to ask why people don’t reverse in?

[Divorcedalongtime]

to parking spaces…
i know the safest is to reverse in and
drive out, so why do 95% of all cars drive in?
every time I go shopping I see cars desperately trying to get out of their parking bay with cars and walkers going past, whilst if they had reversed in they would get out so easily.

it makes zero sense.

This is exactly what I always do.

I’m spectacularly shit at driving forward into a parking space.

Exactly this. I normally reverse into spaces when I park, but not at the supermarket where I need easy access to the boot.

The bigger mystery is why do people queue up for a petrol pump on the ‘right’ side, when there is one on the other side free that will easily reach over.

I generally find it much easier to reverse in to a space than drive in - especially if there are cars either side. But yes in a supermarket car park I either use parent and child spaces and drive in as they are bigger and you can swing wider or if I go without the kids I park really far away in the quietest corner of the car park so I can drive in and still access the boot.

I think it is so tricky to reverse in - it's often a small space. But when I reverse out, I reverse out in a larger space. I feels easier, in my mind.

But if I have the opportunity, I park so I can drive forward in, and drive forward out.

So you’re ignoring all the people who have told you they need to access their boot for pushchairs etc 🤣

Bet you regret starting this thread.

1. Depends if I need the boot

2. Depends on how busy the carpark is- e.g. last time I parked in a busy National Trust car park I nosed in to get the space and be done. Much easier in a quiet car park

3. I am dyspraxic and more likely to reverse park now I have been driving longer- I have more confidence and I'm probably a better driver

4. It's easier when I'm alone or with a non driver a lot of the time - probably linked to the dyspraxia but I have to concentrate on doing everything backwards- people trying to "help" just muck up my thought process and rhythm. DP is great and works with me/lets me just crack on though!

That’s not the mn way though, is it? If I came on here and said I’d had a strong pint and drove a mile home half a unit over the limit because it was more convenient than walking, all I’d get is ‘omg you’ve put peoples lives in danger you vile woman! If I knew who you were I’d phone the police! You need to be permanently banned from driving, get a minimum of an 10k fine and belong in prison for 5 years years’! But reversing out of a parking space which kills hundreds and injures thousands of people a year, and it’s ‘but it’s easier to get my shopping out’. No one NEEDS to park dangerously and break the Highway Code which was created to save lives, so they could get to their shopping more conveniently. Tell the mother of an injured or dead child that the statistics and codes meant nothing because it was in their favour that they wouldn’t kill anyone.

Thanks for those, though not so much for the sniping. When you cite something as fact, it's kind of assumed that you have the receipts to back it up... and you haven't actually provided the stats to back up your statement.

361 pedestrians were killed by cars last year; only 58% of those were in incidents involving a single car. The HSE says nearly a quarter of 'deaths at work' involve reversing. I'm not saying that reversing isn't the better option or that people aren't hurt or killed by reversing cars; I'm just not sure your numbers stack up.

I'm sorry for your experiences, and that of your brother. I've had some narrow shaves as well, particularly when cycling.

But that doesn't really answer the question about kids in the mornings. And I'm not sure what it has to do with supermarket car parks, where kid should be closely supervised and are probably the one location where people have a decent reason for going nose in.

I reverse in to pretty much every parking space.

I can quite easily carry the bags down the side of the car to the boot, and it means you don't have to try an reverse out amongst all the people mindlessly wandering through the car park (our local Tesco car park resembles the walking dead quite often)

I reverse in now I don't have to worry about getting a pushchair out of the boot. Always did when alone.

I find it way easier to reverse out than to reverse in. It's easy enough to keep a lookout for cars, pedestrians etc.

1. Also depends on the space; my parking space at my flat is a nose in only- you make it very difficult for yourself if you reverse in; it's not impossible to get back out but it's much harder, takes a lot more manoeuvring and your likelihood of a dent or a smash goes way up.

Because I can't get the boot open

I always reverse into our driveway. Our road is quiet and wide so there's plenty of space to maneuver the car (unless someone randomly decides to park outside our house). Lots of small kids walk up our street to school and I'd hate to hit one.

I never reverse into spaces in carparks

1. it takes longer to reverse in than it takes to drive in or reverse out particularly when space is tight.
2. I have a seven seater and carparking spaces are never long enough to allow me to access the boot if I reverse in
3. I don't see how it's safer to reverse into a space, I bet the evidence for it is based on people reversing out of driveways over a pavement. In a carpark everyone is looking out for the cars so a completely different situation.

I've had a car 10 years and it's been reversed into twice by mums on the school run. On one occasion the driver crushed my (luckily empty) buggy which was tucked into the front corner of my parking space - even when a passer-by was waving at her she wasn't aware she'd hit anything and kept going while the buggy collapsed behind her. This is why I reverse in and drive out forward.

In any case, how can you see around the next door cars if you reverse out? It's hard enough getting a good view when you go forward. Do you just pull out backwards and hope that anybody nearby will spot you and stop for you? That seems to be the way in our supermarket. A man was killed there a couple of years back because the driver reversing out didn't see him.

Can't get self and wheelchair in if reversed in - we don't have a drive but the pavement is not wide enough.

Parking at supermarket etc, also have to pull in for the same reason, never possible to get out of the back if we reverse in, even if its not bays behind, its usually anti-crime bollards in the way.

Just realised how weird I am that I never put shopping in the boot. I always reverse in, maybe that's why 😅

I see cars desperately trying to get out of their parking bay with cars and walkers going past

Or just waiting patiently for a safe gap. Like they would if they were the other way around.

Unless you live in Tesco, you're not that likely to have a shopping parking bay in your own driveway

Surely reversing out is easier as it’s a bigger space ??

Pretty sure it would be more dangerous to leave an un manned trolley on the road while I cart bags of shopping down the skinny gap to my boot and back again over and over.

No one NEEDS to park dangerously and break the Highway Code which was created to save lives, so they could get to their shopping more conveniently.

It isn't parking dangerously which kills people. It's reversing out of parking spaces without checking carefully that kills people. It's a very important distinction. If you're going to reverse without checking, you will also kill people when you are reversing into parking spaces.

Where does the Highway Code say that we must reverse park?

Driveways across pavements should be illegal? Can you explain? Are cars supposed to levitate?!
I mean it sounds like you're advocating either not having private driveways so more cars parked on the road, or removing pavements which is ludicrous.

Because I can't be arsed.

Where does either the op or I mention just pedestrian deaths? I said there are 300 deaths from people reversing out of parking spaces, which there are. That includes pedestrians, cyclists and other road users. I don’t think that makes it any better? It’s on the government uk reported road casualty statistic site. You can research it yourself, I’m not doing it for you, I’ve just stated what was relevant to the thread. The rest of my post was from personal experience. It’s a fact that reversing out of spaces causes thousands of fatalities and injuries a year. Getting shopping out your boot a bit easier is a bit shit reason to hurt someone. Just for comparison 80 people are killed by drug drivers every year, compared to 300 reversing out of spaces. Do you think it’s ok driving off your tits then?