In uk.transport, Mortimer wrote:
>"Peter Hill"
nospam.demon.co.uk> wrote in message
>news:361sc4l5ls3jbefv4p5ih1a6aimlosffpf@4ax.com...>> On Mon, 15 Sep 2008 02:17:09 +0100, Derek Geldard
>>
miniac.demon.co.uk> wrote:
>>
>> Fact that so many cars are
>> parked nose in to the driveway, even when obstruction of view by high
>> walls or trees make the reversing off near sucide and requires other
>> drivers to make allowance, indicates that many could/would/should
>> fail.>
>The debate about driving forwards into a parking space or driveway versus
>reversing into it is one that divides the world! The IAM prefer reversing
>into spaces,
I'm with the IAM on this one.
>but I could make a good case for driving forwards:
Go on then!
>- It is easier to drive forwards (car in normal mode with steering wheels at
>front of direction of travel, and with good visibility) when doing the
>high-precision part of the manoeuvre which requires you to be positioned
>accurately side-to-side and not to hit the car/wall ahead of you, and to
>leave the reversing for when you've got bags of space (the lane between the
>car-parking spaces)
Clearly it seems easier to go in forwards otherwise people wouldn't do
it. However it's not easier to do it forwards *accurately*. A glance at
the average supermarket car park will show that the nose-out cars are
parked more centrally and straighter than the nose-in ones. Obviously
there are exceptions but I think you'll find that's true on average.
>- When reversing into a narrow space, you have to swing the rear end (the
>front of the car) a long way to make small adjustments to the widthways
>position of the car,
(correct)
>whereas you only need to make a small adjustment to the
>steering to make such corrections if you drive in forwards.
(wrong) The same adjustment is required whichever direction you're going
in. The difference is, if you're going forwards, you often haven't got
room to make the necessary adjustments, so the car frequently ends up
crooked.
>[...]
>
>- reversing to park usually takes longer than driving in forwards, and I'm
>usually in more of a hurry to be somewhere on foot when I arrive at a
>car-park than I am when I set off afterwards
OK, nose-in parking is easier to do (badly) and it's quicker when
arriving. True, but those factors don't weigh heavily with me. Some
factors that do matter are, in no particular order:
* The dangerous bit (reversing) is best done when I've just driven up
and carefully assessed the presence and behaviour of other vehicles
and pedestrians. The worst time to do it would be when I've walked up
to the car, put my seat belt on, selected a CD, started the engine,
and don't have a clue what's going on around me.
* In winter, the reversing is best done when all my windows are fully
cleared after a long drive rather than when I've just started the
engine.
* The instructions for my car specify that it's not good to let the
engine idle after starting it from cold. I prefer to drive straight
off.
* There's more room for me to manoeuvre into a narrow space when
reversing than going forwards, in the usual case where I'm obstructed
by cars opposite. That's because I keep the steered wheels in the
open, where they can be used to good effect, for as long as possible.
* Reversing in makes it easier for adjacent reversed-in cars to see
what might be coming before they set off.
--
Mike Barnes
