Automotive pet peeves

"ImmoralMinority" (araimondo) 01/20/2018 at 17:18 • Filed to: None

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 I feel irrational hatred for back in parking, and I feel it is a sign of assholery. I often wonder if the problem is me just being intolerant of others’ strange ways.

I also hate pickups that drive around with large tow hitches hanging off the back- I have nightmares about my car being fish hooked by one of those fuckers.

Maybe I am just an asshole.

Dr. Zoidberg - RIP Oppo > ImmoralMinority 01/20/2018 at 17:28

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You’re right about one thing: that IS irrational.

Highlander-Datsuns are Forever > ImmoralMinority 01/20/2018 at 17:33

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Backing in is okay in my book especially if you are not blocking anybody else in the parking lot trying to get around. For work we are supposed to back in all the time, it’s called first move forward policy. Most accidents in parking areas are caused when you back out of your spot and hit an adjacent car or a car you can’t see going by you.

Amoore100 > ImmoralMinority 01/20/2018 at 17:39

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I like backing in and those who do it for one reason: they’re almost never crooked since backing in gives you more directional control over the position of the vehicle; that, plus if you’re backing in you probably have the driving ability not to park crookedly. So yeah.

facw > ImmoralMinority 01/20/2018 at 17:40

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I’m not a huge fan. It seems silly to me to back into the place without much room instead of the one that has tons of space. Granted there are some situations (like on the edge of a busy road) where the fact the spacious area has moving vehicles in it makes back in parking better, but in a parking lot, people should be expecting cars backing out, and be prepared for it, and the fact the car backing out can’t see well.

ttyymmnn > ImmoralMinority 01/20/2018 at 17:41

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I am an inveterate back in parker. It’s easier to get into tight spaces with the trailing wheels steering, and it’s safer when leaving.

Cé hé sin > ImmoralMinority 01/20/2018 at 17:44

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Why in the wide world would anybody NOT park in reverse? I’ve twice been driven into my people who drove in and then backed out into me because they didn’t look all around them. If they had only parked like adults and then driven out with good visibility it wouldn’t have happened.

Cé hé sin > Highlander-Datsuns are Forever 01/20/2018 at 17:44

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Yes, happened to me twice so far.

SmugAardvark > ImmoralMinority 01/20/2018 at 17:47

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I always choose to back in to parking spots when reasonable to do so. It reduces the chances of an accident when leaving the parking spot. Plus, cars tend to be lower in the front. Accidentally scraping on a curb makes me sad. Now, “reasonable to do” means if I don’t have another car behind me, and I’m not obstructing anyone else. In those cases, I’ll just go nose-first.

As for trucks with tow hitches, meh. The alternative is that they always have a trailer, which seems somehow worse.

SilentButNotReallyDeadly...killed by G/O Media > ImmoralMinority 01/20/2018 at 17:48

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I back in. My T4 cab chassis is 6 metres long and the tailgate is well over 4 metres from my seat. Blind spots are many and turning circle is large. Australian car parks are not sized for F250s. So backing in means it’s easier to get away without risking impacts with fellow users of the carpark.

shop-teacher > ImmoralMinority 01/20/2018 at 17:53

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I back in to spots very frequently. With my truck having such a long wheelbase it is much easier, and often the only way, I can fit into a spot without a lot of back and forth shuffling.

Full of the sound of the Gran Fury, signifying nothing. > ImmoralMinority 01/20/2018 at 17:57

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I’m with you - I’m not a big fan of back-in parking either. I find that most people can’t seem to get it right, either parking at an odd angle or not centered and thus making other spots unusable (unless you, too, want to be an asshole), and it takes them too long to do it whilst simultaneously getting it hilariously wrong. Backing out of a parking space is not a particularly challenging task, at least IMHO. Maybe if people weren’t in such a hurry to back out of their space or others weren’t impatiently driving at ridiculous speeds in parking lots backing out wouldn’t be a collision problem.

Agreed with the hitches as well. Where I live it’s all street parking, and my poor car has taken numerous unnecessary hits because of this, even when I park nicely with plenty of space between vehicles. I found my rear bumper dislodged and scraped up one morning because someone dragged their car along the corner of mine instead of just backing up for a second or two, and I have a puncture in my front bumper from some asshole with a hitch. Even though they were hideously ugly, sometimes I miss the old 5 MPH bumpers of the ‘70s and ‘80s. Nothing could harm my old E21 320i, and I could bash things with that car as necessary without any indications of damage.

Back to my current neighborhood. There are two factors at work around here right now - lots of construction, so big-ass trucks belonging to people that don’t live around here and thus don’t give a damn about the neighborhood, and a revolving-door section 8 place next door with their assortment of beaters that they obviously don’t care about. This is the same house I’ve had issues with in the past where they would just toss their loose garbage out the window into a fenced off and locked area that nobody had access to, with everyone else suffering from the blight, smell and insects. Everyone needs a home, but to live in a neighborhood means to live in a society with others, and too many tenants there don’t seem to understand this.

pip bip - choose Corrour > ImmoralMinority 01/20/2018 at 18:02

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I prefer to back in as that way when you come back to the car I can get in and drive and not have to worry if there’s anyone behind when backing up

promoted by the color red > ImmoralMinority 01/20/2018 at 18:10

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I back in because the parking lot at work has lanes and spots so narrow that it’s PITA parking in any other direction. Not sure how people maneuvered their ‘60s-era cars in & out back when the facility opened.

