for safety reasons, so it’s habit too.

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Carter@feddit.uk ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago
It’s easier to back into the space and it’s easier to drive out of it. The question should be why do people drive forwards into parking bays and then struggle to back out?

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- littlecolt@lemm.ee ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago
  Have never really struggled
  
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  - PupBiru@kbin.social ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago
    the easy part of driving is manoeuvring the vehicle… the hard part is dealing with shit drivers… reversing out is reversing into an unknown situation on a high(er) speed road full of shit drivers
    
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  - BURN@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago
    Same here. I have no idea what everyone is talking about. Backing in is so much more stressful and not doing it has literally never caused me a problem.
    
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guleblanc@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago
I started when I had a Smart Car, which made backing in really easy. The front wheels are almost in the same place as the back wheels, so the car almost rotates. It’s a shame they weren’t more popular.

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codeweyy@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago
I have time backing in slowly. But when it’s time for me to rush out, I just gooo. Can’t rush out when I’m backed in

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tronx4002@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago
I got in the habit of backing into parking spaces after I had a car that needed a jump start, but I had pulled in and no spaces next to me were available to pull the jumper car in. If you back in, in the rare chance you need a jump start, you will be able to pull tye jumper car close to your battery

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Landmammals@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago
Used to work at UPS. It’s a weird culture thing

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Awkward_Silence712@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago
Maybe it’s because i drive a pickup, I don’t know, but for me backing into a space is just a lot easier than pulling in forward.

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paddirn@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago
If I’m out at retail I’ll just pull through, but at home I prefer to back into my driveway. My wife’s stupid SUV blocks all sight of the street when I’m getting out of my driveway, so I don’t like backing out of it since I’m blind until it’s almost too late. Backing in to park is the only option and I do it so much I barely think about it. That and we sometimes have kids playing out in the streets in our neighborhood, so I don’t want to take a chance on that.

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antisuck@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago
Lots of people with sound, logical explanations of why it’s better and easier but nobody talking about, with the common angled parking lots these days, how you then end up pulling out the opposite direction of everyone else and going the wrong way down a one way lane or doing a u-turn and basically fucking everything up for anyone else.

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- Jlafa@geddit.social ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago
  I mean, those are lots in which I wouldn’t back in. Aside from the points you made, angled parking lots eliminate the drawbacks of pulling in. There’s better rear visibility towards one-way traffic, and the angle makes the alignment issue disappear.
  
  I’m assuming all the arguments in favor of backing into parking spots are geared towards parking spots perpendicular to traffic.
  
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  - antisuck@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago
    Yeah I’m sure there are plenty of people who have the sense to think it through like you did, it’s just that I encounter the other type a couple times a week and felt like bitching about it.
    
    Back-in-only spaces with the arrows pointed accordingly is sounding more and more like a superior solution.
    
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- ki77erb@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago
  Where I live, people give zero fucks about which direction the spaces are aligned. Even with giant arrows painted on the lanes, they will drive down the wrong way every damn time. I will stop my car and wait for their dumb asses to back up the way they came before I move. I could honestly care less which way you go into a parking spot, but driving the wrong way on one way lanes drives me insane.
  
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th3dogcow@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago
When pulling out, we are often more distracted because we have just been doing something else. Conversely, when parking, we are already in driving mode so it is easy to concentrate. Pulling put forward seems safer to me, as I can see everything so less likely to have an accident.

Also, it is normal where I live to reverse park.

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Vigge93@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago
I remember hearing about a study that claimed that backing into parking spaces could have you hundreds of dollars per year, since doing the reversing while the engine is hot uses less gas.

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dyslexicdainbroner@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago
One has to back up, either when leaving or arriving - some choose to get it out of the way when they park, others when they leave -

To each their own - I like to back in parking & easy quick exit

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snausagesinablanket@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago
Because self center assholes walk behind me when I am in the middle of backing out, then get mad because I almost hit them. All this from a handicap parking spot.

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AndyLikesCandy@reddthat.com ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago
Passenger door to passenger door doubles the available space for your door to open. Especially important with kids you need to get in and out where you can’t just slip through.

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thegreatgarbo@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago
Tesla autopark backs the car in.

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- littlecolt@lemm.ee ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago
  If ever there was a case against backing in, I think we found it, boys.
  
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sweetcuppincakes@sh.itjust.works ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago
I park either way, whichever leads to less maneuvering for that particular spot, but it’s easy since I have a backup camera.

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droge@artemis.camp ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago
coin flip pretty much

I prefer parking for a quicker exit, but if the particular parking spot is too narrow or there's a lot of traffic in the lot I'll just park normal no big deal

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PorradaVFR@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago
Practical reasons aside (visibility and ease of pulling out) I simply prefer it.

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PorradaVFR@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago
Practical reasons aside (visibility and ease of pulling out) I simply prefer it.

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squiblet@kbin.social ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago
Why not? I’ve never understood why this bothers people. I back into a space because sometimes it just seems easier from the direction I’m coming, and it’s not difficult for me. It’s somewhat like exercising a skill, like “why do a wheelie on your bike when you can ride it with two wheels on the ground?”. For fun, if nothing else.

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shadowSprite@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago
I can line up with my side mirror and back in almost just as quick as I can pull in, and then I don’t have to potentially back into traffic and risk some asshole flying up on me without me expecting it or hitting a pedestrian.

Also, I drove ambulances for a long time. You always always always back emergency vehicles in. 1. To always be prepared to respond 2. Scene safety. It’s absolutely drilled into our heads from day 1 of EMT school that you are able to leave a scene faster than you got there if something goes very wrong very quick.

So many years of backing an ambulance in to park everywhere I went and I don’t even think about backing my tiny ass Honda into a spot now. It feels incredibly wrong not to.

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Robcia1220@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago
I mostly pulling forward. Sometimes there is a smaller and packed parking lot, where the turn radius of my vehicle will not make it into a spot going forward. It could be done but I’d have to spend an extra 10 min to Austin powers my way into a spot going forward and then do it again backing out. In cases like that I find it much easier to have the turning point of my vehicle in the drive lane so I can have a better swing to line myself up and back in. It’s just better for everyone in that scenario.

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KuroJ@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago
Living in Japan for a couple of years made me this way.

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SouthernCanadian@sh.itjust.works ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago
Ignore the reasons they give you. It’s literally 100% ego. They think it’s harder so doing it makes them better than everyone else.

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- PeepinGoodArgs@reddthat.com ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago
  Actually, it’s easy af.
  
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  - SouthernCanadian@sh.itjust.works ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago
    “It’s so easy for me everyone, look how much better I am than you.” Proving my point but go on.
    
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Psythik@lemm.ee ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago
Because my HOA doesn’t allow it so I do it anyway as a fuck you to them.

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- PupBiru@kbin.social ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago
  … american HOAs are fucked
  
  i have legitimately never heard a single positive thing about HOAs. i don’t think they exist in australia?… like we have owners corporations and stratas but i think they don’t have nearly the same power
  
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  - Krotiuz@kbin.social ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago
    We have Covenants at least in Victoria - https://www.planning.vic.gov.au/guides-and-resources/guides/all-guides/restrictive-covenants
    
    Honestly, they're kinda stupid and should have a mandatory end or review date, mine has stupid clauses like you can't park a commerical vehicle within visibility of the street and restricts the material used for fencing etc
    
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- Tagger@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago
  What? Please explain this madness!
  
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  - Psythik@lemm.ee ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago
    It’s so they can repossess your car if you’re behind on payments or don’t update your registration after it expires. They literally hire a towing company to drive around the parking lot and look for vehicles to take. I don’t understand why the HOA cares.
    
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