GenVibe - Community for Pontiac Vibe Enthusiasts

Menards parking lot Wisconsin.

..... The car is inside its space. In fact, it's right where it should be. When short cars park all the way into the space, and then have other cars park on either side, the space can look empty until you drive up to it.

Being parked nose out is safer when you go to leave. No risk of backing into a person or another vehicle you didn't see in your mirrors. The drivers manual in some states tell you that you should park that way whenever possible. The hatchback has to be opened to load stuff, so lots of space to the rear of it makes perfect sense. It also saves you a bit of fuel, not having to back up.

I too ALWAYS back into parking spaces wherever possible. Unlike this person, I would have backed up a bit further so that a potential car/truck on either side of me would have more turning radius if need be and not a threat of hitting me. Wonder if this vehicle has the back-up rear view camera?

BenWA wrote:Being parked nose out is safer when you go to leave. No risk of backing into a person or another vehicle you didn't see in your mirrors. The drivers manual in some states tell you that you should park that way whenever possible. The hatchback has to be opened to load stuff, so lots of space to the rear of it makes perfect sense. It also saves you a bit of fuel, not having to back up.

Nose out vs nose in is kind of a big debate. Many places have rules forbidding you from parking nose out. The reason is that there's no warning before the vehicle starts to pull out of the space. The white reverse lights on the back of cars are a safety feature.

kumquat wrote:

BenWA wrote:Being parked nose out is safer when you go to leave. No risk of backing into a person or another vehicle you didn't see in your mirrors. The drivers manual in some states tell you that you should park that way whenever possible. The hatchback has to be opened to load stuff, so lots of space to the rear of it makes perfect sense. It also saves you a bit of fuel, not having to back up.

Nose out vs nose in is kind of a big debate. Many places have rules forbidding you from parking nose out. The reason is that there's no warning before the vehicle starts to pull out of the space. The white reverse lights on the back of cars are a safety feature.

That's in angled parking spaces along sides of streets, not in big parking lots like that photo. I have seen just off street places where they REQUIRE you to back in, not go in nose first! There is one nearby where I live as I recall, having parked there before. They angled the spaces in such a direction that you can't go in nose first, unless you come in from the opposite side of the street/direction of travel but then you'd have a horrible time getting back out.

The white safety lights are a safety feature to light up the area behind the car at night so you can potentially see objects in the way, but also because of the reason I said before... it's riskier to go in reverse than it is to come out nose first if you can simply use your eyes to look, not rely on mirrors, so people approaching you that you may not see in mirrors will know you are about to come out of the space. You don't just go racing out of a space just because you are nose first so it's still safer than backing up. If you want to give warning, creep out a few inches and look around.

A lot of drivers don't give a damn about your backup lights anyway. They won't even toot their horn as you are slowly backing out, as they PASS YOU like they can't see you. So no, backing is never safe in a crowded parking lot. Small kids don't care about backup lights either. Or pets/animals. Or blind people for that matter.

BenWA wrote:

kumquat wrote:

BenWA wrote:Being parked nose out is safer when you go to leave. No risk of backing into a person or another vehicle you didn't see in your mirrors. The drivers manual in some states tell you that you should park that way whenever possible. The hatchback has to be opened to load stuff, so lots of space to the rear of it makes perfect sense. It also saves you a bit of fuel, not having to back up.

Nose out vs nose in is kind of a big debate. Many places have rules forbidding you from parking nose out. The reason is that there's no warning before the vehicle starts to pull out of the space. The white reverse lights on the back of cars are a safety feature.

That's in angled parking spaces along sides of streets, not in big parking lots like that photo. I have seen just off street places where they REQUIRE you to back in, not go in nose first! There is one nearby where I live as I recall, having parked there before. They angled the spaces in such a direction that you can't go in nose first, unless you come in from the opposite side of the street/direction of travel but then you'd have a horrible time getting back out.

The white safety lights are a safety feature to light up the area behind the car at night so you can potentially see objects in the way, but also because of the reason I said before... it's riskier to go in reverse than it is to come out nose first if you can simply use your eyes to look, not rely on mirrors, so people approaching you that you may not see in mirrors will know you are about to come out of the space. You don't just go racing out of a space just because you are nose first so it's still safer than backing up. If you want to give warning, creep out a few inches and look around.

A lot of drivers don't give a damn about your backup lights anyway. They won't even toot their horn as you are slowly backing out, as they PASS YOU like they can't see you. So no, backing is never safe in a crowded parking lot. Small kids don't care about backup lights either. Or pets/animals. Or blind people for that matter.

I can think of four garages and three parking lots I park in regularly that have signs posted prohibiting parking rear-in, and none of them are angled or one-way. Maybe it varies by region.

kumquat wrote:I can think of four garages and three parking lots I park in regularly that have signs posted prohibiting parking rear-in, and none of them are angled or one-way. Maybe it varies by region.

Specifically if a parking lot is next to, adjacent to, or literally touching a building where there are windows or vents for the heating/AC systems, then there MAY BE signs posted prohibiting rear in parking. This is due to the potential exhaust fumes entering the building and people getting sick! Never saw exhaust pipes come out of the front of a car yet so theses examples are good ones to where you MUST nose in.

Garages are different than outdoor parking.

This is how they do back-in only parking:

BenWA wrote:Garages are different than outdoor parking.

