So are you a “nose-in-er,” or a “nose-out-er?” Or, perhaps, one of those people that take up two spaces (grrr)? Anyway, I’ve noticed that pickups are almost always parked nose-out in our lot at work. I almost always park nose-out (I think it’s safer pulling out), and make sure I pull my Honda Fit’s petite little nose out where parking space hunters can see it if I’m between two larger vehicles.
Nose out usually for a variety of reasons especially if I am leaving in the morning.
The majority of the time, I park nose in. But I think nose out is better. Sometimes, when both time and traffic allow, I back in to the parking spot to be able to pull away easily. I prefer to take the time when parking, as backing out can be dangerous. I had a friend who was backing out of a parking spot and got hit by somebody driving too fast through the parking lot. But, guess what? The person who hit him was an unscrupulous insurance agent who reported the accident and claimed my friend was at fault as he backed out – without warning – in front of him. So he was charged as being at fault while the jerk who caused it got off. That was over 30 years ago, and that is what sometimes motivates me to back in so I can better see while pulling out of a parking spot.
It’s easier for me to park nose in, but it’s easier to leave nose out. Mostly I nose in.
At the farms always nose out, somewhere in a corner of the yard. Away from (barn) doors, driveways and all places where machinery rolls. I can drive off easy and safe, especially during winter (still light outside when I arrive and dark when I leave).
At home and at the office nose in. Parking lots, ditto.
I just remembered what a real estate agent once told me, a long time ago.
“Always park nose out at farms, so you can flee faster when the farmer gets angry….”
It was a joke. With a serious undertone. (Usually farmers don’t write long complaint letters)
No, they just know a lot of locals, and the bush telegraph can kill your business stone dead. 🙂
I’d say it depends on how much time you have, traffic etc.
I used to live on a busy 4 lane (ie two each way) road with a 40 mph limit and was surprised by the number of people I’d see who had nosed into their drive, which then necessitated backing out from behind a 6ft wall into traffic often doing 50mph. I always thought if I lived in one of those houses I would pull in and wait for a gap to allow me to back in. Maybe they learned that that gap just never came.
I now live in a house in the corner of a cul de sac with a slightly unusual (and compact) shared drive set up. While I recognise it would be more sensible to back in, usually when I get home from work I can’t be bothered and just drive straight in.
Nose in. It is a habit my parents are drilling in to me with my learners permit.
Nose out is the safest / least chance for damage.
That is the reason why certain companies do not allow nose in parking for their employees..
I have been driving for a long time, mostly safely. Two things I avoid, if possible: parking nose in; and making left turns.
I like you bringing up the issue of left turns. I’ve heard that both UPS and FedEx have done studies on accidents; their conclusion was to route their drivers so as to avoid left turns, as those accounted for the majority of past accidents. It would be wise for the rest of the populace to learn that habit too; avoid left turns at all costs. After waiting such a long time on order to make a left turn, too many get impatient and pull out into oncoming traffic. I know someone who that happened to. While she was uninjured, her car was totaled.
That’s funny, I do the same and never really thought about why, just did it.
Nose out if I have the chance. I absolutely hate backing out of spaces in busy lots, the slight trickiness to backing in to begin with is well worth it on the way out
For me it’s dependent on the parking space; I’ll go nose in for wide spaces, nose out for narrow spaces or crowded parking lots.
I find that reversing in allows for greater maneuverability. I wonder if that’s why forklifts have their steering reversed?
One thing I’ve noticed is that (generally speaking) people who like to drive park nose out and people who just drive to get somewhere park nose in. I was walking around the parking lot at work the other day, and I noticed that most of the Porsches and BMWs were parked nose-out, and the more utilitarian rides were mostly parked nose-in.
So Porsche and BMW drivers like to drive? Some maybe, but most like to pose.
I like to drive and I always park nose in. It aggravates me when people get in the way by backing in and it screws with the feng sui of the lot. Most lots and parking garages seemed to be designed to be parked in nose in, not backed into. Plus, I’ve never had any sort of trouble backing out.
