People who back into parking spots: Why?

Because you know what the situation is when you park, but you don't know what the situation will be when you leave.

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.

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.

It's easier to park backwards compared to forward, specially if the space is narrow.

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.

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 💅

Same reason forklift steering wheels are in the back. I drive a fairly long vehicle and a lot of times it's just easier to maneuver backwards.

Also I have a much wider field of view to look around for people or children not paying attention when pulling out of a parking spot.

If you pull in forwards, you can only see directly behind you until basically your entire car is out of the spot, especially if you don't have a backup cam. If you pull in backwards, you only have to drive forward a foot or two before you have full 180 degree field of view of everything coming from both directions.

All the sass is just coming from people who aren't confident in their backup skills.

They actually teach reverse parking as part of driving instruction here in the UK because, as many people have pointed out, it's safer, easier and more convenient.

Visibility. When you back in you have full awareness of your surroundings.

When you back out there's a gap of time between getting in your car and backing out (opening the door, starting the car, seatbelt, adjusting radio, etc...). If you have cars parked on either side of you, you won't be able to see the cars driving past you.

Then there's efficiency. If you get a call while you're in wherever and have to go somewhere quickly, it's faster to have your car pointed in the right direction.

Because you can easily park like this "|||" and not like this "|/|". Also, it's much easier to leave safely.

When you back into a spot, you have way more visibility leaving than you would backing out

I don't think you should have your license if you don't know that steering with the back wheels gives you much finer control in you maneuver...

Safety - pure and simple. Visibility is much poorer in reverse an you are more likely to hit someone or something you can't see - and there a lots less potential hazards like cars zooming past or an errant pedestrian (especially children) in an empty parking spot than there will be in the pathway / roadway when it comes time to leave.

When I am entering a space I have 360° visibility. I see all, I know all. I can therefore make a calm and practiced motion while being fully aware of my surroundings as I park.

When I am leaving the space my view is inherently restricted. If I am pointing out I can see to both sides, see oncoming and same side traffic, see pedestrians, and see even more as I pull out of the spot.

If I am pulling out in reverse I can see far less. I have a very twisty neck so I can see behind me (180°) plus another maybe 40°, leaving me with an 80° view, but it is from the opposite end of the car space so it is narrowed. As I pull out I see more, but the whole time it is more narrow. I can't see the rear of vehicle and I certainly can't see far to either side of the vehicle at the road level.

So I think the key is thinking about your worst visibility. I think the overall visibility is better when I reverse in to the space and drive straight out when compared with driving directly in and reversing out. I think I can see small people and kids better over the bonnet of the car rather than out the rear window and I think I can react better to the situation when I am reversing in than when I am reversing out.

Its easier to to reverse because you can see better with the camera and mirrors. Its also safer to leave the spot driving forward instead of backing into oncoming traffic.

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

I find it easier. It's also safer, backing out of a space you're more likely to hit someone walking or driving past. If you find reversing in to a space hard then maybe you shouldn't be driving a giant metal death machine.

To absolutely flex on people who can't drive.

Permanently Deleted

It's far safer to take off forwards, you have much better visibility. And when backing in, you have good visibility and are also visible to other drivers.

A long vehicle (truck, SUV, some crossovers) is MUCH easier to park with precision by backing up in my opinion.

Tbh cause its objectively not, backing up your point of rotation is the part that gets parked first. Gibes a lot more time to manuvure the front into place once the back is done

It's safer to back into a spot than back out of it and personally I find it easier especially if it's a narrow spot. Also means that my car is then straight in the middle of the it.

In all honesty it's something I do mostly because it's what I've always done. I also like to paraller park into tight spots because I like the challenge.

You can fit in way smaller spaces when backing in. Once you get the knack for it it's not really harder than going in forwards either.

protip: look in your side mirrors and pretend it's a video screen. if you want to go left steer left, if you want to go right steer right. Don't even start thinking about "It's on the left in the mirror so on the right in real life, but it's backwards so..." or you'll have a bad time.

It was a habit I picked up from a previous job, and it was something we did for safety at that job. Your visibility is better when backing in before parking, and much better when you go to leave.

I learned to drive in the US and always pulled into spaces. Since moving to the UK I almost always back in. The difference is I find it much easier to back into a tight spot (as basically all spots outside of the US are) and then drive out rather than the other way around. For whatever reason backing out of a tight spot is much much harder than backing into it.

