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.

My charging port is in back.

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

When parking i can get a good view of the immediate area, it's easy to spot pedestrians and oncoming cars. Pulling out is easy. If I have to back out I don't have such a good view. Yeah I get a look as I approach my car but by the time I sit down, click my seat belt, start the car, someone i didn't see could be coming along.

i don't drive, but reverse parking is the norm here in hk.

Depends on the car and the parking lot, for me. When I drive my mom someplace we use her van, it's easier for her to get in and out that way. This van has a shorter front end, and no backup camera to compensate, so I back in and pull out of spaces so I have better views as I'm moving.

When I drive my sedan with my wife and kids, I pull in to spaces and back out, because the sedan has a much longer front end and a great backup camera/radar alert system that makes backing out of spaces the safer option.

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

As everyone else has said, mostly convenience. Easier parking, quicker leaving, generally safer. If I'm early to work I'll "drive-through" an empty spot to park with the nose outwards. The rearview mirrors make it very easy to keep track of where your car is going.

Occasionally I've also managed to do some stupidly tight parking jobs where I literally had to climb out of the trunk :)

Because the front tires move when you turn the steering wheel and not the back tyres

I love parking closer to the car on my right, where the passe doors face one another. If everyone did this, there would be so much more room to get in and out of vehicles.

And yes, I'm aware that not all cars are single occupant... but too many of them are.

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.

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.

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.)

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.

I worked for a company that provided a car (incidentally a ‘benefit’ I will refuse in any future scenario).

They explicitly told us we had to back in to our parking spots whenever possible. They implied that some data they had showed it reduced accidents.

I work as a valet at a car dealership, and backing into spots makes it easier for people to just get in the vehicle and drive. The thing I find funny is that the sales team can't park worth a shit. They park crooked, can't back into spots, and they still have a sense of superiority when it comes to anything related to the operation of vehicles.

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

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.

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.

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.

Because I have worse visibility backing than going forward. There's a smaller chance that there's a kid suddenly walking into my parking spot than moving behind my car when exiting my parking space

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 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.

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.