40 Replies to “YES”

  1. “Turning while backing into a space is a perilous process, exacerbated by the relative narrowness of the channels between rows in a given parking lot. That’s because there’s no room for error; one misjudged angle while you’re looking over your shoulder results in a small crunch that could cost you a few thousand dollars, to say nothing of the insurance hassle.”

    Come on man! There are two parts to parking. There is arriving and leaving. If you back in then yes it is a bit more dangerous. But when you leave it’s a bit less dangerous. And if you park at the very end of the parking lot (where the guy parks his new Land Rover) then it doesn’t matter anyway.

  2. Almost like they should have a skills test before handing out licenses.

    If you can’t back into a spot or parallel park, then you suck at life and should not be driving

  3. Back into all the spaces you desire … but for the love of God PLEASE do not stop in the main driving aisle of COSTCO … waiting for an elderly woman, in no hurry, to load her trunk, get her seat belt on, check her mirrors and take another 5 minutes to precariously back out of her parking stall. You have now created a 17-car backup all the way to the public street turnoff … while we wait for you to claim a perfectly close parking spot. You’re a menace to society

  4. Have seen an office high-rise parking underground on King W in Toronto with signs on every level – “Do Not Nose In”.

    1. I tried (Once) when I was young and foolish, to park nose in at the Richmond Hill Go station. It was my first day commuting to downtown from the burbs. Coming home, I noted with amusement the le Mans start as the train doors opened and passengers sprinted for their cars. I ambled to mine, only to discover that, being parked nose in like an idiot and unlike just about every other car in the entirely full lot, I would have to rely on the kindness of strangers to exit my parking spot, as none of the cars in the bumper to bumper chain heading for the two measly exits (go figure) was about to give way and let me out. Never again did I park there nose out. Nowadays, I live in a downtown condo where my parking space is impossible to get into except by backing in. I agree with the other comments – if you can’t back in or parallel park (and is it me, or are there are a lot of drivers out there with no clue how to do either?), you should not have a license.

  5. Hilarious. I can speak to this. I worked for a corporation, a city within a city if you will, 1500 employees at its peak and with all the company vehicular traffic it entailed along with accidents that were for the most part minor fender benders and almost always involved local police not to mention a huge pain in the ass for the company from an insurance perspective. An edict came down from the top…due to insurance premiums all on site vehicles were ordered, yes ordered, to back into parking spaces as opposed to “nosing”in. Seems counter intuitive I know.
    Result: 50% drop in police calls and insurance claims.

    Made a believer out of me. Back in…it ain’t no big thang.

  6. As Burton says above, if the stats support it I’m good with it. However…
    I doubt it makes any difference one way or the other to most, especially if you’re originally from the land of wuhan flu, in which case no amount of tax dollars spent will improve your driving ability.

    May be more of a “where you were raised thing” as I’ve met many people from here of all colors, types, races even, who are adept at a variety of driving challenges, but those +400k new Canadians are going to suck the life out of many of us. We just don’t need that many Uber drivers.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HYcsW48HHXM&t=30s

  7. I agree with Steve .
    However,this is about as important as which way to hang toilet paper.
    We need a famine.

    1. OK, I’m going to be That Guy here.

      Toilet paper needs to be hanged so it unrolls from the back. And not for any goofy-assed aesthetic reason, either. As any cat owner will tell you, if you hang it so it unrolls from the front, the little bastards will dump the entire roll on the floor. Every time.

      As far as parking is concerned, I usually back in. Route is clear backing in and better visibility driving out. If you can’t back up properly & safely, you shouldn’t have a license.

      1. Wow. The very FIRST thing you and I disagree about … and I would fight to the death over. Train your cat.

      2. Set a coupla unbaited mouse traps under the TP. Fk’n cat will never go in the bathroom again as long as it lives. it’ll be trained.

        1. Kenji & abtrapper:

          If they were my cats, I would. My lovely bride claims ownership and is backed by the littluns. I’m outvoted & when I claim point of procedure, I get vetoed. I threatened to put mousetraps on the kitchen counters to stop them from jumping up there. Wife took the one of the cats to the vet for an appt a few days later & the vet was horrified at the idea. No bueno.

          As such, if I find them up there, they get cuffed off. Haven’t been many infractions by any of ’em after that.

          Thing is, I can’t catch them unrolling the TP. I know which one is doing it, but that’s all.

      3. So do kids, or the ol diarrhea spin! You can also squeeze the roll to make it oblong, to decrease spin velocity.

        As far as stolen block heater cords, one can take the little extra time to slightly park on the cord.

  8. Learning to drive in and around the patch, I have never not backed in if I could not find a pull through at the quiet end of the lot. The benefits of backing in and pulling out are dead obvious to anyone with a functioning brain and a pair of working eyes, unless you’re blessed with the necessary x-ray vision to see through the sea of SUV’s with tinted back windows that infest every parking lot, I suppose.

