The assumption is that there is not much room in the lane. When you pull in forward, especially with a longer vehicle, you need more room to swing out and get the front end aligned with the spot before you enter the space since the rear just follows the front turning wheels. When backing, you just have to get one of the rear wheels into position and then the front end swings out while pulling into the spot rather than before pulling in. It’s way easier to pull out of the spot when you do this, too, because you can turn the wheel immediately, whereas when you’re front in, you have to back almost all the way out before you can start cutting the wheel. Of course it also depends on how far past the rear wheels the vehicle extends as to how much it will swing out.
You can’t turn the wheel immediately on the way out or you’ll drag the back end of the truck into the vehicle next to you.
If they didn’t have the room to swing out to go in straight, they likely won’t get backed into the spot on the first try as well. The number of cars getting run into while parked if everyone backed in would sky rocket. I have met at least 3 people who told me they couldn’t parallel park, I’d rather those people just pull in forward so they can see where the other cars are.
As I said, it depends on how much of the vehicle extends beyond the rear wheels as to how far you have to swing out or pull out before turning. But it’s still significantly less than with front-in parking.
And I’m not talking about skill, I’m talking about physics. I lived in a place there there was a rock wall opposite of the parking spaces and just enough room between the cars and the wall for the width of a car and maybe another foot of clearance. If the spots next to mine were occupied, it was physically impossible to pull in or out front facing without several rounds of adjustments. But backing in and out was perfectly fine. And it was only big enough for cars.
And there are plenty of spots in my city that are back in parking only (usually angled). It’s way easier than parallel parking and parallel parking is much more common. And the reason is that the cars pulling into these spots don’t have to swing into the incoming traffic lane like with front in. So they only block one lane of traffic while parking. Though most people don’t get that and swing out anyway because they’re used to front in parking.
I’ve actually been hit more times by front pulled in cars. Both because they are not at all cautious pulling out and because they mis judge how wide they should swing out before pulling in and end up side swiping the cars next to them. So it’s not even that much of a skill issue. People who don’t have skill parking will fuck It up no matter what way they have to do it.
Both parallel parking and backing in are a part of the bloody exam for a license here in the UK. So the people who are unable to should not have a license in the first place. And that is before we start talking about the outsized trucks americans are so obsessed with.
I tend to think we should all redo the exam every 10 years or so just to make sure we are still fit…
The assumption is that there is not much room in the lane. When you pull in forward, especially with a longer vehicle, you need more room to swing out and get the front end aligned with the spot before you enter the space since the rear just follows the front turning wheels. When backing, you just have to get one of the rear wheels into position and then the front end swings out while pulling into the spot rather than before pulling in. It’s way easier to pull out of the spot when you do this, too, because you can turn the wheel immediately, whereas when you’re front in, you have to back almost all the way out before you can start cutting the wheel. Of course it also depends on how far past the rear wheels the vehicle extends as to how much it will swing out.
You can’t turn the wheel immediately on the way out or you’ll drag the back end of the truck into the vehicle next to you.
If they didn’t have the room to swing out to go in straight, they likely won’t get backed into the spot on the first try as well. The number of cars getting run into while parked if everyone backed in would sky rocket. I have met at least 3 people who told me they couldn’t parallel park, I’d rather those people just pull in forward so they can see where the other cars are.
As I said, it depends on how much of the vehicle extends beyond the rear wheels as to how far you have to swing out or pull out before turning. But it’s still significantly less than with front-in parking.
And I’m not talking about skill, I’m talking about physics. I lived in a place there there was a rock wall opposite of the parking spaces and just enough room between the cars and the wall for the width of a car and maybe another foot of clearance. If the spots next to mine were occupied, it was physically impossible to pull in or out front facing without several rounds of adjustments. But backing in and out was perfectly fine. And it was only big enough for cars.
And there are plenty of spots in my city that are back in parking only (usually angled). It’s way easier than parallel parking and parallel parking is much more common. And the reason is that the cars pulling into these spots don’t have to swing into the incoming traffic lane like with front in. So they only block one lane of traffic while parking. Though most people don’t get that and swing out anyway because they’re used to front in parking.
I’ve actually been hit more times by front pulled in cars. Both because they are not at all cautious pulling out and because they mis judge how wide they should swing out before pulling in and end up side swiping the cars next to them. So it’s not even that much of a skill issue. People who don’t have skill parking will fuck It up no matter what way they have to do it.
I’d say it’s even simpler than physics; it’s just a matter of geometry
Both parallel parking and backing in are a part of the bloody exam for a license here in the UK. So the people who are unable to should not have a license in the first place. And that is before we start talking about the outsized trucks americans are so obsessed with. I tend to think we should all redo the exam every 10 years or so just to make sure we are still fit…