Raising the bar on bad parking

[62woollybugger]

One of my pet hates is the driver who insists on reversing into a parking bay in a parking lot where there is too little overtaking space for other cars to pass. I imagine that they will argue that this makes it easier for them to later drive away - however there is not only a lot more effort going into reverse parking in tight bays, but a steam of car waiting for them to do so.

Regards from Perth

Derek

Over there in the West a lot of those would be people who work in mining, as every mine site I've been to it's compulsory to park rear end in due to OHS rules. The theory is that a parking space is a controlled area, whereas the road etc is an uncontrolled area & it's safer to reverse into a controlled space than an uncontrolled one.

[Gabriel]

I only ever reverse park or 'drive through' a spot as I carry my tool boxes on the back, and even with a reversing camera there are blind spots. Whilst I understand it may be a little frustrating for other drivers, at least if I'm reverse parking I can see with my own eyes as I drive past any obstacles and then don't have to rely solely on the camera (as it states in most user guides, you shouldn't rely solely on the camera).....

I know this also doesn't speak well of my vision when driving but I know where my blind spots are and pay a lot of attention whilst on the road - and I do have to get my tools to work....


Back to the ' parking'
I challenge anyone to go to a Bunnings trade/timber drive through on a weekend after 9am and find ANYONE doing the courteous or correct thing.....

[Pagie]

The wheelchair people always win the Marathon races.

[rwbuild]

Back to the ' parking'
I challenge anyone to go to a Bunnings trade/timber drive through on a weekend after 9am and find ANYONE doing the courteous or correct thing.....

Also the customers who have a trailer with sheet goods or timber tied on with an ocky strap and haven't a clue on either reversing or taking a wide arc and get the trailer hung up in the drive thru section

[Gabriel]

I don't wanna hijack Doug's thread (more than it already has been) but I could write a novel with the stupid stuff I've seen there - and I'm only a customer!!

If only the staff could book people for doing stupid s#+t then that money could cure cancer in a week!

[doug3030]

I only ever reverse park or 'drive through' a spot as I carry my tool boxes on the back, and even with a reversing camera there are blind spots. Whilst I understand it may be a little frustrating for other drivers, at least if I'm reverse parking I can see with my own eyes as I drive past any obstacles and then don't have to rely solely on the camera (as it states in most user guides, you shouldn't rely solely on the camera).....

I have no problem with anyone reversing into a parking spot - provided that they can do it in one attempt at a reasonable speed and not hit anything beside or behind them. I rarely see that.

Instead I see horrendous examples of poor driving. In Victoria, the license test includes being able to back into a car park. This is meant to test that the driver can control the car in reverse and was never intended as a recommendation that backing into car parks is the only way to do it.

I used to park at Hoppers Crossing Station early in the morning for my daily commute, back when I had to go to work.There was a woman who used to arrive at the car park about the same time as we did. Every morning she would reverse into a car park - several times. This was at the start of peak commuter time and by the time she finally got into the parking spot the traffic behind her had banked up right out of the car park and was blocking the main road over the railway tracks and through the adjacent traffic lights. Arriving before or after her could mean the difference between catching or missing the train. People used to shout abuse at her as she walked away from her car but she could not have cared less.

Once I was no longer working I used to go to the station to pick up my partner from the train in the evening. Where I used to pick her up there was the standard two rows of right angle parking, so when you get two empty spots one behind the other you can drive through the first spot into the second one, ready to drive out forwards when you are ready to leave. I was generally able to time my arrival so that I got one of these "drive through" spots. Other people coming to meet the train used to do similar so there were usually no "drive through" opportunities closer to the arrival time of the train. Once the drive through ones were taken, then they would start reversing in behind the ones who had been able to drive through. More often than I could begin to count, I would be sitting in the car waiting and a car would reverse in behind me and back straight into the back of my car.. Particularly in the winter when it was dark at this time, they would just think they had hit an empty car and they would just roll forward a few inches and park. I used to get out of my car and confront them. Nine times out of 10 they would flatly deny that they had hit my car, even though I was sitting in it and felt the impact. There was never any damage to MY car anyway as it was a 4WD with a tow bar that resembled a rear bullbar. The point still remains that so many people were so poor at reversing into a car park that they hit my car and moreover did not care, but they must have known.

Yes it is true that in theory a car is more maneuverable in reverse into a tight space, but in practice the theory does not stand up to scrutiny more often than not.

Back to the ' parking'
I challenge anyone to go to a Bunnings trade/timber drive through on a weekend after 9am and find ANYONE doing the courteous or correct thing.....

