To ask school to choose? (parking)

[Carpark1]

Aibu to ask my DD’s school to choose to alert that they must reverse park. There are no guidelines in the car park and I just feel like it’s mayhem. If we all reversed parked then it may be s bit more streamlined and time saving? Do you think they would find me weird for suggesting it ?😂😬

How the heck do you folk park in the high street when shopping, what do you do when visiting a friend in their road.

Rubbish. I did it as part of lessons then in my driving test. Not done it once in over 30 years consequent to obtaining my license. Never been a problem. Sure, it has inconvenienced me as at times my options have been to reverse park into a spot or keep driving and accept the next spot I can drive into will be a kilometre or so away and walk back which I accept. My choice. What’s the issue?

So you can reverse park? Why bother quoting me then?

You're operating a dangerous machine when you're driving a car, you are incompetent and unsafe if you can't do something as basic as reverse park your car hth

I can reverse park very well but I do notice in public car parks that a lot o people take several goes to get in a space this way and it causes mayhem. I just drive into the space and i'm in the supermarket before people who came after me have even got into their spaces.

Reverse parking and parallel parking requires good use of wing mirrors and observatory skills. Not being able to shows a distinct lack in these core skills

I think this is so true and agree with this statement. It applies to both male and females!

Go out in the evening somewhere quiet, cover your rear view mirror, use side mirrors and learn how to do it.

Reversing into a parking space was only added to the driving test fairly recently really - I never had to do it when I learnt to drive (I can but was never tested on it).

It was one of the three reverse manoeuvres you could be tested on 25 years ago when I did my test.

But surely reversing into a space in a carpark full of kids when you don't really know how to is even more unsafe? There's reversing either way.

Actually no because there will definitely be kids walking along the car park where as there are much less likely to be kids actually standing an empty car parking space.

I always reverse park - I find it easier and I hate reversing out of a space into traffic - I think not being able to reverse park is dangerous.

I also find, in most car parks, people who drive in never sit in the space properly - they tend to be at an angle or with their tyres pulled to the right or over the line - reversers tend to be in the middle of the space.

SmellbowSmellbow123

You're right, it is essentially the same skills. As far as I see it, if you can parallel park then you should be able to reverse into a car parking space in a carpark.

But the reverse parking into a carpark space was actually added to the test at some point (don't know when)

My work told us to always reverse park so that we could leave a space easily if needed.
If you don't have the car control to reverse park you really shouldn't be doing any reversing in a car park full of dc.

there’s no need to take out a buggy for the school drop off 

How ignorant OP. They said it was a SN buggy ffs.

If you can't reverse park, I respectfully ask you to go back and have a few lessons.

They do this at our local refuse site. It’s poetry in motion and works well but they have staff to holler at those who try to drive in.

It wasn't a requirement when I passed my test, but my instructor taught me anyway.
My mum won't reverse park. When leaving a parking space she'll moan and moan about poor visibility and cars having tinted rear windows. She won't accept that reverse parking would give her much better visibility.

My children's school has a tiny car park, a line of bays served by a narrow lane. On the few occasions I've needed to use it I've seen people drive in and then have to do a fifty point turn manouvre to get out again.
So much quicker and safer to back in and then drive out.
I don't think the op is being unreasonable, but as this thread shows, when it comes to driving and parking some people are incredibly stubborn.

It was one of the three reverse manoeuvres you could be tested on 25 years ago when I did my test.

I think that was parking parallel to the kerb rather than bay parking.

I hate reverse parking so never do it. Never once had to in 20 years of driving.

Good luck trying to get me to do it

I believe that in at least some companies with large fleets (Royal Mail? British Gas? BT?) the drivers are required to reverse park and it is a disciplinary offence not to. The reason given is that a disproportionate number of accidents are caused by reversing out of a parking space.

I almost always reverse park except at the supermarket, or anywhere that involves going with a shopping cart and access to the booth.

It is easier to reverse park properly than front parking, unless the bays are at an angle. Front parking in straight bays requires more space on the road, and a lot more maneuvering, as does reversing to exit.

Or this:
people who drive in never sit in the space properly

So, for the OP, your best bet would be to ask the school to have parking bays at an angle. Everyone would front park and then reverse more safely to exit.

I get really frustrated by “drive in” parkers at busy events where everyone will be leaving at once because them wriggling out slows the flow of the traffic down whereas if you have reversed in it’s easy to just join the flow

I can reverse park into a bay although it was not part of the test when I did it. But reverse parking into a bay is very different in a supermarket or test conditions, than doing it in a busy car park with lots of kids and cars. Whenever I have tried to I just find people keep walking behind my car.

sirzy At so many events when I have tried to reverse into a bay, in spite of signalling, the driver behind just drives forward so I can't reverse. And if there is room for them to overtake me, I have been sworn at and had horns beeped at me while I wait for them to do this. So I now reverse park or forward park depending on how alert the driver behind seems to be.

One of the issues is confidence once passing though.

My DH was always very annoyed by me not 'having a go' at a space in a car park (HE can't drive, btw ), and instead parking further away from the busy places. But it was always when I was being trailed by a following car, and not wanting to slow them down or get in their way.

Even if you learned well, it's easy to fall into the habit of choosing easy spots to avoid holding up other drivers.

I have been driving for 30 years and have never reverse parked. I learned to parallel park, but despise doing it in actual dense traffic conditions, so just find a garage and walk a bit instead.

I passed my test 20+ years ago, not sure if reverse parking was in the test - anyway, I never do it. Perfectly capable of driving, never been an issue. Plus if I'm in a car park it's probably at the supermarket when I want the trolley near the boot, so not very practical.

If there's only one spot and I have a driver closely behind me, I try to stop and indicate before the actual spot, then move forward slowly to be able to reverse park. Of course sometimes the driver behind is an arse and still moves forward behind me.

It tends to be the same reverse parking or parallel parking.