Its not hard if you practice. It's easier actually, and pulling out forward is both faster and safer.

I always back into my home space. It's a gift to Future Me who's always in a hurry, and who may find herself blocked in by someone's contractor's extra-big pickup truck sticking out of their space. Anyway, my Odyssey drives like a boat but has a very good rear camera, with guide lines, much more precise than judging that front bumper.

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.

Getting out quicker is always good.

But the main reason, there isn't much traffic where you are backing in. But backing out sure as hell will have both passing cars and people assume you see them perfectly well. I also have no depth perception so the ass of my car is like a big unknown. So backing into a spot is easy because I can just use the side mirror to line up my position relative to there cars. Only issue is how far back I can go. Now I got a camera back there, and everything is much easier.

Have you ever seen a forklift? Ever noticed that it steers with the back wheels? That's because it's easier to maneuver at low speeds, in tight spots, with rear wheel steering. Since you're driving backwards, you're giving yourself rear wheel steering.

If you have the time and space to back in when you're parking it can make leaving easier. Invest a little time now to make things easier later.

I wouldn't make people wait on me to back in though unless there was some important reason to back in.

You need less space when you can park backwards. Considering parking in a lane parallel to the traffic.

Much easier to back into a spot compared to pulling in, safer to pull out. And it doesn’t take much longer. Once you know how to do it it’s very very quick

People who park forwards into a parking spot: why are you making your life more complicated?

To make you angry

The longer the vehicle, the less sense this question makes.

My car isn't the best and has refused more than once to start while in a parking lot. Parking so that I can always pull forward to leave means the tow truck also has much easier access to my car when I need it. :(

• 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 have a private parking spot off street in a city. I don’t like backing up towards the main road; since it has pedestrians and stuff. It’s a little harder to see.

So I back into the spot. It’s way easier than backing out - and pulling out is even easier. 

My work parking garage is already really tight. It’s another situation where backing in is easier than backing out - and driving forward our is even easier. So just some planning.

Everyone is saying it's so backing out is safer, which is true... but for me that's not the primary reason.

I drive an Isuzu D-Max. It's a "ute" (truck?) - not one of the obscenely big ones, but it's bigger than a hatch back or sedan.

In a narrow bay, or narrow approach, you can get lined up in the bay first go if you reverse in because you start with your ass in more or less the right place, and front of the car which is moving left and right to get lined up is not in the narrow bay until you're more than half way in.

If you drive in front first you often don't have enough lateral space to get your rear wheels lined up, so you end up parked akimbo first go, so you reverse out to straighten up and come in again.

Additionally, with a rear camera you can see exactly how much room you have so you can use every centimeter. Looking over the nose you can get to within 15cm or so, but you can always use all the space with the camera without any effort.

Reversing might not be easier than front first the first few times, but with a little bit of practice reversing in does take less effort than going front first.

To assert dominance.

I had trouble pulling into a parking spot when I first started driving, because I couldn't judge how close the front of my car was to the car's bumper next to me (as I turned in)

So I started backing-in because I could see everything with my mirrors and could maneuver more easily. I still prefer backing-in, depending on the situation

Getting out quicker, matching other cars that did it for no reason, or I plan on sitting in my car and I like the view better that direction.

Because you're wrong.

Considering the process of parking in full, including leaving the space, reversing in is far safer.

And yes, you do need driving instruction.

I find it easier to backwards park, especially in tighter spaces. Mostly because it's easier if you look properly and watch your mirrors and don't rush. It's also easier to leave because you've got better line of sight for oncoming traffic

You can see people walking in the path if the car much easier If a small child ran behind the car while reversing I don't think I'd see them even anywhere near as well as I would if they ran out in front of the car as i was pulling out of the space.

1. I can do it as fast after years of valet as a teenager, and its easier to make sure I'm centered since I can see the lines in my mirrors.

2. It's easier and quicker to get out, you never know if reversing out of a spot is going to be feasible and the visibility might not be as good when trying to exit.

It's easier. You need enough room for the nose to swing around because the front wheels follow a wider trajectory than the rear wheels. The access road is usually much wider than the parking spots, so backing into the spot gives you much more room to maneuver.