I just don’t see the advantage to backing into a spot.
You’ve never worked in a plant or business with a large parking lot and a set quitting time for everybody. Always back in, or risk getting run over by co-workers, all of whom aren’t going to spend one extra minute on company property.
No, I have, but I just wait. I see no point in rushing to wait out in traffic.
Nose out. In a parking lot it’s safer backing in with mirrors than backing out. And at work I need to be ready for a quick getaway to beat the 150 other cars leaving at the same time. At home it doesn’t matter.
Two of us work in the same place.
I prefer nose out, especially when I can pull into a space in one row, drive through the space to nose out in a space on the next row. I try to avoid backing up when possible. This strategy earned me a ticket at the community college last fall, so I must now remember to nose in there.
Nose out if at all possible; even better is the pull-through 2 spaces resulting in nose out.
People lose any sanity they once had in parking lots.
Ohwonesten: your community college is a little too anal.
I sure felt it was rather anal. An administrator I spoke to said they prohibited parking nose out because they had numerous reports of damage to adjoining vehicles from people backing into spaces. Supposedly, the number of damage complaints went down considerably when the nose in requirement was adopted. My feeling is if a driver is incompetent backing up, they’re going to use your car for a backstop either way.
My high school mandated nose in, which I found irritating during senior year – students flew down the isles at light speed, cross your fingers backing out. I parked at the rear most corner of the lot every day, and bolted out of class faster than anyone to get to my car and get clear of that lot in those days.
They didn’t require it for safety though, it was supposedly done so the lot attendant can easily verify the parking passes were in the windshields, and if they were parked nose out you got hit with $25 penalties. So pretty much like the reality of most vehicle enforcement it’s a mix of laziness and revenue generation. Cost $160 a year to park in their precious lot btw
Nose out whenever possible and safe & permissible to do so.
Nose out if possible. I live in a townhouse with a parking lot, and my neighbors on both sides of my designated space have SUV’s/Minivans, so it can be hard to see around them to back up.
In the winter, I park whichever way maximizes the sunlight on my windshield. In the summer, minimum for sunlight. The rest of the year is nose out if I remember.
Grew up with the mentality of nose-in. My mother’s voice still rattles in my head sometimes: “…nyaah, quick getaway huh? What’s the rush, smell the roses, blah blah…” but lately I’ve been preferring nose-out for more practical reasons. One good one, I think, is that the rear end of my car is super high and I have no rear mounted camera, so backing out can be a chore at times. I much prefer driving out into a busy parking lot.
Speaking of mom, when I first got my car (2012 Fusion), I knocked over her organic waste bin when backing out of her driveway after visiting. So, now, anytime that voice cackles in my head, I just talk back with that waste bin incident. I don’t have irrational guilt for the unjustified feeling of having done a bank job anymore either…
Love you mom!
Sometimes I miss my k-car. You could do pirouettes blindfolded in that car and still pull off an Ace Ventura-style parallel park job – the visibility was that good.
With increasingly lengthy cars in my armada, nose out is more and more appealing.
In, usually. If I can pull through all the way, I’ll do that, though. I don’t like to hold up the people behind me.
Now, if I’m in our crew cab truck, I’ll back into a spot at the edge. The back of the truck will overhang above the grass section, so I’m not sticking out as far.
On our other truck, we still have the DMI Quik-Cush’n bumper. There wouldn’t be much damage to me if I ever backed into a little Honda 😉
Nose out at work so when I’m leaving I can beat everyone else to the exit.
My car is/seems so small compared to 90% of other vehicles that it doesn’t much matter if I’m nose in or out….the view is almost always blocked.
For me, I look for parking spaces that are isolated from other cars and trucks.
With the ’65 Chrysler it’s usually nose out because it can be cranky about engaging reverse until it gets warmed up.
With the Olds it’s usually nose in, unless I’ve got groceries or something in the trunk. Always nose in if I’m putting it in the garage. It is a very tight fit.
If one needs to be able to open a rear hatch, then nose in is sometimes the only way to do so.
