AIBU to wonder why people park next to lone cars?

Maybe do some parking practice in an empty car park?

I like the paint on my car, I'm fed up with getting my doors bashed.

Also I have GTPS (very painful hip condition) so I park at a distance to any other cars, so I can open my car door fully & swing both legs out together, which helps not trigger the pain. Then some twat parks right next to my car door . Go away you mongoose!

I do try to park in an end space, but these often have a curb & that is very painful to try to get out the car & up on the curb.

For a separate issue I have a blue badge, but I rarely use it so the disabled spaces are free for people who need to get wheelchairs out or physically assist others to get out of the car.

a little thought into the fact someone has chisen to irk at a distance & some consideration would go a long way.

Owning a car must be agony for you. I feel sorry for you 🤣

Because some people are weird, with no self-awareness, OP.

They must be the same people who plonk themselves down within three feet of you on an otherwise sparsely populated beach, choose the seat right next to you on the Tube when half the seats have no-one around them, and commandeer the seats right in front of yours in a quarter-full cinema.

No sense of personal space or etiquette.

As for being incapable of parking between lines, a retest should be mandatory, that’s shocking. How dangerous must they be when driving?! And I say that as someone who isn’t the best driver, but certainly can line up between lines when moving super slowly.

I do this all the time. My reason is I drive a van (a vw transporter for size ref) and have to reverse into a space to make life easier for myself pulling out again. It’s far easier to reverse into a bay when I’m lining up against another car and can see it from my mirrors and hear my reversing sensors beeping. Much trickier when a car park is empty and I have nothing to line up against. I can only think this is the reason others do it. Unless they are out to get you. Must admit it never crossed my mind that anyone would be annoyed by it.

YANBU except for when I did this recently having turned up very early for a soft play session, in a car park with no lines that always gets rammed. I didn't want to accidentally take up space inefficiently knowing other parents end up having to park elsewhere where you shouldn't really park at all.

A wonderful rational response

I'm sure some people think they're supposed to file in row by row and close the gap like at school assembly.

Vitriol? 🤨

I find it easier to reverse into a bay next to a car, so I tend to park next to a car in a semi full car park. If it was completely empty, I wouldn't do it though.

I would expect those people to park in the bigger bays or on the end of a row to be honest, just like I usually do. The level of vitriol over such a non issue is bizarre.

its the same people who like to sit next to you on an empty bus

I find it really annoying. I park in a virtually empty car park and come back and hour later with a car parked so close I can barely open my driver door.

Do you ever consider why people have taken the trouble to park at the back of an empty car park?

It’s often because they need more space to get their doors open. Why would you inconvenience them when you have other choices?

YANBU, it's twatty incompetence tbh.

Yoi find it odd that people are bothered by not bring able to.open the doors properly for young children, elderly relatives, disabled passengers etc?

I find it easier to park next to another car, instead of in a vast empty row.

It would also make me nervous walking back to a car parked alone in the middle of nowhere. Safety in numbers mentality I guess.

I find it odd that people are so bothered by it.

Are people really admitting they can only park if they have another car to guide them? People with driving licenses and everything?

If someone has parked neatly I often park next to them as it’s a known quantity. So many people park like arseholes so you can barely open the car door when you return to the car. I also like to park in the same places otherwise I forget where the car is.

I can't even read your full post as I was annoyed for you from just reading the title. People will defend it saying it helps their parking etc...it's weird, end of. Same as those who would try and sit beside you on an empty bus or the next table in a cafe when all the others are free. Ain't nothing as strange as folk.

This is literally Dh. If presented with a mostly empty car park, he panics and will drive around like 3 times unable to decide which of the 50 spaces to park in and then he gets flustered and either parks next to the one car that’s there or he parks in like the furthest possible spot in the back. It’s become a joke now. It’s really annoying. It’s just because he’s offered too many choices and it like fries his brain. 😩

Completely agree OP. I have car seats and small children so often seek out empty rows at the back when the parent and child bays are all full. Hate when someone comes up next to me because if I've removed the infant seat, sometimes I can't physically get it back in. Also, I think I must be the opposite to most people here in that I find it easier to park in a row of empty bays than inbetween cars. I prefer to reverse in as I hate reversing out and doing so between two cars is infinitely more stressful as there's the risk of a bump, especially when other cars are waiting. I should say I've never actually bumped into someone's car (touch wood!) but there's always the fear of doing so!

I honestly don't see how it's difficult to drive into an empty parking space?! Bizarre

If it’s about safety, you can park near someone without parking immediately next to them. Could leave a bay in between.

This is about people who cannot park a car in an empty car park

same as when there are empty seats on public transport away from you… but they choose to sit next to you.