On Mon, 28 May 2018 08:54:46 -0400, Dave Smith
> wrote:

>On 2018-05-28 6:54 AM, Cindy Hamilton wrote:
>
>> I can't count the number of times I've waited for some asshole to
>> finish backing into a parking spot. What's the point? You have
>> to back up at some point, and I'd rather back out of the spot, which
>> is much, much easier.
>
>It shouldn't take much longer to back into a space than it does to drive
>it. I would expect that anyone who does it should be able to back well
>enough that it should not take any great effort. While it may take
>just a little longer to back in they will gain that time back when they
>drive straight out.
>
>People who back into spaces are probably better trained drivers. It is
>generally safer to back in than to drive in and then have to back out
>because it is harder so see vehicles and pedestrians approaching from
>the side. Ideally, people should choose a space where they can drive in
>and drive out. The next best is to back in and drive out.
>
>
>
>No matter how large a parking spot it, there are still people who will
>have trouble getting in and out. There are people out there who are
>hopeless at parking. I see it almost every time I go to the corner
>bakery/coffee shop. The roadside parking spaces are huge. You can
>easily park an extended cab ban or pickup truck in one of them, but
>people still have trouble staying between the lines.
> A couple weeks ago I was there with my wife and there was only one
>space available. The car behind was more than two feet into the
>otherwise empty space. I had a bit of a challenge parallel in front of
>it, and thanks to my back camera I was able to back up to within about
>an inch of her front bumper. I figured that she had more than enough
>room to back up before pulling out. What I had not counted on was a
>small car slipping into the space behind her car and boxing her in.
>
>Of course we had to stick around and watch for her to some out. She
>could not be too upset with my position because it was her car that was
>sticking so far into my space. As it turned out, she left just before
>us. She was lucky that the guy behind was leaving just as she was
>standing there looking at her boxed in Mercedes SUV.

Here in snow country the parking lots are huge because they need room
to push the mountains of snow, there's always plenty of parking spots
and all extra large. I have no problem backing into a spot, for me
backing in is just as easy as pulling in because I learned to drive in
NYC and there the driving test included parallel parking, you had to
back in one shot and end up with the tires less than six inches from
the curb but not touching the curb. In a big crowded city parking is
at a premium so one quickly learns how to back into a space that's not
much longer than the car. I've discovered that small hick town
drivers can't parallel park, never even tried.
My big pet peeve is coming out of a store and some ****pot compact car
is parked so close to me that I can't open my door enough for a cat to
squeeze through, and they had plenty of room to park centered in the
spot. All I could do is surmise they are in the stupid market so I
could have the store page who has such and such car but that takes
time. So I enter my car from the passenger side and have to climb
over the center console, not as easy as it looks.