If I need anything from Bunnings Trade/Timber I go on a weekday after 10:00am after all the tradies have gotten their materials for the day - because I can. Same with Bunnings Retail,

As an aside, our local Bunnings has more disabled car parks next to the Tradies door than they do next to the general entry door. You rarely see anyone parked in the spots near the tradies door but you can never get a disabled park near the main door. Talk about poor allocation of resources.

I don't wanna hijack Doug's thread (more than it already has been) but I could write a novel with the stupid stuff I've seen there - and I'm only a customer!!

If only the staff could book people for doing stupid s#+t then that money could cure cancer in a week!

Go ahead and tell a few tales Gab - the hijack has at least stayed with driving and mainly parking so far, but its only a matter of time.

[crowie]

Yes but did the driver have a "disability parking permit" in the car???

[doug3030]

Yes but did the driver have a "disability parking permit" in the car???

See post 6, Crowie.

Something else I just noticed in the big photo where Ian quoted my original post (post 14). Do those vehicles parked in the taxi zone look like taxi's to anyone?

[BobL]

At a local shopping centre there's a narrow road that runs though the middle of the centre with 15 and 30 minute limit parking bays on both sides of the road. A couple of the bays are loading zones and one bay outside the post office is dedicated postie pick up bay.

Most times the postie van comes to drop off and pick up stuff some moron is parked in the postie's bay. The postie then double parks his big van alongside his bay and calls the parking dude. This also causes a major bottle neck and lots of angry driver. The offending parkee is usually picking up a coffee or similar and comes back to, his car locked in, a ticket being written out, and the abuse of he dozen plus motorists being inconvenienced.

Despite this there seems to be and endless supply of eedjets continuing to park in the postie's bay.

[Handyjack]

See post 6, Crowie.

Something else I just noticed in the big photo where Ian quoted my original post (post 14). Do those vehicles parked in the taxi zone look like taxi's to anyone?

Do not look like marked taxis - maybe Ubers waiting for a fair or meal?

[ian]

Originally Posted by doug3030
You would have to go a long way to beat this one.



just for fun, I'm going to go in to bat for this person.

Those disabled parking bays don't look all that wide, and it looks like the yellow stripy bit is intended to accommodate the width of a fully open door. So if the disabled person car was carrying two disabled people, then parking as this person has would ensure that they could both get back in car when they returned.

[AlexS]

In parking areas where the bays are perpendicular to the approach lane,it is easier to reverse into a narrow parking bay than to drive in, if the approach is also narrow. If you reverse in, the vehicle is almost straight when it enters the bay, and you can line up in the centre of the bay. If you drive in, you're entering on an angle, and either finish up parked diagonally in the bay, or have to back & fill to straighten up.

[Skew ChiDAMN!!]

We've been property-hunting in rural NSW and I pulled in at Bathurst for a takeaway cuppa to break up the drive.

In rural NSW most towns have mandated 45deg rear-to-kerb parking; clearly signed and marked.

As I was pulling in, I was surprised to see a gull-wing Lambourghini - door open - parked nose in, 'wrong' 45degree angle, taking up a disabled parking spot, a bike parking spot and half of the next car park. A scooter had pulled up behind him, blocking him in; the scooter rider was wearing a reflective vest and white helmet with reflective neck shield. Either a postie or a parking inspector, I suspect the latter for obvious reasons.

The rider was standing next to the Lambo, while the driver was furiously waving his hands in the air and shouting in his face loud enough for me to hear over the radio as I drove past.

One cuppa in hand later, as I was driving out I was surprised to see the lambo, scooter and two blokes still there... along with a cop bike and it's rider.

Seriously, if the Lambo driver was that stupid he is mentally handicapped and should be given a lifetime disability sticker he could proudly display on the wall of his cell...

[rustynail]

I used to drive an old mate to the shops to do his weekly shopping. He was minus both legs. Not to be confused with "legless." While sitting in our car a Bronco ute roared into the adjoining handicapped parking spot, driven by a ditzy looking young blond, all done up to the nines, make-up and hair to perfection.
"Look at that," says my mate, "Another inconsiderate *#*#*#!"
As he was about to wind down the window and give her a piece of his mind, she throws the door open, swings round in her seat, pulls up her dress and begins fitting two artificial legs.
Things are not always as they seem.

[graham.murfett]

One of my pet hates is the driver who insists on reversing into a parking bay in a parking lot where there is too little overtaking space for other cars to pass. I imagine that they will argue that this makes it easier for them to later drive away - however there is not only a lot more effort going into reverse parking in tight bays, but a steam of car waiting for them to do so.

Regards from Perth

Derek

But aren't you sitting in a comfy car, radio on, air-con on?
Can't you wait another 10 seconds?