You also have much better visibility overall. If you go in nose first, you can't see the front corners of your car, and you also have terrible visibility when backing out of the spot. If you back in, the mirrors show you exactly how close you are to the cars around you, and you have an unobstructed view when you leave.

Like most everyone here, I feel that I can see the parking space better when I arrive than the roadway when I'm leaving. Seems safer. But the best is pulling through. Win/win!

my tags expired in 2021

My backup cam makes it easy to know how far to go in. Much easier for me than figuring out the front distance.

I didn’t see anyone else mention this, but to add to other comments, I don’t want to risk hitting the curb with my front splitter in my low-clearance sports car. Obviously SUVs don’t have this issue…

My van is much easier to reverse into a bay (although most of the time I go near back and find a drive through).

Backing out in the van is nightmare safety wise.

Beacuse sometimes you have to go somewhere where going out of the parking is going to be near immposible so its Just better to back out when there is not a lot of pepole and have better vivisbilty when going out of the parking.

Once you know the proper method, it's easy and efficient. Knowing the proper method is requested to get a licence so many people don't forget.

A big bonus is that you see where you go when leaving. So if a car comes on the street you see it.

Finally many companies have a back parking mandatory as it's safer in case of emergency evacuation. Not an issue in a supermarket but definitely a thing on a chemical factory

Safety, driving out of a parking space is safe than reversing out. Also every company I've worked for has had a reverse parking only policy, also for safety reasons, so it's habit too.

For a certain area, I back in to a parking space so that the sun in the afternoon is coming through the back window. This means that my drivers seat and steering wheel are not the temperature of the sun when I have to drive away. Other people may park in different ways to avoid the sun in the morning should they prefer to drive out to get lunch.

In some country (in France in some place for exemple), regulation law force to be park back i, in case of emergency (fire, or disaster) you can make out quicker

In addition to the ease with front wheel drives that other people have mentioned, it is also safer. When you back in to a space you have full awareness of what's around you in the car park, and are blocking the main driving route while backing into a place where no one is driving so are unlikely to have some speeding idiot hit your car. But when backing out of a space you lose vision on the driving route and are backing into it so you have a bigger chance of being hit by someone you can't see not stopping

While you can feel pressured by other drivers waiting while you backing into a space, it's far less pressure than when you back out of a space and don't know what's around you.

Similarly if you have a drive way at home, it's safer to back in to it as you have better awareness of pedestrians and other drivers versus if you are backing out of the space into a road.

Most cars have their battery on the front. Reverse parking ensures that you can reach the battery with jumper cables if it is empty

I don't like starting my drive on a low-note of backing up out from a parking spot, anxious I will accidentally scrape a vehicle or bonk the curb or whatever may it be. Ending the drive by backing into the parking space means next time I leave I'll start by driving forward to pull out.

There are cities that still have laws on the books that state you cannot back out of your driveway. Obviously not enforced but the reasoning is there. At the grocery store, I don't back in because it becomes a pain in the ass to get to your trunk, everywhere else, yeah I back in. It's safer.

I started when I had a Smart Car, which made backing in really easy. The front wheels are almost in the same place as the back wheels, so the car almost rotates. It's a shame they weren't more popular.

When pulling out, we are often more distracted because we have just been doing something else. Conversely, when parking, we are already in driving mode so it is easy to concentrate. Pulling put forward seems safer to me, as I can see everything so less likely to have an accident.

Also, it is normal where I live to reverse park.

I have time backing in slowly. But when it's time for me to rush out, I just gooo. Can't rush out when I'm backed in

Because who doesn't like loading their boot/trunk with shopping in hard mode?

I can do both just as easily. It really depends on if I’m going to be using the trunk or not. Believe it or not it’s actually illegal to back in some states. Cops are supposed to be able to see your license plate at a glance.

It's easier to back into the space and it's easier to drive out of it. The question should be why do people drive forwards into parking bays and then struggle to back out?

The rear of my car is ugly

I have never hit anything when backing in or driving out forward. I have hit 4 vehicles while backing out. It may be an attention thing, no idea. It is better for my wallet to back in

I think you just need more experience driving. Either one is pretty much equally easy, it just depends on how much space you have to work with and what angle you're approaching from. For example there's one parking spot at my workplace that's basically impossible to get into without backing into it.

Maybe it's because i drive a pickup, I don't know, but for me backing into a space is just a lot easier than pulling in forward.