Nose out in 99.9% of situations. Even in my garage.
Nose in, but if I can pull ahead into an empty pace to end up nose out I’ll do that. This is in the Jetta. If driving the pickup I try to back in the Titan due to it’s size if possible.
If I can pull through, I usually do nose out. Nose in is reserved for big trips to the grocery or warehouse club when I will have to load cargo in the back of whatever I’m driving.
I do nose in when shopping, even if I can pull through – too dangerous to my car / other cars with the shopping cart trying to load up the car. If i don’t have a cart, it’s nose out, preferrably a pull through (free back in.)
I usually park nose in. However what is more important to me is finding an end slot so I can park a little to the outside to avoid door dings and shopping carts. I never take up two slots, though. Another rule I use is to not park on the down hill end of a Walmart lot to avoid fast moving and unattended shopping carts. My wife likes my finicky attitude about parking spots as she always gets let out at the door. I tell people that my car is a snob. It only wants to associate with the one it shares a garage with.
Usually nose out for several reasons. Easier to see around other cars pulling out. If someone parks close to me I can still turn into the aisleway without worrying about clipping them.
My Chryslers usually get parked in the garage one nose in and one nose out so the drivers doors both open into the space between them, not against the wall.
Nose out and on an angle with the left front corner of my car close to the left side line.
The angle is to keep the left side door of the dope who will pull nose first straight in next to my left side a bit farther away from the left side of my car. If the closest part of my car to his is the left front corner and he goes straight, nose in, I have created just a little bit of extra buffer between the driver door of his Corolla/Malibu/Alero piece of crap and the left side of my Roadmaster/SL500/Mustang that I don’t want dinged. It is just a bit of pre-planned psychology against the very stupid, lazy slobs who also visit parking lots.
Generally I prefer parallel parking on streets to lots.
Two other reasons to park nose out:
1)Vehicles with only one license plate (rear) become more discrete if no plate number can be read from the aisle.
2)RWD vehicles (all mine) are harder to tow if the drive wheels are harder to get to. (Nose in parkers could resist a tow better if you had a crappy FWD Corolla/Malibu/Alero type thing.)
I use that angle trick too. You never know what kind of clunker will end up next to you. Even if you park at the far end of a lot where there isn’t a vehicle within 100 yards, some knucklehead will park his rusted out heap right next to you.
Nose out in winter. It’s easier to pull out than back out in heavy snow, particularly with FWD and a manual transmission with tall reverse and low first.
Nose out 90% of the time, only do nose in if its cars behind me that our to close to let me maneuver or if the sign says nose in parking only which I’m seeing more often lately.
With my extended cab F250 pickup, ALWAYS nose-out. Makes life so much easier when leaving.
With my Lexus LS400, either nose in or nose out depending on where I am.
Nose out.
Police training teaches nose out. Partially so the squad car can leave quickly if necessary, but more so because backing into a space that you’ve already scoped out is a lot safer than backing out into all sorts of moving hazards.
Nose out:
1) If you can back in, you can drive out;
2) As peekay said, you’ve scoped the area; Taught as the safest way in most driver training;
3) Faster;
4) It is how a thinking and courteous driver ought to park and is a mark that distinguishes us. Ahem.
Nose out. Got in the habit as my space in the family garage when I got my license and a car was on the the side with a wall to the left. leaving little space to open the door. backing in gave more space to easily exit and enter. I just kept the habit when I park everywhere. it is safer when pulling out as well.
I’m defiantly nose out. Got that way back in my street racing days. Faster get aways when the cops decide to join the party.
Nose in! With the increasingly poor rear visibility in modern cars, I figure backing in is an invitation to contact. The one time I made contact while parking was backing in, as the location of the neighboring car was completely hidden by my Cougar’s wide C pillar.
OT for Ed, recalling your window issue with your Beetle: I was considering a second hand 2012 Beetle that is for sale at an attractive price for a buzz around town car, but found that coupes have the same issue with freezing windows and the weather stripping that your ragtop had. As I have a one car garage, the second car would live outside, so the Bug’s icebound windows make it a no-go in Michigan. So now I’m waiting to pounce on a 2010 or so Golf instead.
