People who back into parking spots: Why?
To me, it seems objectively easier to pull into a parking space forward and then back out of the space when you are ready to leave. You don’t have to line up with the lines while driving backwards, and it’s easier to keep from hitting other cars as well. So why back in? To me, the only advantage I can think of is that you can get out quicker, technically.
My grandfather had two habits drilled into him in the Army: never put your hands in your pockets so they’re always ready for action, and always park your vehicle so it’s ready to go.
This means he always backed in, and always parked as close to the exit as possible. And he did post-drive checks to ensure fluids, lights, brakes etc. were as they should be and the vehicle was ready for immediate use.
And he wasn’t even a getaway driver after the war.
And he wasn’t even a getaway driver after the war.
That you knew about
In what situation is it better to have your steerable wheels coming out of the parking space first? This orientation gives the car less agility when trying to navigate tight spaces when backing out.
If you’re talking about a dangerous situation that requires evasive maneuvers, it sounds like you’re LARPing.
You can just pull out of the spot and go, no need to change direction etc.
In a tight car park I have almost got stuck once because there wasn’t enough room for me to back out and get my nose out from between the cars on either side to move forward
Apart from the visibility argument. With this kind of parking spot you have to leave the spot in the other direction than you came in. So you’ll only get the enhanced agility for one of the moves.
Would you rather have more agility when getting into the tight parking spot or when leaving onto a larger street?
I’ve been driving for 30 years and honestly I can’t think of a single time that I felt that backing in was an advantage in regard to maneuverability. The visibility of oncoming traffic aspect does make sense though. Now that rear view cameras are a legal requirement though, IMHO it makes even less sense to back in.
Other people may disagree and that’s fine, but I am a bit surprised at the -20 vote on my previous comment.
It’s not about maneuverability in either direction for me, it is about visibility. Things change quickly with traffic when pulling out of a parking spot. Therefore, I like having the drivers seat closer to the traffic reducing visibility obstructions on either side. When backing in, it is much less likely for something to move so I can simply memorize the positions of things before even starting to back up.
Admittedly, with a good backup camera this becomes less important. But my car is too old for backup cameras. I bike most days anyway so I am probably not replacing my car any time soon.
I have a private parking spot off street in a city. I don’t like backing up towards the main road; since it has pedestrians and stuff. It’s a little harder to see.
So I back into the spot. It’s way easier than backing out - and pulling out is even easier. 
My work parking garage is already really tight. It’s another situation where backing in is easier than backing out - and driving forward our is even easier. So just some planning.
if you are getting chased then you just pull out and drive away
this sounds like someone caught you in the wrong bed
With that write-up, I’m disappointed that there isn’t even one Delorean.
Mind you, parking at 88 mph might explain why the 1st car is waaayy off-centre.
Drive through method makes me happy
I know I’m weird
One has to back up, either when leaving or arriving - some choose to get it out of the way when they park, others when they leave -
To each their own - I like to back in parking & easy quick exit
My current car is my first car that has a backup camera, and I actually find it much easier to see backing out of a space with the camera’s wide field of view.
Driving forward, especially in a sensible normal-sized sedan, your view can easily be blocked by someone’s giant Suburban on your left and Billybob’s overcompensating pickup truck on your right, both of which always come with shit parking jobs. Your best chance is to very slowly inch forward and hope any oncoming drivers notice the front of your car moving into the lane before your windows clear the taller vehicles.
But the backup camera sees 180 degrees from the bumper, so you can always see traffic in both directions well before any part of your car might get in anyone’s way.
I can’t imagine a reverse camera being a better alternative to looking out the front windscreen - sure it being a bit further forward then your seating position and wide angle might give it a bit extra visibility around close objects, but it definitely does not offset the advantage of a natural ~200 degree field of view - and that is before you move your eyes or swivel your head. This is much much more valuable particularly for faster moving objects (which are a greater problems).
That said I may be biased because my current vehicle has rear front and side cameras so I get the best of both worlds!
Hondas have 3 views, at least on my 2020 Civic and wife’s 2023 HRV.
“Wide” is for checking for vehicles, pedestrians, etc. when your view is obstructed on the sides (it’s probably more like 178, but I can see about 200 ft down the sidewalk in both directions when backing out of my driveway, including beyond my neighbor’s overgrown bushes.) The picture is skewed on the sides though.
“Regular” is undistorted for maneuvering and seeing directly behind you. This is like the default mode you’d expect to see.
“Top-down” shows about 3-4 ft of the pavement below/behind the car for backing up close to walls, parking barriers, other parked cars, etc.
You change them with touchscreen buttons. All of them have guidelines and distance markers that move with the steering wheel.
You certainly have more visibility when leaving but you have less visibility when backing into a confined space.
I am on the fence on this. Our office had zero accidents in fifteen years diving in but three backing in dings in the three years since encouraged. Hit a Bobcat, hit a trailer and hit one of the employee trucks.
On the fence because possibly it is more of our office. There is no thru traffic as a private location and there is a fair amount of room to back out where as the parking is relatively tight.
Possibly it is statically better when dealing with busy and tight parking locations. Ie. Malls or tight office complexes etc. Might be no benefits in low traffic locations where the yard is large enough that strait in driving is easy and backing out is into a fairly open space. Such as my location.
My guys choose to do back in parking after the oil industry started to suggest it in safety meetings. I didn’t really care what option they chose but with the three accidents in a short period, no longer sure backing in is safer in all situations.
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