It sometimes can be the argument between the driver and passengers (‘backseat drivers’), should one park nose first or back into a carpark.
There has been online debate about the better method of parking in 90° carparks, those which are turned into and commonly found in carparks and less commonly on the road’s edge.
How do you usually park?
Reverse in with the front of the car pointing out
Drive forward in with the rear of the car point out
0voters
You can contribute to the discussion further by commenting below why you chose to park that way. Also, are there any circumstances where you park the opposite way?
I almost always reverse into a car park. This possible has resulted from workplaces where parking rules dictated that vehicles must be reverse parked. The justification is when turning up to park, one can see clearing approaching traffic from in front and behind. This can be taken into consideration when reverse parking. When reversing from a carpark, views to approaching traffic is often blocked by neighbouring vehicles, walls, poles and such like and one takes a gamble sometimes that unseen traffic will be courteous and stop to allow your car to exit.
We have also had experience at a kindergarten and school where reverse parking was mandated. The reason was children are often below the line of sight from a drivers seat, and when reversing into a park one can see the carpark is clear…where as reversing out a child could easily move behind the vehicle and be unseen.
The only time I don’t reverse is when there is signage indicating otherwise.
It’s most often determined by deciding whether or not I need access to the boot. I’ll usually reverse into a space otherwise. I have a reversing camera but prefer forward vision when leaving the space.
Some years ago, we had a large Ford Transit bus, which didn’t have a very good turning circle even on full lock.
Some carparks, including Council ones, only have enough space between the ranks for two cars to pass. Generally, the parking spaces were barely large enough, so the Transit filled the width of the car spaces with both sides almost touching the line markings.
With the steering wheels on the curb side it was neigh impossible to get out if there were vehicles opposite as the vehicles either side of the spot inhibited my ability to turn the steering by more than a few degrees at a time. I have ended up wedged at an angle like that, and had to repark the vehicle and wait for a suitably placed vehicle to moved so I could exit. If the bus was parked nose out, I could make it our in a two or three point turn, assuming the adjacent vehicles weren’t parked close to the line marking.
The are numerous Council carparks near us which are marked as nose in parking only. I have noticed over time, that vans and similar size vehicles generally ignore that and reverse in. I have been booked for being parked illegally because the nose was out. I chose to go to court to fight the fine, and fortunately the Council decided to withdraw as we were waiting to be called into the court.
Now that we sold the Transit, I have no problem exiting tight car parking spaces where you have to park nose first because our vehicles are so much smaller.
More generally, I always park in with the nose out where it’s legal (and possible), because it is easier to enter into the traffic flow, say on a street, when I can see the cross flow traffic. One of our cars has a 180 degree rear camera but I find it hard to clearly see and judge the distance and speed of cross flow traffic through the screen. It is far easier to see and judge what is happening seeing it directly with my own eyes.
50/50. It depends on which vehicle and which location or car park.
In pedestrian busy car parks I’ll usually try to find a drive in and through to the next space to exit forwards. Second best is reversing in, although it can come to grief. Not all traffic trying to exit from the speed signed 10kph row and travelling at 25kph or faster appreciates having the full width of the roadway blocked for the manoeuvre.
Regardless of which way one parks, are there further issues with impatient drivers in a hurry? Most larger car parks are also relying on shared traffic pathways for cars and users on foot, trolleys optional.
Many drivers I see are incapable of reversing into a slot which is only wide enough for the car.
If you pull up past the parking slot, to reverse in, another car may be behind. They will need to reverse, which may not be easy, as in turn another car may be behind them.
When reversing out, other cars and pedestrians can see your reversing lights and see your intentions so can keep clear.
If there is a wall behind your car space, access to the boot may be blocked when parked rear in.
If the car park is on an angle, I park with the driver’s side to the high side due to an injury.
I prefer to park facing nose out, but it’s not always practical if the car park is quite full. I’m happy to walk further if it means I have a more easily accessible car park.