This is how they do back-in only parking:

Those are on streets, not parking lots or garages. You don't have pedestrian walkways in the pull-out areas. You do have traffic, however. These spaces are designed to minimize the impact on traffic of cars exiting their spaces, and maximize the ability of the car to get back into traffic without backing out blind into one or more lanes of roadway. Parking lots are a different story.

Here are some articles on the topic. It's illegal to park front-out in some places, and many private lots forbid it as well:

http://www.mercurynews.com/mr-roadshow/ ... -completed
"But some lots, like those at Valley Medical Center in San Jose. may post signs banning rear-first parking, so be careful."

kumquat wrote:Here are some articles on the topic. It's illegal to park front-out in some places, and many private lots forbid it as well:

http://www.mercurynews.com/mr-roadshow/ ... -completed
"But some lots, like those at Valley Medical Center in San Jose. may post signs banning rear-first parking, so be careful."

There appears to be very little data, but some organizations say it's safer to back in than back out:
http://www.kake.com/home/headlines/Back ... 46111.html

The main argument on either side seems to be pedestrian safety. Personally, I'm more worried about the person sitting in their car backed in because they could literally drive directly into me with zero warning, while a car without its reverse lights on would need to swtich gears first.

Thanks for the education everyone! I had no idea there are strategies to parking a Micro-car. I opted to take a close-up of the rear to avoid the license plate. A longer shot would have shown how the car was angled and poorly centered. More Stoli than strategy it seemed.

All of the city lots in Calgary are nose in only. It's so the camera car can read your plate so it can confirm with the system that you've paid the machine.

kumquat wrote:The main argument on either side seems to be pedestrian safety. Personally, I'm more worried about the person sitting in their car backed in because they could literally drive directly into me with zero warning, while a car without its reverse lights on would need to swtich gears first.

That doesn't make sense. Wouldn't they see your backup lights and not drive directly into you? I mean, you'd be right in front of them pretty much.


edit: oh did you mean the pedestrian? Well, I've seen plenty of cars with no working backup lights in parking lots backing up too, or no lights period.. not even brake lights! You'd be less likely to be run over by someone coming straight at you since they'd be looking directly in your direction, not in mirrors from 10+ feet away through mirrors.

Plus even on a Toyota or Honda with a very quiet idle, you'd be more likely to hear the engine if it was nose out.

...and you assume that the person is a female?

I have seen way too many vehicles without functioning reverse lights and /or brake lights .

808 Vibes wrote:...and you assume that the person is a female?

....and you assume a woman cannot fly a plane?

The Vibe has some "visibility issues", to say the least. I always either back in or pull through, depending on the situation. I try to never put myself in a position to have to back out of a parking space, especially where pedestrians are present.

Mark wrote:The Vibe has some "visibility issues", to say the least. I always either back in or pull through, depending on the situation. I try to never put myself in a position to have to back out of a parking space, especially where pedestrians are present.

After having a 19ft camper van with 95% blind spot area, the Vibe is a breeze to back up. I had a loud backup on rear of the van to help release me from SOME liability if some idiot walked behind it and got hit.

from the shot of the sticker, you can see its parked not close to parallel to the lines. However, with a car that tiny, it doesn't seem to matter much. Might have been able to park it sideways and still clear the lines

I live near a large military air station, its the kind of bumper sticker I'd be likely to see around here. Certainly nothing about it that might indicate driver gender.

Traced the AWA member sticker above the "land better than park" sticker, Adventist World Aviation, their website says "AWA exists to provide logistical air support in remote parts of the world, to carry out humanitarian work."

I usually try to park so that I can pull forward out of the parking space. I assumed places posted "nose in parking only" did so to keep people from pissing around blocking travel lanes while trying to back into a space. I know I feel safer pulling nose out rather than backing out. Whatever, as long as you don't hit anything, its all good

joatmon wrote:Certainly nothing about it that might indicate driver gender.

You're absolutely right, Joatmon, there is nothing on the sticker that would indicate gender, but the whole point of the OP's thread was to make fun of the driver's parking. The assumption is the word "she's" in the title of the OP's thread, when there is no validity in the "she." There is no "I <3 my husband" sticker, no "Army Wife...toughest job in the world" sticker, no "Harvard Mom" sticker, no "Mom's Taxi" sticker, nothing even indicating even a slightest hint at gender, not even in the car.
I could talk validities and fallacies, but I have finals.
I can appreciate that the OP intended it as a harmless new post on an otherwise painfully slow board, but hopefully in the future, they will be a little more selective in choice of words (and note that since I don't know the OP's gender, I used the word 'they.')

808 Vibes wrote:I can appreciate that the OP intended it as a harmless new post on an otherwise painfully slow board, but hopefully in the future, they will be a little more selective in choice of words (and note that since I don't know the OP's gender, I used the word 'they.')

Especially when he or she parked the vehicle perfectly.

808 Vibes wrote: I can appreciate that the OP intended it as a harmless new post on an otherwise painfully slow board, but hopefully in the future, they will be a little more selective in choice of words (and note that since I don't know the OP's gender, I used the word 'they.')

Hey Vibes,
I am sorry to have upset you with this thread, that was not my intent. In the future I will pay more attention to my pronouns! Good luck with your Finals, Chiadog