I'm trying to be tolerant of people backing in to parking spots, even though a F250 being driven by a soccer mom may tie up five cars in a parking lot for several minutes. This morning one really pissed me off. I was at the polling place at 6:15am, as were a kajillion other voters (thankfully.) The parking lot was jam packed, and some moron is doing the back in thing. I ended up backing out onto the street and parking at the post office across the street, taking my life in my hands crossing two parking lots and a street in the dark. Jeez, people, if you can't drive your land yacht, get a compact car.

I grew up in car dealerships & the oilfield. Backing into a spot is life, but it was also part of the job.

I agree that it tries my patience to watch someone do the Austin Powers 900 point turn to get it right. But I usually park at the back of the lot anyway.

I realized how much I've gotten accustomed to having a backup camera though. Driving my mom's 2011 F150 this week while I'm in Denver, might've taken an extra stab of two at parking a couple times, in the dark while raining.

There's a lot to be said for being able to book out of a parking lot as quickly as possible. But with that said, it would be a little easier if newer trucks weren't such damned behemoths. I had a 1984 C20 similar to this one.



The short sloping hood made it easy to see the corners and objects ahead. The rear bed corners were also visible.

My own car has poor visibility out the rear, coupled with my not being able to turn my head and shoulders as far as I used to. I pull through whenever possible when parking it.

I don't like the 2500 series trucks and their extra long hitches that protrude two feet into the spot behind them.

Around here they do this at the front of a business or store and there will be a line of cars, held up, for the asshole who has to back in at the front, with their land yacht. Do it out in the parking lot, far from the entrance, no issue. Do it in the front of a busy business/store, then fuck you. You are holding up a parking lot full of traffic with your bullshit.

Myself and my two adult children back into spots but can do it quickly on one attempt. I can parallel park in the same one shot deal as can my son. We also try not to park in or around people always willing to take the extra long walk to keep others away from our vehicles. I get the frustration of those that cannot park and drive, but I see more cars hit in parking lots than anywhere else. The same person that can’t back in, is just as likely to misjudge pulling into a spot and hitting a car.

quote:

Originally posted by egregore:
But with that said, it would be a little easier if newer trucks weren't such damned behemoths.

^^^This. I don't "park" my '24 F250, I "berth" it. Been driving it well over a year and still have trouble backing it.

We watched an actual special forces guy back into a spot very rapidly. It was impressive but worried me that he would have run over any person or animal that unexpectedly entered the parking spot.

Maybe that's my old man mentality of checking everywhere continuously and moving slowly when in a parking lot.

In theory, it seems, for a regular person the average total time should be the same whether one backs into a parking spot or backs out of the parking spot. But reality doesn't match my theory.

I'm unclear how y'all think they will be able to back out of a spot faster than they can back in?

Isn't the ET the same overall regardless?

I back in my truck pretty often. It's ingrained in me from spending my early 20s valet parking cars for a living. I'm fast and I don't need no stinkin backup camera!

quote:

Originally posted by Georgeair:
I'm unclear how y'all think they will be able to back out of a spot faster than they can back in?

Isn't the ET the same overall regardless?

Yep.

You also don't have to worry as much about not being able to see cross-traffic when backing INTO a spot, versus backing out of it into traffic.

So for those that know how to do it properly, and do it enough to be good at it, it's a net benefit without causing a hardship on other drivers.

Sounds like the beef should be with folks who don't know how to do it and/or are driving vehicles that are too large for their skills, not with the practice itself.

quote:

Originally posted by Fly-Sig:
We watched an actual special forces guy back into a spot very rapidly. It was impressive but worried me that he would have run over any person or animal that unexpectedly entered the parking spot.

Maybe that's my old man mentality of checking everywhere continuously and moving slowly when in a parking lot.

People today just walk right behind moving vehicles, even my EV which is required by Federal law to put out the most irritating sound when backing up.

Camera there are spots where you just can't easily see the nitwit that asserts their pedestrian privilege and expects you to stop half way out of a parking spot. The EV has an alert for them and auto braking, problem is even if they are standing across the aisle it will occasionally slam on the brakes, it's brutal the way it stops, then, if it still sees them loading groceries it makes you press harder on the accelerator to get it to move. Yeah I can turn it off, but with the large number of people who just think it's fair game to walk behind an already moving vehicle it's not wise.

These newer vehicles, SUV's especially have a lot less visual area to
look at when backing up, the rear 1/4's and all doors have much higher sills than in the past making it difficult to see, plenty of blind spots, even the front A pillar on our 25 Chevy Equinox is massively thick.

Blame the government standards in keeping you safer...

quote:

Originally posted by Georgeair:
I'm unclear how y'all think they will be able to back out of a spot faster than they can back in?

Isn't the ET the same overall regardless?

Yep.

Backing out is a nightmare, especially when people pull in next to you and leave about 3" of space between their vehicle and your's.

I always pull in so I can exit forward. I'd prefer to see where I'm going than looking back at where I've been. Situational awareness and 360degree looking, especially driving an FJ Cruiser or a F650 Service truck and other large Vehicles over the years has just made it normal for me. Plus, I don't hug the storefront, would rather walk than get door dings!

quote:

Originally posted by Georgeair:
I'm unclear how y'all think they will be able to back out of a spot faster than they can back in?

Isn't the ET the same overall regardless?

Every single person I see do it in a truck, car, CUV, whatever, takes 3 attempts. Reverse, oh I didn’t get it, pulls forward, reverses, pull forward again. Every single time. And it’s extremely rude to do this when you have a line of cars behind you. The difference between doing this in the beginning versus when you leave is that when you leave, you can WAIT for the cars driving through the parking lot until nobody is coming then reverse out. Doing anything Jackass style in front of a business or store is just that. If you aren’t a smooth criminal reversing in then just do it way out in the parking lot, not at the front.

quote:

Originally posted by RogueJSK:

So for those that know how to do it properly, and do it enough to be good at it, it's a net benefit without causing a hardship on other drivers.

Sounds like the beef should be with folks who don't know how to do it and/or are driving vehicles that are too large for their skills, not with the practice itself.

Yep.And actually the majority of vehicles I have seen backing in do it just fine. AND I do it just fine, have NEVER inconvenienced other vehicles. Have I seen some who had trouble with it? Yep. Have I seen trucks and cars having trouble driving head into a space, taking 3-4 runs at it? Hell yes.

I can back into a spot faster than most people can pull in. But I also park super far out whenever possible so I don't have to be close to all the crowds of people near the door who can't drive. I can walk from the other end of the parking lot faster than anybody can drive through that mess.

I thought you were talking about the dicks that park across two spots. Just saw this at my church recently which made me both angry and sad as parking is at a premium there with our church growing so fast and having limited parking and of all places, you wouldn’t expect someone to park like a jerkoff there.

Why would anyone drive around in the parking lot in front of the businesses? That's where the speed bumps and aimless pedestrians are; much faster to take the outer parking lot lanes as there is nobody there.

It's similar to the right lane when there's three lanes on the highway going the same direction. Twenty cars stacked in the left lane with their adaptive cruise controls set to 79mph, but the right lane? It's the concrete corridor to freedom.

quote:

parking is at a premium there with our church growing so fast and having limited parking and of all places, you wouldn’t expect someone to park like a jerkoff there.

Of all places, I would hope others would be more Christ-like towards others attending church.