People who back in to parking spots...

[elfwitch]

Poll question: People who back in to parking spots...

Some people head in. Some people butt in.
How do you feel about people who regularly back in to parking spots? (at malls, grocery stores, movie theaters, basically at public parking areas)

Also... post your biggest parking lot pet peeves...

[ScreamingMeemie]

1. I absolutely cannot stand it when I am in the line at school to

pick up the kids, and running late, and some yahoo has to back in. Just park the damned car and get out of my way fer cripe's sake!

[elfwitch]

6. fer cripe's sake

I completely agree with your assessment.

[bif]

2. What difference does it make?

.

[elfwitch]

3. For those that do back in...

WHY?!?!
Does it save you that much more time?
Are you that bad at backing out of a spot?
Do you realize how irritating it is when someone is waiting for you to finish?

[frylock]

14. i do it sometimes..

like when I go to the basketball games up at SDSU. It's a lot easier pulling out when there is a significant amount of traffic, as opposed to trying to get someone who will allow you to back out. It doesn't take that much longer to back in than it does to nose in, but I'm an exceptional driver.

[KansDem]

34. Hail, Montezuma!!!

I assume the SDSU refers to "San Diego State University." I graduate from SDSU in 1975!

Here's to the Aztecs! :toast:

[arwalden]

21. I Fail To Understand WHY They Do It As Well... Consider This:

1) You have to back up at SOME point. (Unless you pull-through, and that's another irritant for me.)
2) It's easier to back OUT of a space compared to backing IN to a space.

People who back into parking spaces may think that it's "safer" for them to see where they are headed when they exit the parking space and drive FORWARD into the row. WRONG!

Because of this false sense of security, they quickly POP out into the oncoming traffic (rather than slowing backing up).

Another consideration (just a theory on my part) is that they are trying to "hide" their expired license plates. By backing in to the parking space, it helps to prevent a passing law enforcement officer from easily spotting their expiration sticker.

NOW... let's talk about those sons-of-bitches who pull through. I sometimes wonder... do they actually WAIT until they see me approaching and do they WAIT until they are absolutely certain that I'm about to pull into the empty space before they "sneak in the back-door" by pulling THROUGH one space and into the space I'm about to park in?! (Which I'll do by pulling in FORWARD, by the way.)

-- Allen

P.S. Thanks for bringing up this very important and most annoying topic. I've been wanting to do it for ages, but didn't want to be the first one to get flamed for being so petty and irritable. Now we can get flamed together.

[elfwitch]

25. I love flamers...

Oh, wait.... I mean flaming queens.
I don't necessarily like being flamed.

Me, you, and queer duck can handle it right?

[commander bunnypants]

4. I do it in winter weather

cause I have front wheel drive.


DDQM

[rogerashton]

8. You need an all-wheel.

eom

[BOSSHOG]

5. People driving vehicles

with handicapped tags. - Flame Me. I find many of them to be the most ignorant, rude and selfish drivers on the road or in a parking lot. And often, after finding that ideal parking space, an extremely healthy specimen bounces out of the driver's side and saches on to his or her business.

[elfwitch]

13. I agree...

It is more than a little irritating to see, what seems to be a perfectly healthy person, getting out of a car in a handicapped spot.

I knew a guy that had a chair lift in his van and often got screwed out of a legitimate spot by some dickhead in a sports car with a tag on it.

[TrogL]

17. The reason they look relatively healthy

Is because they haven't had to walk the length of a parking lot on a bad knee or hip.

[YellowRubberDuckie]

My friend Janetta has a handicapped sticker...

And she LOOKS completely healthy. But she's not. She has serious health problems. You can't always assume they are completely healthy, because most of the time they might have some health issue that prevents them from walking long distances.
Duckie

[baldguy]

7. I always try and back in.

Because when I come out, there's always an Cadillac Humungus on one side of me and a Buick Gargantuan on the other. Its better to move FORWARD out of a hole.

[elfwitch]

9. okay, that is a reasonable answer....

I drive small cars and am often dwarfed by SUVs and trucks in Dallas, the land of the too big vehicle.

[VelmaD]

10. My momma does this and here's her reason...

she said she read somewhere that most parking lot accidents happen when people are backing out of a parking space. Your odds of having a collision are lower if you pull forward out of the parking space.

[ElsewheresDaughter]

18. baldguy exactly!..and the only reason i back in most of the time

[On the Road]

11. Do you Get Irritated at People Backing OUT of Parking Spots?

You have to either back in or back out. Unless you're bad at it or there's a car right behind you, might as well do the backing first.

[trof]

12. Well, see...it's like this (backing in)

There is NO passing traffic IN the parking space. It's EMPTY. That's why I chose it.

Now...coming out of the parking place, there's usually traffic. I want to SEE it. That's why I like to come out head on. I can SEE a lot better that way.

It beats the hell of s-l-o-w-l-y backing out from between two behemoths, with no side-vision, thinking "I hope-I hope-I hope".

I usually look for 2 spaces, back-to-back, so I can just pull through.

Understand now?
Good.
;-)

[elfwitch]

16. pull through is fine...

I often do that myself. But it is the people that take 5 minutes backing in and correcting and pulling forward and backing and correcting and rinse and repeat.....

[ScreamingMeemie]

23. Yes, but you would still piss off MrsGrumpy in the school parking

lot because she is running behind per usual and doesn't have time for you to get your butt in there!