You’ll get used to reversing and only using the side mirrors. I never looked over my shoulders in the past 13 years, since my Land Cruiser has blinded rear side windows (it’s registered as a commercial vehicle, a van).
On the other hand, you certainly got a point. I’ve got some pretty big, rectangular and flat, old-school mirrors. What you see in them is what it is, at the correct size and distance. Much better than those cute little makeup mirrors on the average car.
Nose out, unless a supermarket trolley is to follow.
Reversing from a large area into a small is often easier then the other way
When I lived back in the States, it was probably 80-90% nose-in, but here in Japan it’s always nose-out. I would estimate that roughly 99% of Japanese drivers back in to their spaces, so when walking through any parking lot anywhere you’ll always see headlights. I suppose that when I return later this month/next month I’ll continue the habit depending on convenience.
Many of us who have had the experience of spending a tour (or career) assigned to Strategic Air Command, were taught that you always park nose out (SAC regulation), to ensure you could respond if the klaxon went off.
Old habits die hard…………
I absolutely hate when you’re going through a parking lot and get stuck behind a “nose out” guy. It takes them twice as long to park.
I’ve been driving for 22 years, have almost always parked nose in ( a couple of jobs I’ve had forced employees to park nose out,,but on my own time I never do it) and have never had a single accident backing out.
It’s just one of those ridiculous “safe driving” things that get companies lower insurance. I’ve worked for FedEx and Peapod and had to take safe driving courses at both and most of the stuff in those programs is common sense or a waste of time.
More power to you if you do it but I don’t think it matters much one way or the other. You have to back in or back out either way.
This is what I think too.
I can definitely see backing into a spot being slightly safer than backing out (in terms of backing over a pedestrian), but really, the risk of that happening is very low. I think the risk of property damage is higher backing in too. You’re much more likely to blindly scrape a car backing into a spot surrounded by cars, than backing out into an open aisle
Backing out of a spot into an open area is almost certainly quicker than the laborious, aisle-blocking slow back in most of these people do.
Also, in my area, nose out is 100% a truck thing. I think it’s more of a “look what I can do” thing than for practical reasons.
> Also, in my area, nose out is 100% a truck thing. I think it’s more of a “look what I can do” thing than for practical reasons.
If you don’t drive a pickup truck or a large car with a lot of front overhang, I think you just don’t “get it”. In a tight parking lot, you don’t want the turning wheels still in the parking spot when exiting.
I used to have an old Lincoln, and have put many miles in an F150, I know about parking a big car. Never had to resort to backing it into a spot, and I drove & parked it all over DC, NYC, Boston, Toronto, etc.
I’m in the Great Plains now, these trucks do this in the biggest, most open lots you’ve ever seen. The tightest parking lot in town is Walmart, and they have uni-directional angled parking rows, where you have to park nose in.
When the crossover rate between nose out parking and trucks with gym or Monster energy stickers on them nears 100%, I’m going to maintain, here at least, it’s an attitude thing, and not a practical one.
It’s not the tightness of the spot, it’s the width of the approach. My pickup absolutely cannot make the corner coming in from the front on many lots. Not in one approach anyway. Turning radius and length is too much. It doesn’t take long at all to back in when you know what you’re doing. And the safety advantage cannot be denied.
Attitude? That’s ridiculous. It’s an easier and safer way to park a large vehicle. Period.
“It doesn’t take long at all to back in WHEN YOU KNOW WHAT YOU’RE DOING”. You doubt its an attitude thing, while displaying a cocky attitude about it requiring more skill to accomplish, and now more than one commenter thinks it makes them more of a skilled parker to back in.
Hmmm. Looks like you have pretty much confirmed my initial guess of: “I think it’s more of a “look what I can do” thing than for practical reasons.”
