Reversing in car parks

[Buckman]

Why is it that soem people always reverse into a parking space at a supermarket then when they come back they try and squeeze the trolley down between two cars? Today every one was held up while a lady tried to reverse into a parking. Eventually she gave up and drove straight into the one in front of her.

 

[otherclive]

Why is it that soem people always reverse into a parking space at a supermarket then when they come back they try and squeeze the trolley down between two cars? Today every one was held up while a lady tried to reverse into a parking. Eventually she gave up and drove straight into the one in front of her.

Probably because it allows a smoother and safer departure. But squeezing the trolley past is a No-No without adequate clearance. Just like handbags too😂

 

[Gralay]

This also puzzles me they stop traffic in car park while they reverse into bay go and get their shopping, come back to car to find they can't load shopping into boot as they are too close to wall /fence or a car has parked behind them so pull car forward 3ft and hamper the flow of traffic again.

 

[Beehpee]

I’m surprised every time I use retail parking bays, I wonder if anyone can shed some light on why when car parking spaces are set out with the white lines they have the space at right angles to where your driving and the spaces are not the widest so reversing in is much easier than driving in, therefore why not have the spaces angled // // // like this, driving in would be really easy, reversing out would be really easy, I would guess it would mean the loss of a couple of spaces in a row but as cars wouldn’t need as much space between rows because reversing out would be simple they would get extra full rows and the ease of parking would be massive, or am I missing something?

BP

 

[otherclive]

Also driving out of perpendicular bays is easier than reversing out. Particularly if you have large vehicles alongside which can restrict your view when reversing out until you are well exposed.

 

[RogerL]

I’m surprised every time I use retail parking bays, I wonder if anyone can shed some light on why when car parking spaces are set out with the white lines they have the space at right angles to where your driving and the spaces are not the widest so reversing in is much easier than driving in, therefore why not have the spaces angled // // // like this, driving in would be really easy, reversing out would be really easy, I would guess it would mean the loss of a couple of spaces in a row but as cars wouldn’t need as much space between rows because reversing out would be simple they would get extra full rows and the ease of parking would be massive, or am I missing something?

BP

Retail parks are obliged by planning regulations to have a minimum number of parking spaces based on the area of the buildings - property developers almost always want to maximise the buildings area so use the minimum size for each parking space, normally 2.4 x 4.8 metres - that's a size that hasn't increased since WW2 despite the huge increase in car sizes, most obviously if you pass a classic car on a motorway, they seem tiny compared to modern cars.

The problem is not the angle of the spaces but their narrow width.

 

[JezzerB]

I just park as far away from other cars as possible and hope no one parks nea me. People dont want to walk any where these days so the corner spot far from the door can me no blockers in and no door ding damage.

 

[RogerL]

I just park as far away from other cars as possible and hope no one parks nea me. People dont want to walk any where these days so the corner spot far from the door can me no blockers in and no door ding damage.

I've done that in the past - and then found someone parked either side of me when I returned to the car!

 

[junglejim]

I just park as far away from other cars as possible and hope no one parks nea me. People dont want to walk any where these days so the corner spot far from the door can me no blockers in and no door ding damage.

Mr Jim does that all the time, he even did it in the hospital car park when our last was born, must have expected to be there some time - as it was she nearly arrived on the doorstep as it was a fair walk!!

 

[Buckman]

An argument seems to to be that it is simpler to drive out of the bay however it is just as simple to drive straight into the bay instead of reversing and holding up every one while you execute your 25 point reversing driving skills. Once to have completed the very complicated manoeuvre then it is time to decide whether to scratch your car on the way back with your trolley or the other car causing nearly £300 of damage!
If the person is one of the people that is a bit more considerate, they put the trolley contents into bags, leave the trolley behind and then squeeze between the cars with large bags rubbing up against the other car and knocking in the parking mirrors on both cars.
Apologies for a bit of a rant, but the quote is over £200 for a one inch deep scratch on my rear nearside passenger door as the whole door needs to be resprayed. Cannot be done by a scratch repairer. Did not happen yesterday and happened a few weeks ago and I am sure it was the car that reverse parked!