Cars these days practically all have a reverse camera, and should have reversing cross traffic detection, which makes reversing out from a nose first park much safer than it once was, although you still have to look. I use my driver aids, and they’re brilliant.
I usually reverse into the car park, making full use of the external mirrors. I prefer having better vision of approaching cars when I leave the car spot by driving out forwards. I also tend to find it easier to reverse into the car spot compared to reversing out. My better half seems to have lost the ability to use the external mirrors for reversing and makes full use of the reversing camera. She parks either nose in or out.
I would be interested to know if there are more side scrapes with parking nose in or with nose out parking, and also whether there are many other drivers who now ignore the external mirrors and just rely on the reversing camera (i.e., am I now in the minority?).
If so in good company.
The average age of our road registered vehicles is approaching 11 years. I don’t remember too many new vehicles coming standard with reversing cameras that many years past. Around half of all vehicles will be at least that old, and only a few of these golden oldies will have cameras.
I prefer to reverse in, or drive through if both parks are empty, so effectively reversed in - windscreen facing the road/access lane seems to make it a little less tempting for people to break in or damage the vehicle - that and always parking close to where security guards are located. Facing out also makes it easier to see who is walking past or just loitering when exiting the park - people aren’t always ‘at their best’ for situational awareness.
I reverse park into most 90° car parks - unless i need to access my boot to load supermarket shopping (although my supermarket has a footpath that runs between 2 sets of 90° parking so it’s easy to access my boot)
I reverse park so i can see when i leave the car space - even though i have cameras. When reversing into a car space i can easily see around me but not so when leaving the space.
I also try to park away from where it gets congested to reduce the risk of carpark bumping.
A point to note for newer cars which have cross-traffic detectors for reversing out of car parks: these detectors will generally be able to detect approaching vehicles that may not be visible from the driver’s seat - particularly if a windowless van is parked next to your car. The detectors are at the extremity of the vehicle, whereas the driver sits almost mid-vehicle.
Having said that, I still prefer to drive out forwards. Old habits die hard.
When reversing in you’re often in a stream of traffic - so all those behind you are held up while you complete the manoeuvre and if this happens sequentially it can be frustrating for those further behind. Often the oncoming lane is affected too. As well, many drivers have to take more than one ‘bite’ to do it successfully, especially if in an SUV or larger car generally.
Going in nose first means that the wait is minimal and coming out you have to wait for a clear break - a win-win for following drivers, driver tension and traffic flow.
Unfortunately that is an urban myth. Road rules (see below) indicate that for 90° carpark, one must follow local road signage where it exists (such as front in or rear in). Where there is no signage, the driver has the option to park of their choosing, that being either front/rear pointing in/out.
The only time one possibly can’t reverse park is for an angle (~45°) parking. In such case the rear of the car must face the centre of the road. Most states also have laws which state a parked vehicle must be in the direction of the flow of traffic. Reversing into an angle (~45°) parking means the vehicle when parked would be facing incoming traffic and therefore illegally parked. Likewise for parallel parking, the vehicle must be parked in the direction of traffic flow.
A nuance is when parking in single row, 90° centre island parking often found in rural towns or outer urban areas. For centre island parking one mustn’t reverse out of such a carpark.
The relevant road rules in relation to parking are here:
They were planned to some degree: “let this be a place for a village”.
Sydney, grew organically, first foot tracks, then donkey tracks, then cart tracks. By this time grand buildings, houses and hovels lined every one. Then they tried to make roads.
I’m a 50/50 as well. I also think ahead, and look at how to exit (having driven double decker buses around London, many years ago). I think reversing into a space makes a lot of sense, where possible. If there is an impatient clown, right up the rear, put on the hazzard indicators, and slowly make the move. Try not to allow any room for them to squeeze past, which will probably happen if there’s an opportunity. I’m sure there will be some people who will disagree, however I’ve never had any problems with this method of reversing into a space. Merry Christmas to all. Ray - Sundowner.
