<p>I prefer to back in or better yet, “pull through” so that I just drive through the spaces and am facing out in the other row. I do NOT like reversing out of spaces when I exit–too easy to miss short pedestrians or even smaller cars, especially in both my van & Volvo (both have blind spots). I am fortunate that I generally am parking when others aren’t. Have seen and experienced accidents when people are backing out of spaces and try to minimize those risks.</p>
<p>I always back into spaces when I have a rental car (and put a brightly colored paper on the dash). Otherwise. I’ve been known to completely blank out on what car I’m driving that day.</p>
<p>The last accident I was in, I was backing out of a space and another guy was backing into a space across the way and hit me. I think it was a little more his fault than mine, but in any event we were both pronounced 50% at fault.</p>
<p>This has long been a question for me so I appreciate the reasons put forth here. I guess I feel a little better but I still dont see the need for this in an office parking garage where traffic down the aisles is slow and there is NO reason for anyone to need to make a quick getaway. I sit and wait at least once or twice a week while someone takes 5 times as long to back in as it would take him to just pull in to the spot.</p>
<p>If it takes longer to back in - thus holding up others - it stands to reason that it will be quicker to pull out when leaving. Thus the net time holding up others would be the same.</p>
<p>I also really don’t like (OK, hate) people who back in. In my experience, invariably they do not center their cars/SUV’s and are way off to one side of the space. Generally, this means that I cannot get in on the driver’s side of my car (I’m slim) without becoming a contortionist. I have also been known to leave a pithy note to those who have backed in next to me. Do people really have to “get out of dodge” that quickly? Yes, when you back out of your space, you have to do it carefully…</p>
<p>I’m with you, barrons, but then I also drive a normal car, not a van/SUV/pick up. I can see there might be logical reasons for backing in, such as protecting items from view/theft. I will drive through a space to head out, but have never felt any desire/urge and more likely revulsion to backing into a spot myself. In my experience, it takes more time to back in than to back out. </p>
<p>We have backed one car in our garage, for the same reason cited above, putting passenger doors tightly against the outside wall so both of us could exit our vehicles. Fortunately, we have a very large garage now and don’t have to do it anymore. </p>
<p>What I really, really hate is these same people backing into a spot in a huge, wide open parking area with no traffic, full visibility, and they are the tallest thing around.</p>
<p>Often it’s actually easier to back into a space than pull forward. People who know how to use reverse and are comfortable using their mirrors when backing up rarely have a problem. For the record, I have seen plenty of drivers completely botch a parking job while parking head first.
I drive a minivan (don’t laugh, it’s paid for) and if I approach a space on my right, it’s easier to drive past and back in - takes ONE try - than to attempt to swing around and pull head in. When pulling head in, while in larger vehicle, often the driver ends up backing up and straightening out the wheels anyway.</p>
<p>I park head in while shopping, so I can access the back of my vehicle. Otherwise, I generally back in. It’s easier and safer.
PS - If you are not comfortable backing up in your vehicle, then practice.</p>
<p>I park frequently in two different municipal parking garages where backing in will is not allowed, and still find many cars backed in! I suppose when they start putting tickets on the windshields, it will stop. There are many concrete piers so “pulling through” is not possible there.</p>
<p>I don’t think it’s like a simple math equation where backing in first uses a little bit more time that is saved later by pulling out forward. Most people use a lot more time to back in than they would to back out later, and they do a poorer parking job. However, if you do it well, and you don’t leave anyone waiting, go ahead and back in first. Being a careful and considerate driver is the main thing.</p>
<p>My H was hit in a parking garage once by someone who backed up (in the main line) to pull into a spot. He leaned on his horn but the other driver kept coming and H couldn’t back up because he was in a long line of drivers. The other car was a higher vehicle and the bottom of it slid along the top of H’s hood, crumpling as it went. I hate it when drivers try to back up in a parking garage to pull into a “glory spot”, just keep driving!</p>
<p>If you are backed in, it is easier to see if it is clear to leave when facing forward in the driver’s seat, especially if the two vehicles next to you are big vans. However, it is harder to back into a small parking space than it is to drive head-in.</p>
<p>Of course, the easiest way to park, when the spaces are perpendicular with no barrier in between them, is to drive head-in and pull through to the space on the other side, so that you can later leave without having to back out.</p>
<p>A lot (if not most) of the parking lots/garages around here are one way and have slanted spots. So backing in would require a lot of maneuvering. Of course that doesn’t stop the random idiot who goes down the lane in the wrong direction (which makes pulling into the spot a problem).</p>
<p>Also, spots around here tend to be big, so if someone parks so close to my spot that I can barely open my door and squeeze in they need to be aware of the fact that I care more about getting into my car and getting out of there than I care about their paint job.</p>
<p>I am much better at backing in for tight spaces than driving forward. Not sure why that is, but for me, it works MUCH better. I try never to hold up traffic regardless. I am quite good at backing up and can nearly always do it in one try vs. sometimes several to get in forward and have to recenter.</p>
<p>Most of my accidents have been caused by backing up out of a parking place and not seeing something. But I park the “right way” in parking structures–I’m not very confident about my backing up into a parking stall skills…</p>
<p>himom, I’m the same in my car. I can back into a spot and be almost always perfectly centered on my first try without taking any extra time. Now if I was in my old car which i swear was just a camouflaged boat on wheels, I never would have been able to back that sucker into a spot, lol.</p>
<p>I take much less time backing into a spot than going into it forward and then it’s faster getting out. For some reason I just can’t pull forward into a spot without numerous maneuvers in and out. My husband on the other hand is no good going backwards which makes pulling out of a spot a bit time consuming.</p>
<p>To each his own. What bugs me is the guy who sits and waits for spot to open!</p>
<p>Good reason to back in : Sharing a parking ramp with foreign graduate students and post-docs who are not merely driving their first cars, but are driving for the first time ever as licensed drivers. They can be somewhat unpredictable. For example, some will drive quickly behind (and perpendicular to) a car that is already in motion, backing out. Over the years, I’ve observed quite a few such events in the ramps, while I was on foot, headed for my car. If you are backing in and driving forward out, then both times you are facing the other drivers while you are in motion. Also, it’s a bit safer when you are parking in areas with a lot of children darting around (at least until back-up video becomes a standard feature on cars). It’s not about saving time.</p>
<p>Minor correction: Well, ok, part of the time while you are backing in, you are looking behind you, not toward the front where there may be another driver. But behind you is the wall of the ramp, which will not do anything unpredictable.</p>
<p>The only problem with that approach is if someone else is planning on “pulling in” just as you are “pulling through”. Head on collision.</p>
<p>My very elderly great aunt backs into her own driveway every day. She lives on a very busy street in Cambridge and was once hit while backing out. After that, she promised her husband, before he died, that she would always back in. She told me that as she back in, she thinks of him and how much he loved her.</p>
<p>People backing in usually go slow because they can’t see very well behind them. People who have parked nose-in have to go slow when backing out because they can’t see very well behind them. I don’t see a big difference here. Either way everybody gets one slow step and one fast step.</p>
<p>Personally, I’m a nose-in guy, but I have noticed that the “pros” who park your car for you at a valet lot almost always back in.</p>
<p>I am one of the worst drivers in the history of the world and couldn’t possibly back into a spot. Which means that backing out of a spot is an ordeal for me, so if he knows that I’ll be driving my husband backs me into the spot so I can pull out face first. Don’t worry. I rarely drive.</p>