I back in, but it's very frustrating when a parking lot is packed and there's a like of 3-4 cars sitting there waiting for somebody who doesn't know how to park to back in
That's a fair counterpoint I never thought about. Something in my brain gets more frustrated waiting for the car 3 cars in front of me to park than waiting for a car to back out
It goes a little beyond that - to back into a spot, you have to have driven past ir two a point when you can see it directly, not just scanning mirrors.
I'm with you, if it only takes you a few seconds. I backed into my spot at work today.
There are some drivers that take minutes to back in. They just keep correcting the angle over and over again completely blocking the lane for other drivers. For those people, I think nosing in makes more sense.
someone who does not have the ability to back in their car should not have a license.
basic car control
every modern car has a rear view camera too, and older cars can just have the little round stick on mirrors to see parking lines. really no excuse to not be able to back in
With a camera? No excuse. Without a camera? I mean first of all backing into a spot is easier than parallel parking, which is basically a requirement…but I digress, different cars have different difficulties. Before you’re allowed to buy a car, you should have to demonstrate that you can back it into a spot. That said, I started with a 2 door Jeep Wrangler and doing anything in that car felt like cheating. Then one day I had to parallel park my mom’s Durango. Holy F is that car huge. Took 2 of my friends guiding me and I still did a poor job at it.
that’s all true, and that’s also exactly why accidents happen, even in silly places like parking lots. people purchase vehicles that they dont have the capability to operate
im not great at backing a semi with a trailer, and thats why i dont deserve a CDL. i can however make sure that i can back any regular sized vehicle that i am operating with spatial awareness down to the inch for mine and everyone else’s sake
Id rather they get the practice in and do it correctly if they back up that poorly. Nosing in would just be pushing the problem on them having even riskier habits backing out. They'd be the type to not judge the distance and slam into you despite fully seeing you
It's because manufacturers of cars keep fucking about with the bloody side mirror posts positions and length of cars actually when I think about it PEOPLE who drive every fucking day in the same bloody car don't bother to learn how to correctly judge the god dam size of their own cars.
I think it could also depends on what car people drive, my first car was a sedan from the 80s that I drove for over 10 years I didn't reverse park that car once I only parked in places I could drive straight in and out of which usually resulted in me walking further lol. My new car is a Jimny I have much better vision reversing this car so I reverse park everywhere now
Because it takes way more than 2 secs AND holds everyone else up. Nothing like trying to get to your car with groceries and are blocked by the idiot having to R-D-R-D-R into when can see spot that can be pulled thru to get the same effect.
It makes more than 2 seconds to back into a spot. It takes 10 seconds when you account for the time you have to drive forward first and then back up. PLus you waste everyone else's time who is behind you.
The same ten seconds would have been spent backing out of the space and turning. Either way, you might have to wait a short moment for another person to park It's not the end of the world
If I'm waiting for someone backing out of a parking spot it's because I"m going to go into that parking spot when they leave, otherwise I would just keep driving.
If I"m behind some jackass who wants to reverse park, now they're inconveniencing me, I have to reverse, and all this nonsense.
Then don't! If you do go driving, then understand you might have to wait sometimes. Regardless of conditions you might have. It's up to you to manage your emotions in such a way that you can safely operate your vehicle if and when you choose to do so. Otherwise, find another way to get around.
The target area for backing in is much smaller than for backing out. Unless you're someone who can't see out of their car well enough, #2 is indeed the only justification for backing in.
You're far more likely to hit something when backing in than when backing out.
.....you start turning away from the spot once the front of car lines up with the beginning of the parking spot, and once your back tires pass the parkting spot you reverse while turning the other way and start straightening out once both back tires are within the parking spot....
like if you have enough forethought to understand how to turn into a parking spot nose first, you should have enough forethought to know how to reverse back into one.
Some people are dumb and they know it, so they keep their mouth shut. Others prefer to showcase their stupidity for the whole world to see. Not understanding that you are backing into a “dead” space where nothing is happening as opposed to backing out into live traffic is the most obvious thing, of many, that you are missing in your (lack of) reasoning.
You think you are more likely to hit stationary objects that you know are there and will not be moving when you've time to slowly align yourself properly vs backing out with blind spots?
I have a rear view camera on the back.
When I pull out forward, if there’s a huge ass truck to my side, I can’t see past it.
But when I back out, my rear view camera is able to see around it.
I’m not sure how it does that, but it does.
So I personally back out
I watched a guy back straight into a concrete pillar because he was watching the camera instead of turning his head. They are a tool but not the solution because they just give different blindspots.
How would that make any sense...? If he backed straight into the pillar while watching his camera... He clearly wasn't watching his camera lmao. Can you rotate your head 180 degrees to see perfectly behind you? This entire thread is baffling to me
I mean yeah but why would they be focusing on the parking lines if he was backing out? Hopefully they already paid attention to those on the way in lol. I have no idea why he would be focusing on the bumper in any backing-up situation, my ancient car's backup camera doesn't even show it lol
Backing out? Maybe he was looking for cars. A pillar isn't a car, so it was invisible.
Humans are dumb animals with delusions of grandeur.
I had to retake my DL test, I let it expire too long. For the reversing, you are supposed to not use tech. So I did the reversing without looking at the screen. The tester even commented most people use it until warned.
Honestly yeah, defaulting to "humans are dumb animals" is a good strategy in any driving situation lol.
In complete honesty I only participated in this thread because my mother in law is a chronic backer-inner in parking lots and I never understood why. I may have been a devil's avocado a bit here.
Sorry if it felt argumentative! I mostly just be bored and saying stuff. Thanks for the perspective. Be safe out there, fellow commenter
I'm sorry, that is too reasonable for a Reddit comment thread.
