Ask Lemmy

I don't drive, but the way I've always heard it is because people care more about leaving quickly than arriving quickly.

Unless I am going to be putting stuff into the trunk, backing in is better, it's more dangerous to back the car out of the space than into it.

Backing in is the correct way to parallel park too.

Obviously so everyone knows I'm better than them

My backup camera has little lines that show where I am backing up and change as I turn. So that combined with the 360 camera I will know exactly how I will fit in a parking spot. Also makes getting out faster since im usually an early bird to places.

fwiw, I've parked trailers for a living for 10+years--I do it out of habit and a work ethic of 'put the work in on the front end so I can backslide on the tail end' Tho I can see a practicality/safer attempt to having a better view upon departing the parked position. Obviously if you'd like to get into the geometry of it, backing in gives you a much wider range of flexibility to work with in the positioning phases of the maneuver.

Not sure if it's true. but I was also told that changing gears on a transmission that's been running for a bit is easier on the mechanical parts/bits involved (as opposed to swapping gears on a cold startup)

tldr because there's tons of good reasons to do so, and very nearly 0 good reasons not to do so. Leave the rest to the mathematicians and statisticians

Backing into a parking bay where the amount of traffic in the bay is close to zero and visibility is great allows you to drive out into the street facing forward where you can see what traffic is coming.

If you drive forward into a bay then you have to back out of it into the street where you cannot see anything except what's directly behind you and you have little to no visibility sideways, unless the bays next to you are empty, so essentially you're backing out with your fingers crossed, hoping that nothing will hit you.

Moreover, the traffic rules, at least where I live, specify that a reversing vehicle has to give way to everyone.

As a bonus, when you're loading things, you're not standing in the street with your back to traffic.

In other words, learn how to back into a bay.

1. People/oncoming cars/kids are more likely to be in the road than in the spot I’m parking
2. I have better visibility when I’m facing forward than when I’m in reverse

Therefore I would rather reverse into the spot where people/cars/kids are least likely to be and drive forward into the place people/cars/kids are most likely to be. I personally almost always back in to be safer towards pedestrians and avoid getting hit by other cars.

Because I drive a truck so backing in and pulling out is just easier

In Australia, you're considered at fault for reversing accidents. Backing out is riskier.

It's just easier to get out, you even have to park like that when taking the exam.

When you are approaching a parking spot you're already looking everywhere and can find obstacles as you back in. If you drive into a parking spot backing out may have issues because you may not have seen obstacles that would be in the way. We are not always as observant approaching our vehicle as we are when we have already been driving it. Plus, it's a whole lot easier to get back out of the parking spot if you can just drive away.

I first learned how to drive on these old pickup trucks at a summer camp I worked for as a teenager.

The nice old fella who maintained the trucks (and who, not incidentally, taught me how to drive) said to do it that way and would get disappointed if you didn’t.

So, I guess it’s because I first learned it that way, but also because I don’t want to disappoint Alan (who may or may not be dead by now, I’m not sure.)

For years, I worked in a large building that required all employees and visitors to back in for a few safety reasons, with approximately 600 spaces and an almost full lot most weekdays. It was stated in our safety training that it was easier to see other people and vehicles when exiting facing forward and faster evacuation in times of extreme emergency. It had the benefit that it did seem to quicken flow of traffic when everyone left around the same time at the end of the day.

If a parking spot is straight, I tend to back in for those reasons, but if it is an angled spot, it typically denotes a singular directional flow, and it makes more sense to pull in and back out.

Easy and safe.

Easier to get in Easier to get out Safer (was trained to do it) Why do you pull in forwards?

I'm going to guess that I'm in the minority here and say that I daily a long bed Ford F-250. It's big, it's long, and it's just generally unwieldy. Yes there are benefits to backing into a parking spot like better visibility and blah blah blah but for me it's actually more about just being able to get in and out of the parking spot. Especially in narrow parking lot aisles. Backing into a spot takes less room, because, idk, geometry. Similar to why a forklift steers with its rear wheels and that makes it more maneuverable (albeit less stable).

Though there is also the benefit of the tailgate and bed of the vehicle being less accessible and therefore less likely for someone to just walk off with something, if there's anything back there. My mom had the tailgate stolen off her Toyota once back in the 90s. I assume she pulled forward into the parking spot.

Besides that it is safer, I don't hit my front splitter on the curb.

I'm blind in one eye so find it hard to judge distances and gaps. As a result I find it easier to back in, especially if I am doing it between two parked vehicles, because I can judge it more easily using my wing mirrors.

imo it doesn't matter if you have the kei car. they are very manueverable. also the introduction of backing cameras make things safer.

things change once you get into the bigger cars / pickups.

I think driving forward is easier, so on days that I’m feeling good I back in, that way in the morning I have a little something to be happy about.

1. When I'm coming home, I'm usually in less of a rush than when I'm departing. I can reverse into my spot as quickly as backing out when leaving, so it's a tiny trade for time.

2. My truck bed faces away from the street.

3. Makes loading/unloading easier and more private from prying eyes.

I guess it depends on the kind of places where you are parking. Where I am, we usually have big open parking lots with lots of space. I rarely ever back into a space, because backing in is more difficult than backing out. However if you are in more of a congested city or something, and the spots are narrow and you have a lot of cars moving around, then the situation flips and it can be more difficult to back out of the space than to back in.

Our driveway is bizarre.

Yeah, it fits 2 cars, but not side-by-side. So one person backs into park, then gets parked in by the other car.

Generally not a big deal because I drive more than my wife does.

The shape of the driveway makes it easier for that car to back in than back out.

My boss apparently backs his truck into his parking space every morning out of a combination of overabundance of a caution and the reduced turning radius while in reverse. Well, he did he did up until I pointed out to him that mostly what this accomplishes for him is making it irritating to load anything into his truck... Which is, not to put too fine a point on it, what we do all day around here.

Our parking lot is very quiet, private only us and the other tenants in our building, has no random pedestrians, and cross-traffic isn't an issue.

Some people think, but for the wrong reasons.

I swear part of it is regional. In the mid-Atlantic region - low volume lot, perpendicular spaces, maybe 1/2 full at max - you can watch people spend minutes faffing around to back into a spot.

I drive a large pickup truck for work. With the backup camera, it is WAY WAY WAY easier to back into a tight spot than to pull head in. I pretty much always back the truck in.