CarsofFortLangley - Oppo Forever > ImmoralMinority 01/20/2018 at 18:11

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I never back in. I’m on your side

TheRealBicycleBuck > ImmoralMinority 01/20/2018 at 18:13

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Backing in does a couple of things for me. First, it’s easier to back a big vehicle into a space. It’s all about the angles. Second, it makes it much safer to leave the parking spot, especially if there are large vehicles parked on one or both sides. The first wreck in our Explorer was someone who backed out of a space and into the side of us. She just couldn’t see. In my car, I usually pull through from the other side, but I’ll back in if someone is parked in the opposite space.

As for the hitches, I guess I’m just used to them. They’re everywhere in the south (full disclosure: we had one for the Explorer and I have one for our Outback, but we don’t leave them on unless we’re actively towing). They’re awfully handy.

If only EssExTee could be so grossly incandescent > ImmoralMinority 01/20/2018 at 18:29

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How does backing in make someone an asshole?

deekster_caddy > ImmoralMinority 01/20/2018 at 18:44

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Here’s another reason to back in - getting the most out of your gas tank. You will use less gas by backing in while the engine is warm, and driving out forward when the engine is cold in a single move compared to doing a cold start, backing up, stopping, shifting to forward and accelerating again. It’s only a tiny bit, but if you are thinking about your gas milage it’s something that will make a difference.

jkm7680 > ImmoralMinority 01/20/2018 at 18:48

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None of this makes any sense, hah.

Backing in is much easier and when you are in a truck, it is much safer.

I have my trailer hitch on all the time because I can, and if somebody hits me it’ll fuck their shit up instead of mine.

smobgirl > ImmoralMinority 01/20/2018 at 19:08

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The only parking I back into is the driveway, because it scrapes terribly  otherwise.

Loading things into a hatchback is inconvenient when you can’t get the cart to the hatch.

Urambo Tauro > ImmoralMinority 01/20/2018 at 19:18

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I have way too many reasons to favor backing in to have any hatred (irrational or otherwise) towards the practice.

But I have noticed that since most rear overhangs are longer than front ones, anyone who is in the habit of resting their tires up against the sidewalk ends up blocking way too much of that walkway. (Frankly, nobody should be hanging any part of their car over the sidewalk, but where a front bumper can block up to about half of the sidewalk, a rear overhang will block even more.)

But all things being equal, as long as someone parks well within their own space, and exercises due caution while backing out, I couldn’t care less which way they were facing.

Eric @ opposite-lock.com > ImmoralMinority 01/20/2018 at 19:28

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If backing in (which I do every time except in some angle parking cases) is an asshole move, I don’t want to be a nice guy. I’ve been backing into spots all my life.

Last night in the parking garage with parallel spaces, every single Oppo backed into their spot. Most automotive enthusiasts do it as far as I’ve seen.

rillweid - Now with more TRD and less TDI > ImmoralMinority 01/20/2018 at 19:58

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I definitely prefer to back in for safety reasons. You are much likely to get hit going forwards pulling out.

I used to go to school at a place that required us to back in our cars. You would go crazy.

Nothing > ImmoralMinority 01/20/2018 at 20:00

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I back into my driveway, but only certain parking spots. Leaving a large sports event/concert, I’ll back in. Much easier to escape a crowd.

Every day driving, going to store, son’s hockey, etc? I always pull in, much easier to load/unload the truck.

Ash78, voting early and often > ImmoralMinority 01/20/2018 at 20:20

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I kind of feel you. If it’s an easy parking lot, I’m like “why did you bother?” And the back-in is usually aligned worse than nose-in. If they arrive early to a sporting event or difficult lot, no harm no foul. Backing out in those situations sucks.

And for those of us in no-front-plate states, backing in also has a vibe of shadiness to it.

Khalbali > ImmoralMinority 01/20/2018 at 20:31

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I’m totally on your side it drives me nuts. There’s some comedian who does a bit about how it’s always poor people with shitty cars that do it, in my experience it’s largely true, it just screams douche to me. At my last job I was literally the only person that didn’t back in, the guys were cool for the most part but they definitely fit a certain demographic

GLiddy > ImmoralMinority 01/20/2018 at 22:10

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I do the back in when I expect a large number of cars to be leaving at the same time, such as at church or concert or sporting event. I’ve found people to be very passive-aggressive at letting cars back out of a parking place when there is a lot of traffic. When people can only see the back of your head, then you’re at their mercy and they won’t let you out.

On the other hand if you are driving straight out of the spot, you can nose your way into traffic without much trouble. Whether its because you can be more aggressive in getting your nose into traffic, or that you can make eye contact and try the ‘can I get in please?’ pantomime, it really works better. I feel I have singlehandedly caused this to happen at my church (by my example). 4 or 5 years ago, I was the only person who backed into so I could get out quickly. Now its at least half of the congregation that does this. It works.

cmill189 - sans Volvo > ImmoralMinority 01/21/2018 at 00:48

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The VR is the only car that I have ever regularly backed into spots. It’s honestly easier much of the time. It has the turning radius of a small moon. Seriously, look it up. It’s like 46 feet. The average car is around 20.