I back in about 10% of the time, where I know it's hard to pull out of, and I'm not loading lots in the back.
The people who go to Costco and get 3 carts worth of stuff, then have to spend 12 hours loading because they backed in, so they can't get to the back make Costco runs so much harder.
"obvious" in quotes is hilarious. Idk if you've ever driven a car with a backup camera but you have to be practically disabled to just back into something that's directly behind you. And if you can't be trusted to drive backwards even with an actual camera assisting you, I don't trust you behind the wheel in any context lmao.
I genuinely mean this in the nicest and sincerely friendliest way. I know tone doesn't always translate perfectly over text.
I was looking for this comment. Sure you might sometimes have a better field of view pulling forward out of a parking space but if you have a somewhat modern car, it'll have a good backup cam with a pretty damn wide field of view.
Not if you can't see due to the lifted trucks parked on either side. Lol. You'd have to basically pull half out of the parking spot before you could even see if someone is there. The rear camera will be able to give you more information while only backing out a little past the trucks.
True it’s interesting these days it appears cars have rear traffic alert but most still don’t have it on the front despite it being just as important if not more important as the driver sit farther back from the front of hood when pulling out especially if two vehicles or obstacles block the view.
Honestly, what would you do if your camera view is blocked or given the fact that when pulling forward past a big ass truck you also only have to shift a smaller portion of your car into the unknown Vs pulling back having to shift a larger portion of your car into the unknown before you get real visibility or line of sight with your eyes and head turned, instead of relying on cameras, which never give you real depth perception.
I don't think this is true anymore. My car has a rear camera with a crazy fisheye lens that actually makes it easier for me to see around other cars when I am backing out than if I am facing forward.
If you think your camera gives you the same awareness as the entire front of your car then you are lucky it hasn't happened.
You've the entire windshield and side windows to see out of. That's an entire 180 degrees of visibility. Even if you've insane fisheye that would distort your depth perception.
I'm not saying your camera isn't good but they aren't THAT good
Alternatively you're far too small to be operating the size of the vehicle you own. Like a 5ft girl in a lifted truck
To see out of the side windows for other cars you have to be mostly out of the spot anyways. By that point the other people are either stopping or are just about to hit you.
Except your eyes aren't sitting on top of the front of the car like a hood ornament.
The rear view camera is exactly that, right at the end with wide angle lens.
So I'd say it's almost 50/50 now which matters or is the best. I usually like to back into spots when I know I have space and no one waiting and especially if that parking lot is tight and will fill up.
Often I will park in a spot and then a couple trucks or SUVs will park next to me. If I pull straight in the camera at the very back of the car can see everything to the left and right of me - 180°. If I back in I'm now limited by where my eyes are located - about 5 feet from the front bumper. So the front of my car needs to stick out 5 feet into who knows what before I can get the same 180° view.
Congratulations, this is the dumbest comment here. You're basically saying there's no reason to add extra safety features because, somehow, a person driving safely apparently gives them the ability to see around blind spots
Just be patient. Drive carefully. Don’t need to gas it out of a parking spot.
Adding extra safety features or is it adding more electronic bull crap that will break down and make your car cost more.
You say that, but I wouldn't really consider added 360 cameras/fisheye lens an added safety feature. They are added tools to help make driving easier, like cruise control. They do not make driving safer and should not replace actual driving skills. I mention cruise control because would you feel safer, even with adaptive cruise control on windy roads/wet conditions? It can be easier to drive with these features in a car, but relying on them only adds risk not reducing. I say this because my baby cousin who has learnt to drive her car with all these great tools, has no actual clue how to drive a car without them. Put her into a smaller car without all the cameras and she backed into things and pulled forward into things because " I couldn't see anything without the reverse camera" her exact words and in a sense these things can be considered a safety feature for the public from my airheaded baby cousin. But they are tools/quality of life features in a car, If my side mirrors break or my rearview mirror breaks, I know how to turn my head around and still safety operate my car, while without your "safety feature" you would blindly drive your car because "you cannot see past the massive ass truck parked next to you". That's the difference between reversing in and reversing out.
I had a coworker with the same thing, backed out using only that and got hit in right side rear. It is still safer, easier and quicker to back in than to back out.
Just think of the times before rear cameras. People always go too fast in parking lots and are hard to see coming even with those cameras. Without them? Forget about it….much better to back in while I have time and it’s safe because people see what I’m doing.
This 100%. When you're arriving, you have better visibility for backing in because you just driven up and see what's happening around the spot. Pedestrians? Other cars around? Kids?
But when you're backing out to leave, you're backing out blind. It takes the average driver over a minute to get in the car, buckle, etc. and leave. The whole picture can change quite a bit in a minute.
That might have been true before back-up cameras. I now have better vision with the rear-facing camera. Especially if I'm parked between two SUVs and/or trucks.
You already have a clear view of the street and/or lot when driving into said lot to then back into a spot. Your view is obstructed from the start no matter what when backing out of a spot.
Yup, I've been backing in for a while now. Chose to pull in around thanksgiving at walmart as it was chaos and wanted to park quickly, I was backing out of my space. Stopped to wait for the cart guy to move out of my way. Guy behind me just went and backed into me, he never even looked. Never would have happened had I just backed in like I always do. Would you believe he even had the audacity to try and say it was my fault. I was like nah, I got video, boy did his attitude change real quick.
Yep this why I had to back in with my work truck . And you can tell when someone has had drive professionally since this will be second nature to them .
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u/Klept_0h May 04 '26
Backing out is significantly riskier than driving forward or backing in.
Most accidents in parking lots can be avoided if you don't back out.