;)

[Parrcrow]

15. I back in

Its easier to back in than to back out considering blind spots and all. I drive strait in if I'd be wasting someone else's time. Its just common courtesy.

[Brotherjohn]

19. Simply put, backing in is the proper way to parallel park.

Try parallel parking into a spot 3 feet longer than your car by going forward into it. Impossible. You'd hit the car you're parking in front of (or you just wouldn't fit and give up).

Because the front wheels turn and not the back, backing in allows you to get a far sharper angle into a spot when parallel parking. You can swing right into the spot, with an "S" type turn (plus, you don't end up with the corner of your car sticking out into the street). You can't do that going forward. All you can do is make a bee-line for where the front of the car is going to go, and slightly turn to straighten out (you're lucky if the back end doesn't hit the car behind you). Pulling into a parking spot going forward basically means you can't get into any but the most open spots.

I'm not saying this to be mean, but parallel parking (by backing in) is a skill that should be learned in driving school.

See these sites:
http://www.driving-school.com.au/pp.asp
http://www.teendriving.com/parallel.htm
http://www1.excite.com/home/info/learn2/tutorials_qa_overview/0,14899,auto_688_0,00.html

[Brotherjohn]

20. Unless you weren't talking about parallel parking...

If you're talking about parking lots with side-by-side spots, I don't really see a need to back in, although it doesn't bother me a lot if people do it (I understand if someone can see better pulling out forward).

[-..__...]

22. Patience is a virtue.

Add me to the list of people who back in (for the reasons mentioned).
Besides the increased chance of having an accident with another vehicle, it's harder to see pedestrians walking behind the vehicle. I would think the increased visibility (or lack of), would be even more of a concern in
a school or area where there are a number of children present.


I almost always back in to a spot (or pull through a spot so that I'm facing forward). I live on a narrow one-way street that people use as a through way. I also happen to drive a large Ford van. Because parking is allowed on the opposite side of the street, it practically necessitates my backing into the driveway... it would take longer if I had to back out into the street. At any given time there's usually a car behind me waiting to proceed while I back in. Most of the time, the drivers are patient, every now and then I get some ass who has to beep their horn or give me a dirty look as they pass by. When that's the case, I'll take my time. If they don't like it, then too bad. Find another short-cut home if they don't like it.

[wysimdnwyg]

24. I do it, but only...

when no one is waiting on me. And not all of the time even then.

[Blue-Jay]

26. I *always* back into parking places.

What's the problem with that? Sure, it takes a few more seconds but at least I'm out quicker.

[Endangered Specie]

27. As long as they dont take up more than 1 space... they are fine with me.

[mkultra]

28. seems like

it should be easier to back out into an open lane than to back into a small parking spot.

[elfwitch]

39. it would seem that way...

I have spent horrendous amounts of time waiting for land yachts on wheels to back in to parking spaces. It seems that it is never the compact car that is doing it either. It is always battleship sized SUVs, trucks, and luxury sedans.

[kmla]

29. The only time it pisses me off is when someone will pull through

to an empty spotin and angled parking layout, thus ensuring that they will be headed in the wrong direction down a one-way parking lot lane when they leave. THAT pisses me off. Otherwise, you either have to wait for someone backing in, or backing out. Doesn't make much difference one way or another.

[Nikia]

30. I just think it is odd

I honestly never noticed that people backed into parking spots until I moved to Wisconsin and work where I currently work.

[BigDaddyLove]

31. I heard somewhere that it's better for your car's.........

transmission if the first direction that your car goes in upon being started is forward.

If so, it would make sense that some folks would rather go forward first rather than backward.

[Kellanved]

32. of course back first; "Head first parker" is a cuss word here .

"Vorwärtseinparker" to be excact; a way to say "Sissy" in German .


On Edit: of course that only applies when parking parallel to the sidewalk. Mostly head-first in "real" parking spaces.

[LynneSin]

33. I'm a "Pull Througher"

I try to find a spot that has both sides opened and I pull through. So it LOOKS like I've backed into the spot, but I really haven't.

I do backup when I park at home, but only because I park in a section of the lot that has about 2 other cars (it can hold about 20). So there isn't much risk of me hitting another car and I can get my car out much easier when it snows (plus I'm somewhat near the dumpster so I can toss my bag of cat litter away)

[spinbaby]

35. At work, we have a parking class difference

Worker bees tend to back into their parking spaces, "executive" types tend to park head first. I have no idea why--maybe the further down you are on the corporate ladder, the more anxious you are to leave quickly at the end of the day.

[bigwillq]

36. People who drive too slow

and having to let people by,I know I have no manners but i hate when people just think they could just walk right by. Wait your turn or I'll hit you (just jokes of course!!) about the last part anyway.

[YellowRubberDuckie]

37. We went to Bass Pro a few weeks ago...

And we had to sit and wait to leave until this idiot in this duelly truck (Read: A truck that is way too big to be driving in the city) to back into this parking spot. It took him ten minutes, and he never did get in enough to be out of the middle of the row. I hate straight parking anyway, Angle parking is where it's at.
Duckie

[geniph]

38. Every defensive driving class teaches this

Why? Because there is not usually cross-traffic into the parking space you're pulling into, whereas there will be cross-traffic when you pull out. It's best to have maximum visibility when pulling out. Something like 50% of traffic accidents happen when people back out of parking spaces. Far fewer people get into accidents backing INTO parking spaces. Well, except for people so hopeless at driving that they're incapable of backing into a space without denting a couple doors on the way.