Did I have enough space to reverse

[YourJadeSquid]

Big white van was parked where the green dots are. I was parked where the red dots were.

I was trying to reverse but I couldn't. Van driver moved a little but then said I had enough room to get out. I honestly don't know if I'm just a bad driver or I needed that much space. He ended up moving and I got out.

There’s more than enough space to reverse out. The van was parked on the pavement so you had the whole road to get out the space. Even if you had cars either side of you there’s loads of room. What kind of car are you driving!
parking sensors are handy but the alter perception. You have to be confident and know the size of your car even with sensors in tight spaces the sensors can be beeping like mad but you still have about 1-1.5ft of space to play with

i always reverse park unless im doing a food shop and need access to the boot. Its far easier to drive out a space and actually easier to get into the space as well if its tight as you have room to manoeuvre

Another one who thinks that you should have reversed in. According to the Highway Code, you are supposed to reverse in to a driveway/parking space and drive out. That is so you have less chance of hitting someone when driving out. These rules were probably written without reversing cameras/ sensors in mind but it so much easier to reverse in. At least you know you will be able to get out.

I used to deal with RTA claims. I can't recall any car park collision I dealt with which didn't involve at least one vehicle reversing out of a space. Reversing in is way safer.

I tend to park in a quieter spot, or one on an end so I can still access the boot when I've reversed in.

It looks ok but I guess it’s deceiving sometimes as
this is the one I could not get into a space, reversing or not the other week. My dad has HGV driving experience and gave up so I took it as I wasn’t being pathetic!

I don’t understand why posters are saying there is enough room? Are we looking at different diagrams ? A huge white van as described cannot fit into that triangular wedge, therefore the van would have been half hanging over or fully hanging over into the contraflow road, thus making OP exit v difficult.
if you’d have posted the actual van and your car photo relative to each other from the same aerial view, we’d have very different answers here.

It might need a bit of back and forth to get out but it is certainly doable. How close the two cars on either side of you were is more relevant and this affects your turning.

That's a really poor car park!

I hate it. Been reduced to tears before in there! If there two small cars I can squeeze in but anything long like a Volvo and nope, not happening

The cars on the right aren't space

No but it makes getting out a lot easier. You had plenty of room

No, but it changes where the steering wheels are, which makes a huge difference.
If you don't know that then I really question whether you should be driving...

Unless you were driving an artic lorry , loads of space. You had 2 full lanes. Do you typically have to mount to opposite pavement to get out of a space? If the van was in the way, then you're saying you would need to have mounted the pavement and that's just not safe or OK.

Looks doable, but a few forwards and backs at full lock may have been needed. Depends on your car turning circle, and assuming all spaces are full. Particularly tricky if you were in the white or black car space and heading north/top of photo. I’ve added a box for a relatively similar to car footprint of a sprinter like van. I’d not have been happy reversing out ! As PPs say, this is why reversing is in nearly always better!

Its not quite that simple.

The driver will be at fault but may not be solely at fault.

The driver with right of way has only such a right if it is safe to occupy the space being used by another car
So it could end up that the insurance payment is reduced by a %

But as a driver is joining traffic from a stopped /parked position they will always be held mainly liable

They don't all wait until it is clear though. Many people just reverse out expecting cars that are travelling past just to stop for them. It is especially bad in supermarket car parks.

In fact just the other day a driver reversing out of their drive nearly went into the side of the bus I was on. It is also quite scary as a pedestrian as drivers don't always spot you. If they have reversed in you can catch their eye and it is easier for them to see you but if they are reversing you don't know they are moving until you see the car actually move.

Your rear tires are fixed in parallel, the front turn so you have far more manoeuvrability if you reverse in.
This is a basic concept in terms of spatial awareness. I am surprised as a driver you dont understand this

Irrespective if which way you were parked... yes there is more than enough room

This.

Pet hate of mine is people who don't know how to reverse park.

You need to go somewhere and have a good lesson on manoeuvres as I could get a long wheel based van out of there. I have driven a lot of big vehicles so had to improve my parking and reversing etc. A few specific lessons when I was already a good driver made a huge difference.

Its also visability as the car pulling in is moving stopping and changing direction so within the flow of traffic.

Moving from parked is going from stopped to join the flow of traffic.

And we are talking apes so have poor backward field of vision

When you drive in forwards, the car pivots round the front wheels. When you reverse, the car pivots rounds the rear wheels. The rear wheels, are usually nearer the back of the car (compare the front, which normally has a long bonnet in front of the front wheels). Ergo, you can swing in tighter in reverse. Why do you think we are taught to parallel park in reverse?

They don't all wait until it is clear though. Many people just reverse out expecting cars that are travelling past just to stop for them. It is especially bad in supermarket car parks.
and they rely on sensors, which for a start don't seem to sense if there's a human behind the car.

It's much easier than forward parking and it's also much easier to get out. You should try it, as it looks like you might need to improve your parking skills. Yes, there's plenty of space to get in and out.

I'm sure that the reason so many people are bad at reverse parking is that they don't realise that the steering wheel has no control over the rear wheels. I see people shuffle back, turn the wheel, shuffle forward (into the same space they shuffled back from), turn the wheel, shuffle back....no progress made at all. You need much bigger movements to get any turn in the back wheels.

Loads of space to get out. Reversing in is much easier.

Are you a nervous driver?

Here, where I live in Ireland, it’s socially accepted that you reverse park into most car parking spaces. All school and council car parks expect it and have signs up telling you to reverse park.

If you don’t understand why it’s better to reverse park, maybe you need to practise doing it and then you’ll understand why it’s easier and better to do that in virtually all circumstances.