A weird debate once again broke out on Miles in the Morning, this time involving people who would rather back into a parking spot than pull in forwards.
Apparently if you are one of these folks, it means you think you're better than others.
This question was asked on the popular message board site Quora, where one person claims there is a "deep-seated psychological driving force behind reverse parking."
A man named Jimmy Sternbergh explains, "It all stems from control issues either of their own kind growing up or control issues forced upon them by their parents. If you were to take a cross-sectional psychological battery of everyone who parks backwards you will see that they are all vain self-important people with control issues."
Others claim it's all about safety.
Donald Loughlin writes, "The reason skilled drivers back into parking spaces is not psychological but is safety related. A driver must either back in or back out so the decision is: which way is safer, or less dangerous. There is no difference in the time or effort."
He breaks it down as follows:
Pulling in forward then backing out
-Pulling in is straightforward, although getting centered in a lane can be challenging for some. Often requires a back & forth maneuver to get centered.
-Backing out into active traffic with restricted visibility to the rear and cross traffic cannot be seen until partially into the aisle. Collisions are not uncommon.
-Pedestrians can cross behind the car while backing without being seen.
-Shopping carts might be left behind the car which cannot be seen over the back seat.
Backing in then pulling out forward
-The space is visible as the driver pulls past to set up for backing in. There cannot be cross traffic in the space and pedestrians are unlikely to wander through it or shopping carts suddenly appear.
-Because of the geometry of front wheel steering, positioning in the center of the slot is easy, typically accomplished on the initial movement.
-Pulling out forward allows an unobstructed view of cross traffic, pedestrians and shopping carts. Collisions are rare.
So where do you fall in line? Will you take the time to back into a parking spot? If you do, do you think you're better than others?
Or do you just feel it's a waste of time and makes no difference one way or the other?
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