Who was in the wrong?

[mamabeeboo]

At a GP surgery, parking is scarce.

Car A comes into the car park, realises someone has just closed their door to a parked car, and is leaving the carpark. Car A indicates to show they are next to park there.

Car B drives up from the back of the carpark and also starts indicating for the same parking spot, but is not angled properly to pull in to the spot. Therefore, Car A parks in the spot.

Car B driver gets out to argue with Car A that they were here first and have been circling the car park for a space for a while, and Car A was lucky to come in at just the right time to find a space.

Car A doesn't move, as far as they are concerned, there was no one indicating for that space, and goes into appt.

Who was right or wrong?

(I am the car who was parked and pulled out of the spot, and hung around to see what was happening as it seemed a bit of a commotion).

Well car A got to the actual spot first, that was just good timing. Unfortunate for car B as, technically, they were there first but they were nowhere near the space.

Are new cars into the car park supposed to hang around until someone over the other side of the carpark comes to claim a newly vacated spot?

I wouldn’t have lingered and watched though after vacating the space, I’d have just gone on my way.

B was in the wrong. Rule of thumb is that you don’t take advantage of the angle at which a car is coming out of a space to nip in front of another car that’s already waiting but if you’re circling a car park there’s every chance you’ll miss a space that’s vacated in another part of it. Can you imagine if every car park required cars to stop at the entrance before the current circling car found a space?!

Love a good car park drama - so I would have lingered a bit!

Driver B was an arse. It's the luck of the draw. If a car park is full and there are people waiting, it is pot luck where the next available space is going to be, so whoever happens to be nearest gets it. Everybody knows that.

Car A was right to park.

I don't really see how this is a question. Obviously A was in the right. They were there first. You aren't obliged to make sure there are no other cars in the car park looking for spaces before you park.