Parking: pull in or back in?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It's situation specific, of course, but I generally prefer to back in. The parking space is empty, but when I leave, I will be pulling forward into an area that is more likely to have other cars, pedestrians, etc in it. I hate backing out without good visibility. Backing in is objectively safer, provided you have the skill for it.

If there are many cars behind me, I'll pull in front-facing, just because folks are pushy. But I don't see the time it takes to back into a space as any different than making cars behind you wait while you parallel park. If other drivers are paying attention, I'm using my signals and backing lights appropriately, and it should be clear what I intend to do.

you have less visibility when you back in.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:46, and sometimes back in when no one else is around, because I don't want to slow down the process. It entirely depends if someone is waiting to park or not.

This (though a bit older). I prefer to back in, but won't hold up others to do so.

I find my field of view is much better when I am pulling out forward. I am not a nervous driver at all, but I am always worried when backing out (especially when parked next to an SUV) whether another car is racing through the lot or someone is walking and not paying attention/looking at their phone. I recognize that pedestrians have the right of way, but there is also a commonsense/awareness factor in pedestrians that seems to be more lacking these days.

. No you have better visibility with the camera. You are sitting 6 feet back from the front of your car.

[Anonymous]

Normally a person backing out has to wait for others to drive by or park next to them. When you back in, you are making the person who is waiting to back out wait even longer.

This happened to me today. I was patiently waiting for vehicles to leave a parking lot to back out of my spot - we had all left a kids’ activity at the same time. But a person who had just pulled in a) ignored the opportunity to provide me a courtesy and let me pull out first as I sat there with my reverse lights on and b) made me wait minutes longer while she backed in to a spot. She wasn’t even in a rush because she just sat there in her car after she parked.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Backing in is for hicks and insecure men.
It irritates everyone. Do not do this.

Aren’t professional delivery drivers, e.g., UPS, FedEx, USPS, required to back in when it’s possible?
If it’s corporate doctrine for the pros, I’m guessing there’s sound reasoning behind it.

[Anonymous]

I like to back in, but I will only do this if there is absolutely no one around. And I mean no one. So no one is ever inconvenienced by my choice when I do back in.

I’m an even bigger fan of pulling through. Best of both worlds. Again, only if no one is around.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It's situation specific, of course, but I generally prefer to back in. The parking space is empty, but when I leave, I will be pulling forward into an area that is more likely to have other cars, pedestrians, etc in it. I hate backing out without good visibility. Backing in is objectively safer, provided you have the skill for it.

If there are many cars behind me, I'll pull in front-facing, just because folks are pushy. But I don't see the time it takes to back into a space as any different than making cars behind you wait while you parallel park. If other drivers are paying attention, I'm using my signals and backing lights appropriately, and it should be clear what I intend to do.

you have less visibility when you back in.

Preposterous. Your rear visibility is specifically the 180 square feet of the parking spot and whatever path leads to it - all visible in your rear-view camera or mirrors. If you pull in forward then back out, your rear lateral visibility is restricted by the adjacent cars and you're responsible for blind traffic in two opposing directions.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It's situation specific, of course, but I generally prefer to back in. The parking space is empty, but when I leave, I will be pulling forward into an area that is more likely to have other cars, pedestrians, etc in it. I hate backing out without good visibility. Backing in is objectively safer, provided you have the skill for it.

If there are many cars behind me, I'll pull in front-facing, just because folks are pushy. But I don't see the time it takes to back into a space as any different than making cars behind you wait while you parallel park. If other drivers are paying attention, I'm using my signals and backing lights appropriately, and it should be clear what I intend to do.

you have less visibility when you back in.

Preposterous. Your rear visibility is specifically the 180 square feet of the parking spot and whatever path leads to it - all visible in your rear-view camera or mirrors. If you pull in forward then back out, your rear lateral visibility is restricted by the adjacent cars and you're responsible for blind traffic in two opposing directions.

Well said. In most cases, nothing is moving in the space you're backing into.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Backing in is for hicks and insecure men.
It irritates everyone. Do not do this.

Aren’t professional delivery drivers, e.g., UPS, FedEx, USPS, required to back in when it’s possible?
If it’s corporate doctrine for the pros, I’m guessing there’s sound reasoning behind it.

As are law enforcement, emergency responders, military, etc.

People around here can’t drive well and try to find every excuse for not being good enough drivers to back in.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I am convinced that the people who are most vehemently opposed-- to the point of personal insults!-- to backing in are the worst drivers in real life. They just can't understand how it's better, no matter how it's explained. That tells me that they don't really understand cars and how they maneuver. If you find parallel parking difficult, I bet that backing in seems like a variation on a difficult, stressful, time-consuming process. Because it takes YOU six tries to do it.

I've worked with my teenaged daughter on parallel parking and backing in (in unoccupied lots), and she didn't get it at first either. But once you get to an intermediate skill level, the superior maneuverability in reverse becomes crystal clear. Just keep trying, dears. You can do it. It takes practice, but it's not actually hard.

You certainly think you’re the cat’s pajamas, don’t you?

Dear.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I am convinced that the people who are most vehemently opposed-- to the point of personal insults!-- to backing in are the worst drivers in real life. They just can't understand how it's better, no matter how it's explained. That tells me that they don't really understand cars and how they maneuver. If you find parallel parking difficult, I bet that backing in seems like a variation on a difficult, stressful, time-consuming process. Because it takes YOU six tries to do it.

I've worked with my teenaged daughter on parallel parking and backing in (in unoccupied lots), and she didn't get it at first either. But once you get to an intermediate skill level, the superior maneuverability in reverse becomes crystal clear. Just keep trying, dears. You can do it. It takes practice, but it's not actually hard.

You certainly think you’re the cat’s pajamas, don’t you?

Dear.

I'm good at parking! I'm sure there are things you're good at. And I wouldn't get down on you for recognizing that. Are you super flexible because you've devoted a lot of time to yoga? That's awesome! Not me, I can pull a muscle putting on my bra. Are you a whiz at excel? Teach me, please! I've plateau'd at VLOOKUP.

What's wrong with being confident about a skill one worked to improve?

[Anonymous]

60 years old, always back in, 99.9% do it right the first time, drive a car without backup cameras (will be getting a new car probably in August), same for parallel parking - can do it easily, the first time. Grew up in NYC, where you needed the parallel parking skills, and just life experience gave me backing into spots skills.

Agree that people who think they can back in but can't are annoying. For me, more annoying are people who pull right before turning left. I think driver's ed has gone down hill along with all public education. Our own kids didn't even have to parallel park for their MD drivers licenses

[Anonymous]

Back in so you don’t run someone over pulling out when youre invariably in a rush leaving

[Anonymous]

56. Back in. But I also drive a manual shift and just generally enjoy driving