    What I’ll never get, is all the people I see pulling into a parking spot forward, and backing out when they leave, with absolutely nothing in front of them preventing them from pulling through or just driving out. I really want to ask someone one day what they’re thinking. I imagine the answer is they’re not thinking at all.

  9. Pretty much std practice in the patch. Back in parking only is almost everywhere. If you can’t efficiently back into a parking spot you’re likely the guy that merges onto the freeway doing 40km/hr and does 10km/hr under the limit in the left lane.

  10. When it’s cold outside, backing in to your parking spot means an extra 20 feet of extension cord to reach your block heater. At least once every week, that cord will be stolen.

    1. Same with nuke plants. You want to make you see the fireball in your rear view as you high tail it away from the fallout

  12. As someone who lives in a state (Georgia) that requires only rear-mounted license plates, I can guess why the cops prefer nose-in parking as they drive through the parking lot with their license plate scanners. Now, are you the sort of person who backs into a parking spot so that it complicates the job of those nice officers on their fishing expeditions or the sort of good citizen who obediently makes the state’s job as easy as possible?

    1. My local police station has on-street parking dedicated for police use only. Yep … the spaces are reverse diagonal … so the police drive past the stall and back into it. When the burglary call comes … their car is angled in the direction of traffic for the FASTEST possible exit.

        1. They’ll file a report. Make the taxpayers feeeeeeel as though they’ve paid for actual police services.

  14. Here is a problem with back-in parking. The length of vehicle, especially pickups, is usually longer from rear wheels to the bumper. There are too many who think the curb is there to tell you when and where to stop. This ends up blocking the entire sidewalk when the vehicle is backed in.

  15. This story was the most commented on at Instapundit this AM. 579 comments now.

    I am a park at the end of the lot and pull through person. Driving out of the space gives me the best visibility. My greatest fear is hitting someone obliviously walking through the parking lot on their phone, or a child. They are literally lost in a different world. I have literally had people walk into me, after I stopped walking as they approached, all while absolutely engrossed in their screen in the middle of a busy parking lot.

  16. Should the local Costco turn into an active shooter site, and that disagreement then flows into the parking lot, escape to a safe site is far quicker and safer if you’ve backed in.

    Prius drivers should anyway keep their thoughts to themselves.

    The End.

  17. Every well site I’ve been on required back in parking. It’s pretty obviously a safety consideration.

  18. I owned a Lexus ES 300 for 20 years.
    One day, the good samaritan x Menticide spotted an Asian lady struggling to back into into a very awkward spot on a hill that slanted up and sideaways. I ran behind the car and started coaching her in. However I noticed from her side mirror that she seem to be not appreciating my gallant, gentlemany efforts.
    It was a high end BMW.
    Irritated, she told me that she had back up camera.
    I kinda knew about them but they were so science-fictiony at the time that it was not top of mind.
    She could have pretended that I made a difference, right?

  19. I never dared back in my ford e150 as the rear visibility was about nil. And with the engine so far back and a smaller nose profile, I could get in fairly easily headfirst. But it made backing out really exciting at times.

    Speaking of a cruise ship in forward….it’s a toboggan in snow…hard to stop and hard to get going…I spent half the winter spinning .

  20. I don’t get it. I live in a major exurb and I drive a Kia. I’ve always backed in because that’s what YD taught me to do thirty years ago. Even if you only consider supermarket parking lots, you’re much less likely to have stupid people walking behind you as you back in than as you back out.

  21. I have a RAM 3500 dually crewcab with the 8′ bed. All I’ll say here today is that parking is generally *ahem* problematic in most lots.

    Home Depot, Lowes, Menards… no problem to speak of if you park by the “Pro” exit.

      1. It also has the 50-gallon tank, roaddog. Of course that doesn’t help to actually maneuver into a space, but it’s enough range to circle the lot for days until a suitable space opens up ;o)

  22. Task orientated.. People who pull straight in are focused on the job at hand.. Not a second to spare.. The people who back in are focused on leaving.. Not a second to spare.. Its not make work either way.. But it is interesting to take notes..

    I notice every time snow is in the forecast 80% of the people lift their windshield wipers.. Not exactly sure why they cant get snowed on when starting up a car in a storm involves clearing it and warming it up to drive safely.. If they are encased in ice so is the rest of your car.. A couple of wipers sticking out of a block of ice is still going nowhere until it warms up..

  23. I back in now to avoid the scam artists who wait for someone to back out in a crowded lot.

    Walmart parking lot 10 years ago. I Check three times to make sure it’s clear, start backing out and get slammed by a 20 year old chevy that accelerates like a bat outta hell.. two democrats hop out, screaming and hollering. Demand money for their ‘damages’. I insist cops must be called. Thank you walmart for having parking lot cameras that actually worked!

Proudly powered by WordPress & Skyrocket Themes

MENU

Navigation