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.
Edit: I do not need driving instruction, just wondered why. The reasoning.
So many people are so angry about this question lol
Safety had not even entered my mind. I mostly notice it at the big lot at my office, and also at a shopping center I go to that is notorious as “the worst parking lot ever” here in St. Louis. Backers are quite annoying in that cramped lot.
My current vehicle has 132000 miles on it, and I am 43 so this is not the first. I have not been in an accident that was my fault since I was 20. I have NEVER bumped into another vehicle when parking, forward or backward or parallel. You can’t possibly know a thing about my driving skill from this question,and I don’t need your very worthless contrarion “yes you do” statement.
You have contributed nothing to this thread and I decided I would let you know.
I work for a bank and we need a clear view of each other when we open the building, so we all back into our parking spaces. At first it was tricky and took some practice, but after a few tries you get so used to it becomes more intuitive to park that way. And it’s so much easier to leave without having to yield to cars and pedestrians passing by as you’re trying to back out.
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.
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.)
Everyone is saying it’s so backing out is safer, which is true… but for me that’s not the primary reason.
I drive an Isuzu D-Max. It’s a “ute” (truck?) - not one of the obscenely big ones, but it’s bigger than a hatch back or sedan.
In a narrow bay, or narrow approach, you can get lined up in the bay first go if you reverse in because you start with your ass in more or less the right place, and front of the car which is moving left and right to get lined up is not in the narrow bay until you’re more than half way in.
If you drive in front first you often don’t have enough lateral space to get your rear wheels lined up, so you end up parked akimbo first go, so you reverse out to straighten up and come in again.
Additionally, with a rear camera you can see exactly how much room you have so you can use every centimeter. Looking over the nose you can get to within 15cm or so, but you can always use all the space with the camera without any effort.
Reversing might not be easier than front first the first few times, but with a little bit of practice reversing in does take less effort than going front first.
I have never hit anything when backing in or driving out forward. I have hit 4 vehicles while backing out. It may be an attention thing, no idea. It is better for my wallet to back in
You’ve got all these answers that include “it’s easier” and “it’s safer”. Yet in the same posts they insult people who don’t have the same opinion as them. I hate people that back in because it wastes my time waiting for them to maneuver when it’s quicker to just pull forward.
When you’re leaving a parking spot and backing out all the same logic applies that these bozos use to justify backing in, but it’s more socially acceptable and doesn’t require accuracy, which speeds up the process. People that HAVE to back into parking spots are control freaks.
When you’re leaving a parking spot and backing out all the same logic applies that these bozos use to justify backing in
I agree that attacking someone for their opinion is just silly but I honestly do not agree with this statement. People, and more importantly pedestrians, know what you are doing when you are backing into a spot and are therefore less likely to walk behind you. This is not the case when backing out of a spot. They might not even know someone is in the vehicle. Add in little kids running out of nowhere. You have a lot better situational awareness while backing in versus backing out since your field of view is not obstructed by up to three sides by cars. I do not think the difference is catastrophic by any means but, to me at least, there is a difference.
The safety of pedestrians is the best explanation I’ve heard here so far, and it really does make me think, unlike all the people telling me I’m a bad driver and obviously they’re all so skilled and awesome which is why they back into spots. It’s seriously unreal how personally people can take a simple question, to the point they make huge assumptions about the person asking it. Definitely feels reddity in here lol
Passenger door to passenger door doubles the available space for your door to open on the driver’s side. Especially important with kids you need to get in and out where you can’t just slip through.
In some country (in France in some place for exemple), regulation law force to be park back i, in case of emergency (fire, or disaster) you can make out quicker
It’s far safer to take off forwards, you have much better visibility. And when backing in, you have good visibility and are also visible to other drivers.
Once you reverse park for a while, it actually becomes easier than forward parking. It is also safer, statistically proven, and easier to get out. And in the case of an emergency, if you are getting chased then you just pull out and drive away asap, no need to reverse slowly; if your battery dies, the hood is right there easy to change or jump start the car.
Here’s an intuitive reason, have you ever used a wheelbarrow? You’ll notice that picking up a wheel barrow to push it is extremely nimble to spin it up around the wheel and dumping the contents precisely. Turn around and try instead to pull on it, and suddenly you can’t make as sharp turns and maneuvers unless you uncomfortably shimmy your feet around. One fixed point of swivel with a long lever behaves differently being pushed than when being pulled. A car has a similar effect in place, driving backwards a car is more precise and maneuverable than going forward. Because the rear wheels act as pivot points and the front wheels have a long arm of leverage to more accurately direct the car, with tighter turn radius than when going forward. This is why experienced drivers agree that reversing into a parking spot is easier than pulling into it.
Visibility is way better and traffic rules play to your favor.
When you back in, you already have right of way. Traffic has to wait for you to park and you aren’t reversing into cross traffic.
If you park forward, when you go to leave you have to worry about cross traffic and your head/eyes are far removed from where you need to be looking. You don’t have right of way which means a lot of awkward mashing the brakes when a car or pedestrian pops out of your blind spot.
In short, you can park faster and more accurately and you can leave faster and safer.
The only reason to park forward is there’s a line of cars behind you that won’t let you reverse into a spot. Otherwise, it’s always the right choice.
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