Why do you back in when parking?

[Colo_Ranger]

I back in so people will know how cool I am.

Honestly, I find it easier to back in and pull out forward.

This is how it's supposed to be done. Always shoulder to shoulder so you're close enough to lend a hand. It's called decency.

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[Zrider]

I do it cause its better visibility, unless I'm somewhere where I need to load the back of the truck.

 

[OrangeStreak]

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I prefer backing in. I don't like backing out with vehicles parked beside. The need to swing the front end one way or the other and get as close as I can to the vehicle next to me is less desirable than backing in, which seems pretty easy to me.

More often than not I park out back anyway as it can be difficult to load groceries/etc into my supercab with cars parked along side. I just pull thru then.

Scab!

 

[AzScorpion]

This is how it's supposed to be done. Always shoulder to shoulder so you're close enough to lend a hand. It's called decency.

Makes mental note..... Take @Colo_Ranger off house warming party list. ?

 

[got3fords]

I normally park way out in the parking lot so backend or forward isn't that big of a deal. I like to walk and gives me a reason too, plus I don't trust people. My truck is 16 months old and I have 2 door dings already. Frustrating.

My running boards have prevented door dings. And other damage.

 

[got3fords]

I usually try to back in. You can scan the spot for obstacles, pedestrians, kids as you pass the spot to back in.
Where I work there is a row marked for compact vehicles. It never fails, people with large vehicles will pull in with their wheels several feet from the curb. Stupid!

 

[AzScorpion]

I usually try to back in. You can scan the spot for obstacles, pedestrians, kids as you pass the spot to back in.
Where I work there is a row marked for compact vehicles. It never fails, people with large vehicles will pull in with their wheels several feet from the curb. Stupid!

Yeah I've seen that a few times too but the worst is the in handicap spots. Too many times I've seen lazy inconsiderate a'holes parking in them with no handicap tags/plates and get out walking perfectly fine. That's one of my biggest pet peeves about parking lots because there are many who really need these spots and some lots have little of them.

 

[Colo_Ranger]

Makes mental note..... Take @Colo_Ranger off house warming party list. ?

*cries on the shoulder of the guy at the urinal next to me.

 

[got3fords]

There was a lady who lived in our apartment building where my girl friend and I lived right after I got out of the Navy. When she came home, she would back into a space in the small gravel lot across the street. But she was so anal about her park job, she would spend, and I'm not kidding 20-25 minutes backing up, pulling forward, backing up, pulling forward, tweaking it every time. And she would still walk away with a crooked park job. She even backed over the stick marking the spot once or twice. it was good entertainment.

 

[AzScorpion]

There was a lady who lived in our apartment building where my girl friend and I lived right after I got out of the Navy. When she came home, she would back into a space in the small gravel lot across the street. But she was so anal about her park job, she would spend, and I'm not kidding 20-25 minutes backing up, pulling forward, backing up, pulling forward, tweaking it every time. And she would still walk away with a crooked park job. She even backed over the stick marking the spot once or twice. it was good entertainment.

You never told us you lived next to Tracy @Tracy Bowman ?

 

[mlarma]

In public, rarely. In my driveway, more often. When I backup, I can get the truck at a better angle in a specific part of my driveway than I possibly could pulling in normally.

 

[WhyNot21]

I always back in when possible. It's just way easier to maneuver in reverse. If I ever own a vehicle with 4 wheel steering, that may change.

 

[VAMike]

with the backup camera on the back and no camera on the front (and the less-ridiculous-than-the-new-model but still-too-high hood) the visibility low and close to the truck is just better backing up.

 

[reidmefirst]

Safety.

I've worked as a consultant for power companies, where they take safety to the extreme. Two different electric utilities (in different countries!) had the same rule: always back into parking spaces. They found that, statistically, you are less likely to crunch a bumper or hit a pedestrian when backing into a parking space (and pulling out driving forwards) than pulling forwards into a parking space (and pulling out by backing up).

Correlation and causation are hard to figure out, but I guess the logic is: if you've been driving for a bit of time, you are 'in the zone' and are paying a lot more attention. So backing up into a space after you've been driving for a bit means you are paying more attention to what you are doing. Versus when you first get to your car at the end of the day (or even after a shopping trip), you are not 'in the zone' and are prone to making more mistakes. Backing up in this state means you are more likely to fail to notice something, like a pedestrian scurrying past your rear bumper.

Anyway, the fact that two superlarge companies collected statistics about this stuff and found enough of a difference to make it company policy, has always stuck with me. So mostly I back up into parking spaces now (unless the parking lot stinks and backing into a space is too difficult, anyway).

I'm sure people will argue, "Well, maybe those stats apply to most people but I'm better than everybody else and am a perfect driver so there." Good for you, my hat's off to you preemptively, 80% of drivers rate themselves as above average somehow, etc ;-).

 

[Ranger_Rocks]

with the backup camera on the back and no camera on the front (and the less-ridiculous-than-the-new-model but still-too-high hood) the visibility low and close to the truck is just better backing up.

Our Hyundai Santa-Fe has a multi-view four camera system which provides an "overhead" view. I thought this would be a gimmick, but it actually works well. Especially for centering between the lines. Side mirrors can also be set to automagically tilt down while in reverse. Great for checking lines and curb distances.

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