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.
You need less space when you can park backwards. Considering parking in a lane parallel to the traffic.
Because you know what the situation is when you park, but you don’t know what the situation will be when you leave.
I like this answer, and had not considered it. Good insight. I knew people would have specific situations like certain parking areas or certain street parking, but I really wanted “general” answers, and this is a good one. Thanks.
My grandfather had two habits drilled into him in the Army: never put your hands in your pockets so they’re always ready for action, and always park your vehicle so it’s ready to go.
This means he always backed in, and always parked as close to the exit as possible. And he did post-drive checks to ensure fluids, lights, brakes etc. were as they should be and the vehicle was ready for immediate use.
And he wasn’t even a getaway driver after the war.
Also cause its cool as fuck
It’s actually kind of inconvenient to be behind someone doing this. It takes longer than pulling in and sometimes it’s unexpected. Like I thought this one guy was turning but he was just lining up to back into a spot. He got mad when I pulled up behind him lol
sounds like your jealous of how cool they were
It’s easier to park backwards compared to forward, specially if the space is narrow.
The steering axle is in the front. So if you back into a parking space, you turn around your back axle. This makes the alignment considerably easier, especially for tight parking spaces or crowded parking lots. If you wanted to park front first in that situation, you would have to correct several times because the turning radius is too big to get the car straight in front of the spot in one swoop.
This sentiment is why I fully believe at least 50% of you shouldn’t be allowed to operate a motor vehicle.
Which is more dangerous, backing into a parking spot, or backing into traffic?
For the love of God, if you drive a vehicle, figure it out.
I genuinely think the bar for a driver’s licence should be raised to take 50% or more off the road.
Can’t reverse park? Don’t know where oil water and air goes on your car? Lack confidence in certain conditions? Here’s a free bus pass.
A lot of people don’t even want to drive, but in a lot of places there’s just no viable alternative.
I’m a big advocate for changing that.
Driving should be a privilege, not a right.
Before being either a provledge or a right, driving should not be a necessity.
Where are you from where those things are not part of a driving test?
They make you check for water or air on a test or expect you to know? That would be novel in Canada.
Yep, in the UK it’s part of the theory test, you have to know how and when to check air and fluid levels in order to get a licence.
Here in the states you need to know how to press the pedals and you’re all set
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- Easier to line up the car when backing than writing forward.
- Better overview when you back into a small parking space than backing out into the area where other cars are driving.
- Quicker to get out.
- Quicker in total.
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.
Listen. Some of us are looking forward. To the Future. The future of pulling out of that parking spot. Not my fault if you stuck in the rear-view, my guy.
It’s called Fancy Parking, sweetie. Look it up 💅
Drive through method makes me happy
I know I’m weird
The difficulty is exactly the same and the visibility is much better when leaving the space. Reversing isn’t any harder than driving forwards, especially if you have a backup camera, many people are just unskilled or have low confidence
Reversing isn’t any harder than driving forwards
…
many people are just unskilled
Why would skill matter if it’s not any harder?
Reversing isn’t any harder if you are familiar with the skill of reversing. That’s what I am saying.
If you’re familiar with the skill of reversing, reversing isn’t any harder. Hmm. Ok. If you’re familiar with landing a plane, then landing a plane isn’t any harder either.
Actually landing a plane is a lot harder than reversing a car even if you’re skilled at it. Not sure what you’re trying to prove, this is a dumb argument
Obviously reversing is harder, and adding the tag “if you’re familiar with the skill” doesn’t change anything. I added “if you’re familiar with landing a plane” to make that point.
Reversing literally isn’t harder than driving forward.
Landing a plane is way harder than taking off. Your analogy is irrelevant and incorrect
Reversing literally isn’t harder than driving forward.
Of course it is. Don’t be dense. Going forward there’s a huge windshield for you to look through with both eyes so your binocular vision gives you full depth perception. You’re moving in the direction you’re facing. The wheels that can’t be steered follow the wheels that can so you don’t need to think about them because they’ll always just follow.
Compare that with reversing where you’re facing forward but moving backward. You can only get a small, incomplete picture of where you’re heading using either small mirrors or a low-resolution camera. You can try to rotate in your seat if you have a useful back window, but even if you do it’s far away and so most of your view to the rear is going to be blocked by the car’s interior. In addition, you’re pushing the non-steered wheels with wheels that are steered, so that small movements of the steered wheels are amplified, so you have to be much more careful about where you’re pushing them.
There’s no question that driving backwards is harder than driving forwards.
Driving forwards and driving backwards are separate skills that both require practice, but one is not harder than the other (only applicable at slow speeds).
For one thing, people are practicing driving forward 99.9% of the time they’re driving a car, so even if it were true that they were equally easy, most people would be much better at driving forwards.
But, it’s obviously not true. Cars are designed around going forward. There’s a huge windshield to look out of, the seat faces forwards, etc. Driving backwards is simply a more difficult activity. It requires using mirrors and/or a backup cam. The seat stays oriented forward, and as animals with front-facing eyes, we’re not as comfortable moving backwards as forwards. In addition, the steering wheels are on the wrong side, so instead of aiming the steerable part and letting the unsteerable part follow, you have to orient the steerable part to push the non-steerable part around.
Backing in with a backup camera is easier, and pulling out forward is much safer. Once in a parking lot I nearly started backing out when a child dashed in front of my camera/rear bumper and I was disturbed by the possibility of what could have happened in another timeline.
I really hope that parent used that as a learning experience for the child. I remember my mom screaming at me for running in a parking lot, and for a good reason. It’s dangerous AF. I learned my lesson pretty fast.
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.
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.