Ten years ago when my wife and I separated, I rented a crappy cheap apartment in a complex. Many of my neighbors didn’t own cars, and so they walked through the complex to get to nearby shopping. More than once, after parking nose in, I failed to see someone walking behind my car as I started to back out and nearly hit them. So I started backing into parking spaces so I’d have a clear, full view. It’s a habit that has mostly stuck.
Always nose out, much safer for visibility when pulling into traffic even in parking lot. In vehicles with limited rear quarter visibility its absolutely necessary. Side benefit is if the battery needs a jump-start, much more convenient to do.
ALWAYS nose out, if only to be able to see past the enormous pickups a SUV’s that inhabit U.S. parking lots a moment or two sooner. Not to mention oblivious mothers pushing shopping carts and yakking on their cell phones while their precious child runs out ahead of them because all the world is their playground, innit? 😉
I used to park nose in. But when I got my F-150 I found getting in and out to be a pain. In many lots I can’t get nose in in a single shot. Swinging the nose around while backing in, with practice, is actually easier in tight spaces. And a heck of a lot safer pulling out.
Final thoughts on this topic:
If you are driving through the parking lot and someone ahead of you is about to pull out, what do you see?
nose out:
-if it’s dark, maybe he’ll turn on his headlights before rolling
-if it’s daylight, maybe his car has running lights you can see before he’s rolling
-if it’s daylight and he doesn’t have running lights, first clue you get is when he lurches out of the parking spot in front of you.
nose in:
-if he has an automatic, you will see the brake lights flash as he puts it in gear.
-you will see backup lights as they have been mandatory in the US since the 60s.
If you are in the parking spot:
nose out:
-if you are in a normal size car, and the car next to you is a monster SUV or pickup, a 50/50 chance in the US. you can’t see anyone coming until you are halfway out of the spot, when you can finally see around the end of the steel wall next to you, so you’ll be hanging 3-4 feet into the aisle.
nose in:
-if you are in a normal size car, and the car next to you is a monster SUV or pickup, you still can’t see anything, but you can repeatedly tap the brakes to flash the brake lights as you creep out, and hope someone notices. By the time you can see around the end of the steel wall, you’re only hanging out a couple feet more into the aisle than the nose out guy, so, if you get nailed, you would have been nailed if you had been nose out anyway.
Nose in. We have “assigned” parking at my job. I park in an underground parking deck, in front of a cement pole. I’m afraid if I would back in I would hit the cement pole. Ha ha
Nose out preferably. Most on road parking here is either parallel or angled to force nose in parking.
In a parking lot, I try to find a spot that will only have vehicles on one side of my car rather than on both; with either grass or a curb on the other side. I then park as close as possible on the non-car side, allowing more room on the side where people will open their car doors toward mine. Doesn’t matter if what I drive is a new car or an old, used car, I don’t want careless jerks damaging my car. Just seems to me a full-size pick-up or a large SUV could do a lot of damage, and probably wouldn’t leave you a note with their personal info and insurance company policy info.
I think I’ve read where one or more people think it takes longer to back in. If that is the case, I’d rather do that initially, when I have the time, rather than when I’m leaving, when I may be running short on time. Or, explained another way, it may be dark when I’m leaving, and it will be easier to see to back into in daylight.
When in a smaller car (say, an old 5-Series), no system really. In a truck I prefer backing in the spot, as it is much easier that way. Driving away is a breeze later as well.
Two reasons for nose out:
1. to get into our garage on a narrow, one way street, the turning radius is radically different for our RWD BMW and I cannot get the car in going nose in. Backing in, the turn is a one-sweep effort. I call it threading the needle backwards but it works.
2. There was a study recently that said that nose-out drivers are significantly more ambitious and successful. I need all the help I can get so I’m backing into all the other spots too!
When I worked at the Coca Cola Bottling Co in Cincinnati 30 years ago, it was decreed that company cars would be nose-out…they felt that backing into an enclosed space was inherently safer than backing out into traffic.
I do park nose-in at Kroger’s, so the trunk is closest to the aisle and I don’t have to take the cart between parked cars.