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| Back in, or pull in front first?Experts argue that one method clearly reduces the probability of accidents upon departure. . |
Head First Or Back In To Park
Is It
Better to Back
In to a Parking Space?
BY CHRIS OPFER
Whether
it's cooking an egg, skinning a cat, or building an underground bunker to
prepare for end times, there is usually more than one way to do most things.
When
it comes to driving a car, for example, motorists tend to have some wildly
varying ideas about how to best get from Point A to Point B.
That's
not to mention timeless driving debates over how to occupy the far left lane on
a highway, when to turn on your lights, if you should pull over for a funeral
procession... and whether beef jerky or peanut M&Ms is the optimal snack
for a long drive.
Then
there's the question of what to do when you want to stop driving and leave your
car somewhere.
Many
motorists are united in their strict aversion to parallel parking, but how to
navigate other spots is still a source of some debate.
Is
it better to turn headfirst into a parking space? Or to take the time to park
backed in, facing out, in what some refer to as battle parking?
Think Safety
Buckle up for the answer - for
both safety and efficiency purposes, the experts say it's usually best to back
into a parking space.
That's
because having a wide field of vision is more important when you're pulling out
of a parking space than it is when you are pulling in.
"When
you back in, it's into a defined space where people are not likely to be,"
says Catherine Peterman, an
architect who has helped design parking lots across the United States. "When you pull out, you are pulling
into traffic and possibly into pedestrians."
Sure,
technological advances like rear side cameras and those sensors that make
beeping noises when you get too close to a person, another car or the
human-sized watermelon the neighborhood kids laid out in the driveway as a
prank help make backing out easier.
But
the affect those cameras have had on reducing accidents has been gradual, at
best.
Peterman
and Vanessa Solesbee, a spokesperson for the International Parking Institute,
say that's because backing out is still not as easy as driving out head first.
"There
are a lot more obstacles these days that you have to look out for, like bikes,
pedestrians, scooter and longboards," Solesbee says. "That
makes back-in parking more attractive, because you can see the traffic when you
pull out."
Design Debate
Peterman and Solesbee both
acknowledge that backing in to a parking space is often easier said than done.
New
or inexperienced drivers may feel uncomfortable trying to negotiate a prime
space backwards.
The
rest of us may simply feel pressure (or hear the shrieking honks) from traffic
as it piles up during the process, as backing in can take a few more seconds
than pulling in front-fender first.
That's
why Peterman recommends that drivers look for spots where the space in front of
you is also open so you can pull through.
"As
an architect, I'm trying to design for the safety of the pedestrian," she says. "Pulling
through is safer for them and easier for the driver."
Where
Peterman and Solesbee disagree is over how to best design parking spaces to
encourage drivers to back in.
Peterman
favors parking spaces oriented at 90-degree right angles; think of rectangles
like those seen in many shopping mall and other large lots and garages.
That's
partly because they are easier to pull through than angle spots. But it's also
because she says angle spots are simply too difficult for many drivers to try
to back into.
Solesbee,
however, counters that angle spots are the way to go for street and lot
parking, because they are more efficient and accommodate more cars, even if
they are tougher to back in to.
"There
are lots that do a really great job with signage, showing people that you need
to back into this space,"
she says.
Still,
convincing folks to back that thang up is going to take some time.
That's
especially true as smartphones, smart dashboards and other technological
advances within cars compete for drivers' time and attention.
"Backing
into a space in a big lot is not intuitive for most people at this time," Solesbee says. "We're
not becoming worse drivers, we're just paying attention less."
And
while the experts may say it's the way to go, not everyone is so quick to adopt
the practice.
The
Washington Post recently opened a floodgate of comments when it invited
readers to comment on their preferences.
"It's
a trend that irks me so much," wrote
one reader, while another vented, "It's
maddening to be blocked from parking by people who are carefully maneuvering to
fit the backs of their cars into tight parking spaces."
But then, one Washington Post
reader makes a practical point about jump-starting a car: "If you are nose-in and have vehicles
all around you, there is no way to jump-start unless you have a portable
jumper."
NOW THAT'S INTERESTING
The
first multilevel parking garage was built at Chicago's Hotel La Salle in 1918.
It was torn down in
2005, after being deemed too small and obsolete.
Chris Opfer
Chris Opfer has written about everything from
genetically-modified rats on the Galapagos Islands to Middle Eastern barbers
who use homemade flame throwers to cut hair. His work has also appeared in The
Atlantic, The Village Voice, New York Magazine, Pacific Standard and American
Way, among other publications. Chris is a graduate of James Madison University
and currently based in New York City.
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