Why do people back into spaces in parking lots?

Have we beat this topic to death yet?

To be sure, it is a Soapbox full of opprobrium.

sac said:
Have we beat this topic to death yet?

 We can't seem to back out of it.

bub said:

sac said:
Have we beat this topic to death yet?

 We can't seem to back out of it.

 LOL!

I backed into a space this morning...  in a massive office complex.  nobody was waiting, nobody was inconvenienced and did not see drummerboy anywhere in sight.  

drummerboy said:

Tom_Reingold said:

And just because it's harder to back in does not make a good argument against it. If it's too hard for you, please practice and get better at it so that it's not too hard for you. If you can't learn to back into a spot without hitting a fixed object, you shouldn't be driving a car. Try an easier vehicle.

 Even if you're good at it, it will take several times more time to back in than to pull in. That makes it disruptive to the normal traffic flow in the lot, and is therefore wrong.
Safe driving is all about drivers behaving in predictable and non-disruptive manners. Backing in is neither of those things. People who do it are inconsiderate of their fellow drivers.
This reminds me of another situation that makes me crazy. Under the guise of being "considerate", sometimes people will stop in the middle of the road to let someone out of a driveway. It's one of the most asinine moves imaginable. It's one thing if traffic is at a crawl already, and you don't move forward so as to let someone in. That's courtesy. But to stop a normally flowing lane of traffic to let someone in is nuts.

Several times? You're exaggerating.

But yes, if there's traffic, it is inconsiderate to back in and make people wait. I do back in only when I'm not making people wait. But you were saying it's easier to head into a parking spot, but now you're saying it's more inconsiderate. It is not much easier, as I showed, and it is more dangerous, as I showed.

I also agree that stopping in front of a driveway and stopping traffic is asinine.

A couple of blocks from where I live in Manhattan, we have reverse angle parking. This is on the north side of Christopher St between Washington and Greenwich Sts. If Manhattanites can manage it, Maplewoodians can manage it.

@mrincredible summed up the thread pretty well. And @sac has the most well-considered thoughts on the matter.

spontaneous said:
If there is room to back out of a spot, then there is room to back into a spot.  And backing in is only illegal if the lot has signage saying head in only


I’m not even entirely convinced that your post wasn’t an attempt at sarcasm 

 not at all

mrincredible said:
 No debate. I do it correctly. Nobody else does.   

 except for me

mrincredible said:
It's funny how this argument reflects so many political and social arguments. 
Someone starts off with a statement that a particular behavior is bad and detrimental, in large part an emotional reaction to being inconvenienced.
Counter arguments are made, including some study data which show there is a benefit overall to the behavior.
The counter arguments are completely rejected based on the fact that the original arguer's personal experience and perspective are the only factors which matter. Not even the slightest acknowledgement that the opposing viewpoint has any validity. 
(Also note the very first response to the original post was some knucklehead just poking the OP for a cheap laugh. Typical troll behaviour.)

 interesting

I always back into a space unless there is specific signage indicating it's forbidden. The other day I was parallel parking and car pulled up on my bumper, there was a long standoff and long line of traffic when bumper rider decided to back up a little and go around. I have to learn how to parallel park head first someday   

the18thletter said:
I always back into a space unless there is specific signage indicating it's forbidden. The other day I was parallel parking and car pulled up on my bumper, there was a long standoff and long line of traffic when bumper rider decided to back up a little and go around. I have to learn how to parallel park head first someday   

 I've had that happen to me a couple times. I stop in front of a space with my blinker on, the car behind be pulls up next to the space and sits there.....i have to wonder how people remember to breathe when they seem to be lacking something.....

I didn't get a chance to read all of the posts above, but I did read the intial posts.  I held off from posting back then so I could take some time to observe how often people back in, and the impact it had on the surrounding traffic.  I also wanted to see how often I back in.  I did this at crowded stores such as Shoprite, restaurant depot, and Home Depot. 

Less than 5% of the cars actually backed in to parking spots.  The few times I saw traffic backing up (no pun intended) it was because the driver of the car backing in was incompetent and had no business  being  behind the wheel.  

As for me....I do not have a preference, I do whatever is easiest/safest at the time.

 Example:  If there isn't much vehicle/pedestrian traffic at the time, I will back in to a spot.  My reasoning....if I can do it safely now with little to no traffic I will eliminate the hazards of backing out of a spot later, when there might be a lot more traffic.

I don't get the issue here, you have to back up at some point.   Back in - pull out later, pull in - back out later.  If traffic gets jammed up because you backed in, why wouldn't traffic get jammed up because you backed out?

i rarely have to back up at any point...I park further down the lot where I can pull through and be facing out for when I leave.  About a year ago, I saw an idiot looking at her phone walk right toward a car that had started backing out of the space before she entered the travel lane...she walked out from between 2 cars and headed straight for the car backing out.....another time the cart collector left some carts right behind my car..only a few so they weren't sticking out the side (as he walked off elsewhere to get more carts.  I couldn't see them as my car is high....I backed into them, lucky I was going very slow and it was only a small scratch...

Luckier it was just a cart and not a person.  Some lots are just too small and packed all the time.  Shoprite in Union is a perfect example.   This is one of the places I would pull in if there was any traffic  The spots are so narrow you might have to make 3-4 attempts to back in straight.  

I totally agree about the foot traffic in the driving lanes.   These people presumably parked their car in the lot, so you would think they would be a little more attentive to the cars backing up since they are going to be faced with the same situation when they are done shopping. 

It was the Unique thrift store by the Union Shoprite that was another issue...I had pulled in forward, but not through, so I had to back out...but when I got back to my car, there was a huge cargo van next to me with no way to see around it.....i sat and waited for it to move, it was too unsafe to back out.

drummerboy said:
This makes no sense to me. Yes, it's easier to just pull out of the space, but if you add up the difficulty of pulling in + backing out, vs backing in + pulling out, you are definitely losing out. It's so much harder to back into a space than to back out of a space, that it makes no sense to try and do the former. And because backing in is harder, it's more disruptive to parking traffic, especially in a garage. You're ostensibly trying to make your life easier, but you're actually making your life, and everyone else's, harder.

It's a lose lose situation.

So STOP IT!
Thank you.
(The only exception is if you're driving one of those ridiculously large pickup trucks or SUV's, in which case it might possibly make sense, except that it is negated by the fact that it makes no sense that you're driving such a hulk in the first place, so you're wrong anyway and still deserve my approbation.)

 Dummerboy,

People do it to get under your skin.  There a conspiracy against you.

tjohn said:

drummerboy said:
This makes no sense to me. Yes, it's easier to just pull out of the space, but if you add up the difficulty of pulling in + backing out, vs backing in + pulling out, you are definitely losing out. It's so much harder to back into a space than to back out of a space, that it makes no sense to try and do the former. And because backing in is harder, it's more disruptive to parking traffic, especially in a garage. You're ostensibly trying to make your life easier, but you're actually making your life, and everyone else's, harder.

It's a lose lose situation.

So STOP IT!
Thank you.
(The only exception is if you're driving one of those ridiculously large pickup trucks or SUV's, in which case it might possibly make sense, except that it is negated by the fact that it makes no sense that you're driving such a hulk in the first place, so you're wrong anyway and still deserve my approbation.)

 Dummerboy,
People do it to get under your skin.  There a conspiracy against you.

 hmm. so you've noticed it too?

gotta say.  I noticed someone doing this in the parking lot behind lorenas and I found myself thinkin.  wtf is wrong with this guy.