To leave a gap when parking

[BelleMarionette]

I got a note on my car this morning: 'You took up two spaces with your car.. so inconsiderate. RETAKE YOUR TEST'

I assume it was from yesterday, when I had to park on a residential street, because my work has stopped issuing parking permits to staff, as no capacity. Even if they were available, they are prohibitevely expensive at about £100/month.

It was an unrestricted street for parking, with plenty of spaces available. I parked leaving 2-3ft from the car next to me, to allow space for them to pull out. I have previously had abuse from a neighbour for parking 'too near' their car, even though there was a gap, so I am aware about leaving space, should drivers not be confident.

Aibu for leaving a gap when parking on the street? Obviously different if bay parking, and I would never take up two bays.

Yes. If you live somewhere with no parking this is normal.
If you cant get out that either side then you should possibly get more practice.

Now getting in: Getting in is trickier. Especially when you start at a bad angle.

Sounds fine to me OP. Don't give it a moments more thought.

You do know you don't just pull out in one go don't you?
Is that what people are thinking they should be doing?
You do a little shuffle. Smaller the space, smaller the shuffle.
So long as you can control your can movement well it should be fine

I have no parking sensors
Actually think they would be more distracting

I think most people appreciate that parking spaces are more in demand so I try to park as considerately as possible. If I'm parallel parking into a single empty spot then it is what is is so but of I was parking in front or behind I'd typically leave up to 2 feet. 3 seems a bit much. However if I was parking in an area that had lots of space I'd typically park nearest to where I wanted to be.
On occasions I've parked further away as I'm not confident I could park in a particular gap quickly and I don't wanna hold the traffic up.
Even if you're 1 inch into a 2nd spot, if no-one else can use the gap next to you you've used 2 spaces.

This. We'd dearly like residents parking, but because the road is a border between two council wards (odd side one ward, even side another) it is a nightmare to sort. The people who live on the road park (mostly) properly and consideratly so there's plenty of room for everyone. One or two rogue parkers going to work/ the shops messes it up. There's be room for those parkers too... But only if they park properly

Is "I can park in a space with only 9 inches front and back" the female equivalent of men lying about the size of their penis?

I follow the tyres and tarmac rule. Pull up behind the car in front but leave enough space so so can see their back tyres and about a foot or two of the road. This means you can pull out without too much difficulty. It also means the car in front can reverse if the car in front of them has parked too close.

You may have parked perfectly well, leaving enough space for another car but a couple of others cars have left, the along comes another car whose driver parks bang in the middle of the now empty space previously taken up by two cars, making it look as if it’s you causing the problem.

Life doesn't revolve around London. I lived there too and it's hard to compare it to the rest of the UK. I was once left with half foot back and front, took me good 3-4 times going back and forth using sensors and camera, not sure if I could get out without them. No passerbys.

Really? That's actually a bloody good idea. Think I'd want a camera in my car though just in case someone damaged mine.

I always allow enough space in front in case someone parks too closely behind me but 2-3 feet is a bit too much

I agree..

Yes. I do wonder if people saying this realise just how small 1ft actually is.

Maybe they last used a ruler in school, and they are really leaving 2ft but in their heads they think it's just 1ft?

We have this when going to a activity place we go to. There is lots of parking but if 2 or 3 cars go from the normal 1-2ft between bumpers to 3ft it halves the amount of parking spaces. Seriously it does.

For example a car leaves 1 ft in front and next car leaves 1 ft behind it has 2ft to manouvere out. Ample in most cases.

However one car leaves 3 ft and the next car thinks this is ok and leaves another 3ft you suddenly start losing huge (6ft) swathes of parking for no reason.

This is what I'm thinking too. Looking at cars parked on the street- most of them leave 2ft gap. Even new cars loaded with 360 degrees cameras etc.

On our road you can just fit two cars nose to nose in between each drop kerb. So the convention here is to park within mms of the car next to you (usually with the cars facing each other so you have boot access). If someone doesn’t line up properly with the end of the drop kerb it means two spaces become one and it’s a complete pain in the arse. So leaving 2/3ft around our way just wouldn’t work (you use the drop kerb clearance for reversing out). It really depends on the area and if you park in a place you don’t usually you owe residents the courtesy of seeing how most are parked and doing the same.

That's rude. How does he know the cars around you haven't moved position since you arrived? As others have said, you should be able to see the other cars tyres still. Same when waiting in traffic. That's lots of space to manoeuver which I guess for some might seem excessive.

My uncle used to call that acoustic parking. Go back until you hear a crunch

This is about right. Anything more is excessive unless there’s swathes of parking available.

3ft, or just under a metre is not a massive gap.
I can park in quite a tight spot and parking is limited where I live, but I would still leave approx 1 metre between me and the car in front. Parking closer looks aggressive and territorial, unless everyone else in the street is doing it.

A couple of feet is not excessive. YANBU. I think a lot of posters do not appreciate how big a foot is.

Haha come to the south west. The norm is about 3inches each end

I used to live on a road like this, it was infuriating. If people just took a few seconds to look, they'd realise they'd taken up two spaces. There were several stretches where you could comfortably fit three cars too, if they all parked carefully, but so many people didn't. DP and I used to make a game of getting both our cars in these spaces and still leave room for a third, in hopes that neighbours would clock on that if they parked a bit more carefully, they could do the same... but no, they would still leave a couple of feet after the end of a drop kerb (which exceeded the driveways in width by quite a stretch on this street, before anyone has a go about needing visibility when pulling out!).

Also, the people saying they need space to manoeuvre - do you realise you can turn your car wheels while stationary? You can get out of a pretty small space if you turn your steering wheel and get your wheels positioned better before you start moving... I remember my driving instructor teaching me this many years ago!

When I said 1.5ft it's because I grabbed my ruler out of my desk drawer and worked it out, so yep I'm sticking with 1.5, 2ft max.

People saying 'it's only a metre!', exactly that's a lot!

She left a 2-3 ft gap so that's only a couple of feet more than the ninja parkers claim to need. Not a whole extra car length. And she said there was plenty of room anyway.

Of course YANBU, op. If there's plenty of room then don't be a knob and make it unnecessarily hard for people to manoeuvre out. A gap at the back is also useful for people wanting to stow things in their boot when they return.

(See also - wtf in car parks with loads of space do some people feel compelled to take the bay next to one of the few parked cars, so close that it's hard for the returning driver to get back in?

Also, the people saying they need space to manoeuvre - do you realise you can turn your car wheels while stationary?

You can, but it isn’t good practice. It puts a lot of strain on the steering components and isn’t wonderful for the tyres either.