Reversing Into Car Park Spaces

[Madgeorge]

I know this has probably been asked before?

why do drivers reverse into parking spaces in supermarket car parks so the boot space is inwards, usually right next to another car?

this means you cannot often get a full trolley next to the boot and have to carry everything along the side of the car risking scratches and other damage.

Surely it is easier to drive in, load up and reverse out?

humans baffle me sometimes.

[Maydup]

I prefer to reverse park at every opportunity; I can make a complete mess of driving into a space but I do it in supermarkets as an exception to my rule for access to the boot. 

[bhg481]

maydup - exactly what both my wife and I do.

[davebro3]

My Aldi has a single row of parking spaces - if there is a vacant space you can drive in forwards and drive out forwards.

[barry1010]

My Aldi doesn't.  I suppose it depends on the size of the car park, drive straight through must mean less parking spaces although it would be the ideal for all car parks

[davebro3]

Only about 20 of the spaces are like that. The rest are against a kerb - there are no spaces where you park end-on to another vehicle.

[barry1010]

We obviously don't use the same Aldi, dave.  

[barry1010]

The newest Aldi close to me (I live in a ring of Aldis, within 3 miles of 5 with a 6th to open a five minute walk away) has been in a lot of trouble with the council.  They got planning permission on condition that the car park was available for everyone, for up to three hours.  They put signs up saying 'for shoppers only' and have been ticketing people.

[douglas9401]

It's becoming obvious that there are some pretty poor drivers about.

[davebro3]

reversing into a space is part of the driving test now isn't it?

[barry1010]

Yes it is, dave - the examiner can ask you to reverse in to a parking bay or parallel park on the highway.

[Quenched]

Atheist, 

Not everyone has their wife or husband or whoever to watch them reverse out. 

 

Like I mentioned before, the  company I work for has a policy that all employees or visitors must reverse park into the car park bays. 

 

I'm surprised its not been made law yet. Its so much safer to drive out afterwards. 

[albaqwerty]

Quenched, your company may have a policy but it is not legally enforceable. 

[Quenched]

albaqwerty, 

It may not be legally enforceable on land that isn't theirs. But while anyone is on the company's property we all have to reverse park, or face disciplinary action. 

 

They are the only company I know that has these rules, and to be honest I do actually find it a bit extreme and heavy handed, but you can see from the safety point of view is why they do this. 

 

I'm just surprised its not enforced on some other industry car parks. 

 

I have to say though because of their strict regime, I find myself reverse parking everywhere now without thinking about it.

 

Plus its always in the back of my mind when the motorcyclist was killed near to where I live just because a woman reversed out of her drive. 

If you think about it if you are reversing out of a drive, there is already most of the car is on the road before you can see what is coming up or down the road because of the blind spot. 

 

So that act really should have been made illegal years ago. 

 

Its mainly because some motorists are too lazy to take the time to reverse into their drive or off road parking. 

[Raving-Mod]

Is your employer's car park as busy as an Asda car park, for example?

[THECORBYLOON]

I forgot I was in a different browser...

[Quenched]

Raving-Mod, 

Well its a big corporate company which is worldwide not just in the UK, so I guess their car parks are less busy than a supermarket car park. 

 

But surely the busier a car park, the higher the risks, so surely its better to reverse park, rather than to reverse out in the path of other cars or pedestrians? 

[Ellipsis]

Most people park in forwards in a supermarket car park. If you can give a link that there's a high incidence of injury in supermarket car parks caused by people who park in forwards compared to people who reverse in, I'll be interested. In the meantime, my bigger concern is injury to the car by those who take their trolley between two parked cars so they can get to their boot when they've reversed in.

 

[barry1010]

A claim that reversing in car parks is responsible for 91% of car park accidents (a US website)

https://barteniparking.com/en/news/reversing-is-the-primary-cause-of-collisions-in-parking-lots-accounting-for-asmuch-as-91-of-accidents/#

[Ellipsis]

USA is OK, but I'm more interested in supermarket car parks rather than car parks generally. Sometimes it's hard enough to walk between two cars, let alone push a trolley or carry a load of bags between two cars.  If the supermarket wanted you to reverse in, they would not have double rows of parking spaces ...

I know that everyone is different, but in my case my car's length completely fills the car parking space and I have a rear wide angle camera - so no way am I reversing in, and I am very concerned if someone pushes a trolley alongside my car ...

[barry1010]

Driving in won't stop anyone pushing a trolley alongside your car