If I’m out at retail I’ll just pull through, but at home I prefer to back into my driveway. My wife’s stupid SUV blocks all sight of the street when I’m getting out of my driveway, so I don’t like backing out of it since I’m blind until it’s almost too late. Backing in to park is the only option and I do it so much I barely think about it. That and we sometimes have kids playing out in the streets in our neighborhood, so I don’t want to take a chance on that.

I remember hearing about a study that claimed that backing into parking spaces could have you hundreds of dollars per year, since doing the reversing while the engine is hot uses less gas.

I park either way, whichever leads to less maneuvering for that particular spot, but it's easy since I have a backup camera.

I got in the habit of backing into parking spaces after I had a car that needed a jump start, but I had pulled in and no spaces next to me were available to pull the jumper car into. If you back in, in the rare chance you need a jump start, you will be able to drive the jumper car close to your battery

Lots of people with sound, logical explanations of why it's better and easier but nobody talking about, with the common angled parking lots these days, how you then end up pulling out the opposite direction of everyone else and going the wrong way down a one way lane or doing a u-turn and basically fucking everything up for anyone else.

Practical reasons aside (visibility and ease of pulling out) I simply prefer it.

Used to work at UPS. It's a weird culture thing

Is this purely "backing in" or does nose out qualify? I have gotten in the habit of parking away from the doors wherever I go. As a result the back of the lot is usually empty, allowing me to pull through a spot to be nose out in the next. I do this because it's so much easier to be perfectly set in the parking space. You can usually see in your rear view the lines of the space behind and perfect depth with the back up camera.

One has to back up, either when leaving or arriving - some choose to get it out of the way when they park, others when they leave -

To each their own - I like to back in parking & easy quick exit

The sun is directly towards my window shield, if I back in. I can put a Sun visor in the windshield and the car is much more tolerable temperature-wise in the summer. But only if I back into my parking spot.

Why not? I’ve never understood why this bothers people. I back into a space because sometimes it just seems easier from the direction I’m coming, and it’s not difficult for me. It’s somewhat like exercising a skill, like “why do a wheelie on your bike when you can ride it with two wheels on the ground?”. For fun, if nothing else.

Practical reasons aside (visibility and ease of pulling out) I simply prefer it.

Because self center assholes walk behind me when I am in the middle of backing out, then get mad because I almost hit them. All this from a handicap parking spot.

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.

I mostly pulling forward. Sometimes there is a smaller and packed parking lot, where the turn radius of my vehicle will not make it into a spot going forward. It could be done but I’d have to spend an extra 10 min to Austin powers my way into a spot going forward and then do it again backing out. In cases like that I find it much easier to have the turning point of my vehicle in the drive lane so I can have a better swing to line myself up and back in. It’s just better for everyone in that scenario.

I work for a bank and we need a clear view of each other when we open the building, so we all back into our parking spaces. At first it was tricky and took some practice, but after a few tries you get so used to it becomes more intuitive to park that way. And it’s so much easier to leave without having to yield to cars and pedestrians passing by as you’re trying to back out.

coin flip pretty much

I prefer parking for a quicker exit, but if the particular parking spot is too narrow or there's a lot of traffic in the lot I'll just park normal no big deal

Living in Japan for a couple of years made me this way.

Because my HOA doesn't allow it so I do it anyway as a fuck you to them.

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.

Tesla autopark backs the car in.

You've got all these answers that include "it's easier" and "it's safer". Yet in the same posts they insult people who don't have the same opinion as them. I hate people that back in because it wastes my time waiting for them to maneuver when it's quicker to just pull forward.

When you're leaving a parking spot and backing out all the same logic applies that these bozos use to justify backing in, but it's more socially acceptable and doesn't require accuracy, which speeds up the process. People that HAVE to back into parking spots are control freaks.

I already knew what the answer would be, and we have 20 people saying the same thing. But in my experience, the people who back into parking spots are among the worst parkers.

They save time pulling out, but they take ages to back in, generally speaking. Especially in a busy area where cars are lined up to find spots, you're waiting for every car in front of you to park before you can drive past them to the next spot.

Ignore the reasons they give you. It's literally 100% ego. They think it's harder so doing it makes them better than everyone else.

Edit: They hated him because he spoke the truth.