 

[otherclive]

It’s just one of those things that happen in every public car park. Folks walk by with bags that have hard edges, mums have difficulty getting young children out of the cars, older kids will fling open doors and whichever way you park older people have mobility difficulites getting into and out of cars. I’m in Jezzers camp such that I try and park as far away as possible, and generally in supermarkets I stay in the car and “scowl” with the window down if it’s not raining.

PS and then there’s the unthinkers who just fling their doors open regardless.

 

[otherclive]

I hadn’t realised that driving forwards into a bay required such skills, and that’s for an empty target bay with spaces either side 😁 Think I will stick to isolated bays preferably with one side “ immune” to knocks and reverse in.

How to drive into a parking bay

Won’t be shopping here when next abroad !!!

 

[Raywood]

Personally I am more worried about the idiots that have put dents in the car opening and shutting doors against it. There is also a scrape on the front wing which must either be someone catching it with a trolley or almost missing the car when parking. I now feel safer parking away from the crowds where there is less chance of damage.
I do have a reversing camera so reversing into a parking space is now easy enough.

 

[Buckman]

Personally I am more worried about the idiots that have put dents in the car opening and shutting doors against it. There is also a scrape on the front wing which must either be someone catching it with a trolley or almost missing the car when parking. I now feel safer parking away from the crowds where there is less chance of damage.
I do have a reversing camera so reversing into a parking space is now easy enough.

At the moment we are only using LIDL car parks. We don't generally use Tesco but had to a couple of months ago. That is when we got the scratch. I eventually got around to getting a quote as we had a deer run into the front nearside wing and was a bit shockd at the +£200 just to do the scratch. Eventually just had the dent removed and fender resprayed so still have the scratch.

 

[Beehpee]

I find using the mirrors to reverse into a space easier than using the camera, the camera picture is great in our Kuga but give me mirrors every time, 45 years of using mirrors, so starting to get the hang of it now.
BP

 

[JezzerB]

We now have dash cams in our cars and they have a parking mode to film any bumps or knocks (though it would catch the front only I suppose). Careless door bangers and parkers really annoy me and I spoke to a lady who banged my wing mirror with her door while I was sitting in the car; politely told her what she'd done -and the paint that was missing-she apologised and hopefully she'll think twice next time.

 

[Beachball]

We just drive into a Tesco Supermaket bay and reverse when we are ready to go.

 

[Dustydog]

Car before last collected more dings and scratches at supermarkets than I did myself. Today we park away from the Madding Crowd and walk the extra distance. Sadly respect for other people’s property seems to have disappeared😥😥

 

[Gozza2]

I prefer to reverse into a bay for all the reasons given above, and also because the way steering geometry works, the car is more maneuverable in reverse so it's easier to get into a tight space. The car park nearest our supermarket has a pavement down one side, so if I can get into one of the bays on that side there's actually footpath access to the back of the vehicle, so nice and easy.

Otherwise I just park the trolley at the front of the car and take a carrier bag in each hand round to the boot...repeat until the trolley is empty.

There's a store near me that when it was built, had a footpath between two rows of parent and child spaces, so that if you reversed in you had footpath access to the boot. But people didn't use it, they preferred to drive in, then when they came out of the shop park their trolley and pushchair at the back of the car...where there's moving traffic...and yell at anyone who dared drive within ten feet of their pushchair.

 

[CustardAvenger]

Car before last collected more dings and scratches at supermarkets than I did myself. Today we park away from the Madding Crowd and walk the extra distance. Sadly respect for other people’s property seems to have disappeared😥😥

There are also people who don't care about their own cars; why would they care about yours? 3years on a lease, it goes back. Why care about dings and scratches?

 

[otherclive]

There are also people who don't care about their own cars; why would they care about yours? 3years on a lease, it goes back. Why care about dings and scratches?

Well my grandson certainly cares about his lease car as dings and dent cost him money when it’s returned. Perhaps it’s because he pays the lease from his own finances.

 

[Guzzilazz]

In a supermarket, I always park bows in just to make it easier to load the car. If I'm parking elsewhere, I always reverse in - it's from years of commuting and station parking