Did I have enough space to reverse

I hate it. Been reduced to tears before in there! If there two small cars I can squeeze in but anything long like a Volvo and nope, not happening

That's a really poor car park!

It might need a bit of back and forth to get out but it is certainly doable. How close the two cars on either side of you were is more relevant and this affects your turning.

I don’t understand why posters are saying there is enough room? Are we looking at different diagrams ? A huge white van as described cannot fit into that triangular wedge, therefore the van would have been half hanging over or fully hanging over into the contraflow road, thus making OP exit v difficult.
if you’d have posted the actual van and your car photo relative to each other from the same aerial view, we’d have very different answers here.

It looks ok but I guess it’s deceiving sometimes as
this is the one I could not get into a space, reversing or not the other week. My dad has HGV driving experience and gave up so I took it as I wasn’t being pathetic!

Another one who thinks that you should have reversed in. According to the Highway Code, you are supposed to reverse in to a driveway/parking space and drive out. That is so you have less chance of hitting someone when driving out. These rules were probably written without reversing cameras/ sensors in mind but it so much easier to reverse in. At least you know you will be able to get out.

I used to deal with RTA claims. I can't recall any car park collision I dealt with which didn't involve at least one vehicle reversing out of a space. Reversing in is way safer.

I tend to park in a quieter spot, or one on an end so I can still access the boot when I've reversed in.

There’s more than enough space to reverse out. The van was parked on the pavement so you had the whole road to get out the space. Even if you had cars either side of you there’s loads of room. What kind of car are you driving!
parking sensors are handy but the alter perception. You have to be confident and know the size of your car even with sensors in tight spaces the sensors can be beeping like mad but you still have about 1-1.5ft of space to play with

i always reverse park unless im doing a food shop and need access to the boot. Its far easier to drive out a space and actually easier to get into the space as well if its tight as you have room to manoeuvre

There’s a reason every car in that photo has reversed into a space. However, it looks like loads of room to reverse out.

Looks enough space, even if you had to do 3 point turn forward and back type manoeuvres to do so

There’s more space there than I have every day to get in and out of my driveway, with cars parked opposite on a fairly narrow road. I’ve got a small van and manage perfectly well, just takes a bit of forwards and backwards manoeuvre.

I could be wrong but I think if you were hit whilst reversing out of a bay, you'd automatically be at fault, regardless of any other circumstances. They teach you to reverse into a bay and test it during the driving test for good reason.

Absolutely plenty of space to reverse out given the image you've shared. Why have you added 3 red dots for where you were? Had you parked over multiple bays?

No
the green dots are not a space, it’s a thin wedge, so the big white van must have taken up most of the road too so that traffic on the road would have to move over to the other side of the road to get around the van.
it’s not a you problem, it’s a him problem.

You do realise you’ve set a very high bar for parking diagrams now! Nothing less will suffice…

Any time I see some say this.. it just shows that generally they aren’t a confident driver, and don’t get that reverse parking is generally safer, unless of course you need boot access.

to answer your question it does look like you should have enough room to reverse or drive out though… unless you have an extra long car?

Reeversing is actually easier because you are using your front wheels to steer so the front end can swing out as you reverse in and not cause any damage. You can use your mirrors as well to judge the distance from the cars either side which you can't driving in forward. Reversing out you need to reverse further out before you start steering as your wing will swing out and damage the car next to you. Driving forwards you can start to steer earlier so need less space plus of course the safety aspect that you have clear and visibility of passing pedestrians and cars. It's simple...it's easier and safer.

Was this you OP?

https://www.facebook.com/share/r/1C97YTu5J9/

Lolz far more space to swing round tho. If you can't fathom that it kinda explains why you didn't have the skills to reverse out.

Yes.

I’m going against the grain here because I’d say no. If the van wasn’t in a proper parking bay and was overhanging the kerb into the road then it’s likely there wasn’t space to safely reverse out, especially if there were cars parked each side of you, so you’d need to move quite far out into the road before turning.

And it wouldn’t make any difference if you’d reversed in - you just would have been more comfortable without having to twist your neck all angles before coming to the conclusion that no, you don’t have enough space.

Easier from a physical position as you are whole body ia facing the way you want to go.

And yes it may be a 100 point turn but if you could use both doors you would have gotten out once you have enough room to pull out to about the mid point of your car.

Totally off the point of the reverse park/forward park is there/isn't there enough room......?

Why was the Van parked there ?
It wasn't a space , it's a pavement .
If he ( Van Driver) scoffed at me for not being able to get out of a space I'd think "Yeah , cheers but I'd sooner not take driving tips from someone who cannot tell the difference between a Parking Bay and a Pavement"

With some muttering under my breath for good measure .

There is plenty of space.

I suspect that you only like reversing in straight lines rather than turning while reversing. You would even be asking about the van if that wasn't the case.

Yes, it's far better reverse into a space that out of one. It gives you a better opportunity to see where you are going and you also have more control as a result.

The van isn't the problem here.

I would win ‘shit parker of the year award’, only to be eclipsed by my DD who would take out ‘mega shit parker of the century’ award. From the diagram provided we could both get out of that spot.

PS - I have been known, not uncommon, when driving, to get DH or DS’s or friends to swap and take over the driving seat for parking in/out purposes, or to navigate the tight up/down ramps in parking stations. Not proud of that, but is what it is.

Surely it's the same amount of space as any road with parking spaces on both sides? Or a wall or whatever on the opposite side. It looks like absolutely ample room.

My husband and I have just watched in disbelief at the supermarket as a man reversed into the space next to us at a glacial pace, despite having an empty bay on the other side of it. It took so many adjustments for him to get it. A lady then tried to swing forward into one of the two spaces behind us, drove pretty much down the line separating the two spaces then gave up and drove off. I don't think I'm a perfect driver by any means but in demonstrating that level of difficulty parking, I really question if both should have been on the road at all.