Settle a bet for me.
When parking your car do you pull straight in or do you back into the spot?
Yes or no, why do you do that?
…..for bonus points – if you ride do you park the same way with your bike?
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Straight in, because only douchebags back in.
Also it’s easier to back out into a broad, wide lane than into a narrow, short spot.
(See above re. douchebags, for why they’re douchebags. What, do they think they’re going to be making a Rapid Action-Movie Escape where they need to not back out?)
(No bonus points answer, though, since I don’t ride.)
I back into most spots. Not because I’m a D-bag, but because most parking spots aren’t built for big trucks. If I back in, the last four feet of my truck hang over the curb and I dont stick out of the spot.
Guess it’s better to look like a D-bag than to stick into a lane four feet.
Plus my bumper hitch is at shine level and people tend to walk into it, so it’s best to keep that over the grass.
As far as bikes, I back my bike into spots too. Not sure why, I think thats what I was taught……..
Back in both the Truck(79F350 Crew) and the Mustang (09 GT(with a little boost(BWAHAHAHAHA))) and for the same reason, poor viability out the back, its safer to back in to parking spots then it is to back in to a lane of travel.
I always had to back the M998(Military Hummer) in to the Motorpool and in to the field site parking areas, and after 6 years of doing that the habit stuck.
I no-longer ride, but when i did i walked it back in to the slots, for the same reasons above, its safer/easier to back in to a empty parking spot and then drive right in to the lane of travel, vs doing it the other way.
‘It depends.’ … LOL!
I always back in … when parallel parking
In malls, I’m willing to walk a extra few feet and will drive to the end of the aisle so I can drive through.
I saw about 20,000 bikes parked in Port Dover last Friday and none of them were nose into their parking spot … LOL!
Under normal circumstances, the bike gets backed into its parking spot … except for those uncommon situations where it’s an uphill grade to the curb. So, there!
Back in.
It’s not douchebaggery, as Sigivald presupposes, but is a safety habit that gets ingrained over the years.
Anyone who has ever driven a truck or van for a living has probably had it pounded into their head by training and safety briefings that you ALWAYS back into a spot. Not to make a quick getaway, but because large trucks and vans have poor visibility.
When parking, you have to drive past your intended parking spot before backing in. This gives you a chance to visually inspect the area to make sure you’re not going to run over something or someone.
Also, when backing in to tight spots, you have more maneuverability than if you were to pull in forwards.
Finally, when leaving, it is not necessary to check your rearview mirror pulling forward out of the parking spot. If you have pulled forward into the spot when you parked however, you now have to contend with the poor visibility and blind spots inherent in having a large vehicle. It’s very easy for a child, pet, or inattentive adult to wander into a blindspot or introduce some other object like another vehicle or shipping cart into your way.
I’ll chime in now, I appreciate you guys giving your honest opinions. I’m not going to claim there is a right way and a wrong way on this, if it works for you then it obviously works for you, but here’s why I asked the question.
I’ve been riding my new bike into work as often as possible, and I get there before any other bikes start parking in the designated “motorcycle” area. I stopped in halfway through my shift to gaze lovingly on my new bike, and was surprised to see that mine was the only bike facing outward, every single other bike was parked “nose in”.
I asked the guys I work with, they all back into parking spots when driving cars, and attribute it to the reasons set out by Daniels and Dagamore – driving a commercial or military vehicle you tend to back into spots as a matter of policy (readiness in the military and safety in commercial settings), habits become hard to break.
I asked myself WHY I back in, and while it may be due to habit long formed, I think it makes sense. As I’m driving up on the spot I’ve already got a mental picture of traffic nearby, I can eyeball the spot and it only takes a moment more.
For the record then, I back into parking spaces 90% of the time, I’m not dogmatic about it. It’s a preference, not an absolute requirement.
I’m gonna take pictures of the motorcycle parking at work though. I can’t believe not a single other rider backs his bike in.
And in Sigivalds defence, I am a bit of a douchebag, so there may be something to that theory as well.