Almost always reverse park. I am much better at it than forward (which usually take a couple of goes to be straight in the middle of the lines) and the van has excellent mirrors. Have never parked a car with fancy beepers.
That said, this area has almost no 90 degree on street parking - it is all parallel, which I also find okay.
I much prefer to back in for all of the reasons already mentioned:
–better manoeuvrability
–need better visibility when leaving than entering a car space. When exiting I want to be able to watch moving cars, people, etc.
And my car is small so it’s easy to leave enough space at the back to open the boot.
For safety’s sake, I think there should be a lot more emphasis on reverse parking when we learn to drive.
And ideally, car parks would be designed with wide walkways for people and trolleys (plus trolley bays) between the rows of reverse-parked cars, so there’s easy access to the boot, and no need for anyone to walk on the road.
CBF chasing the citation but the fleet manager in an organisation I worked for had found research that detailed fewer accidents in car parks where the rule was that vehicles had to be reversed in.
The catalyst was stupid drivers scraping cars/other vehicles constantly, either on other vehicles or pillars etc. That included backing in to transiting vehicles when exiting car park spaces.
The rate of scrapes did reduce. Not too scientific though as there was a concurrent campaign to highlight the issue - maybe it just made people concentrate more.
Regardless, I always back in.
The ease of nose in parking depends on car park layout, especially the width of parking spaces and lanes. Drivers who are not naturally endowed with good spatial ability may struggle more than others. Some drivers don’t take a wide enough turn into the parking spot and may also have difficulty judging distance to an adjacent vehicle. Older age may contribute to parking impairment. Throw in a twin cab Ute and it’s not surprising that nose in parking may be slower than reverse in parking at times.
Regarding angle parking, the regional NSW city that I have lived in for 25 years has reverse 60 degree angle parking in the wider streets, the ones where horse and buggies used to be able to do a U-turn (I presume). Local drivers wait patiently for others to reverse park, and I imagine that drivers in towns with nose in angle parking keep a watchful eye out for reversing lights in parked cars.
I get frustrated in car parks when a vehicle in front reverse parks into a vacant spot, generally taking at least three attempts before the park is successful! This seems to be a regular occurrence and the traffic is stalled until they finish. In the meantime, the vacant spot just ahead has been taken and I have to go around and try again🙃. So much quicker to drive in and then you have easy access to put your parcels in the boot. My reversing camera makes backing out a breeze.
Wade through the click bait to understand the reasoning nose in was required. Most commentators thought about themselves in their vehicle and their driving. There may be other considerations.
Other reasons why nose in might be preferred include eliminating the problems of ute trays and towbars overhanging an adjacent footpath and people backing in to plants or other fixed objects close to the kerb.
In Queensland the policy has been to park nose in and I have always followed that policy. But recently, I had an empty car space either side of me and a car passed by both car parks. I was reversing out, having looked, only to then see the car that had passed the space reversing back! So my decision is make it one way only however many people have problems parking in reverse and it takes much more time.
Everyone must park the same way - either nose in or reverse, but NOT BOTH OPTIONS.
Hi @mrnswt1, welcome to the community.
For road parking, Queensland follows the Australian Road Rules which are outlined in an earlier post:
Queensland adopted the Australian Road Rules many years ago. Before that it’s road rules were similar to the current Australian Road Rules.
As indicated above, unless there is specific signage for 90 degree parking it is up to the driver preference to whether to back in or drive in to a parking space.
How practical is it though?
Is it at likely there would be universal agreement?
Reversing directly into a standard car park space, how hard can it be? According to the driver’s licensing test haven’t we all demonstrated competency at a parallel reverse park? Evidently a more complex achievement.
With a near to 6m long road legal light vehicle it is just too awkward for the tighter parking spaces to access directly front in. With a vehicle in both the adjacent spots it takes at least 3 shuffles on the way in and 4 when backing out. Not my idea of fun. If it has to be all one way, I have my preference.
If I don’t reverse in, how can I possibly do the Batman Exit?? 
Welcome to the community @ybanens
Oh, to imagine there are still parking spaces able to accommodate a Batmobile. LSD? 
The other reason some councils stipulate parking “nose in” is that there may be shop fronts close to the parking or outside tables that would be subjected to the car exhaust if the car was reversed in.
