The assumption is that there is not much room in the lane. When you pull in forward, especially with a longer vehicle, you need more room to swing out and get the front end aligned with the spot before you enter the space since the rear just follows the front turning wheels. When backing, you just have to get one of the rear wheels into position and then the front end swings out while pulling into the spot rather than before pulling in. It’s way easier to pull out of the spot when you do this, too, because you can turn the wheel immediately, whereas when you’re front in, you have to back almost all the way out before you can start cutting the wheel. Of course it also depends on how far past the rear wheels the vehicle extends as to how much it will swing out.
You can’t turn the wheel immediately on the way out or you’ll drag the back end of the truck into the vehicle next to you.
If they didn’t have the room to swing out to go in straight, they likely won’t get backed into the spot on the first try as well. The number of cars getting run into while parked if everyone backed in would sky rocket. I have met at least 3 people who told me they couldn’t parallel park, I’d rather those people just pull in forward so they can see where the other cars are.
As I said, it depends on how much of the vehicle extends beyond the rear wheels as to how far you have to swing out or pull out before turning. But it’s still significantly less than with front-in parking.
And I’m not talking about skill, I’m talking about physics. I lived in a place there there was a rock wall opposite of the parking spaces and just enough room between the cars and the wall for the width of a car and maybe another foot of clearance. If the spots next to mine were occupied, it was physically impossible to pull in or out front facing without several rounds of adjustments. But backing in and out was perfectly fine. And it was only big enough for cars.
And there are plenty of spots in my city that are back in parking only (usually angled). It’s way easier than parallel parking and parallel parking is much more common. And the reason is that the cars pulling into these spots don’t have to swing into the incoming traffic lane like with front in. So they only block one lane of traffic while parking. Though most people don’t get that and swing out anyway because they’re used to front in parking.
I’ve actually been hit more times by front pulled in cars. Both because they are not at all cautious pulling out and because they mis judge how wide they should swing out before pulling in and end up side swiping the cars next to them. So it’s not even that much of a skill issue. People who don’t have skill parking will fuck It up no matter what way they have to do it.
Not so much simpler as more specific. Geometry is just a subset of physics. The common properties of objects in a three dimensional perspective of the universe. 😁
Both parallel parking and backing in are a part of the bloody exam for a license here in the UK. So the people who are unable to should not have a license in the first place. And that is before we start talking about the outsized trucks americans are so obsessed with.
I tend to think we should all redo the exam every 10 years or so just to make sure we are still fit…
In tight fits you are much more able to park straight than if you parked nose in.more space for the front end to angle and get the back end where needs to be as well as space to move the front end back and forth to straighten out.
Nose forward you are pretty limited in sideways movement and need to do like 18 tiny 3-point turns to try and get it lined up good.
More maneuverability, being able to pivot around the wheels that are first to enter the parking space, kinda like the difference in results when going nose first into a parallel parking spot vs backing in.
So I’ve driven fire trucks and similar sized vehicles. If I’m trying to get the truck in a driveway and have two lanes to work with I can go nose first. I go into the lane opposite of the target driveway to swing the front end into the driveway. It definitely takes both lanes if you don’t want to make a 100 point turn, Austin Powers style.
If it’s a tiny road or only one lane then I have to back in. I approach by getting as close to the target drive as possible and then swing the nose away from that side of the road, lining up at a better angle when I start backing. This pic shows it well but you don’t need nearly as much space irl. Your just go slower and cut the wheel harder. The back tire could be just a bit above and to the left the #3.
My point is you can get into a lot tighter spaces backing in. There’s a reason why forklifts steer from the back. The truck in the pic should have backed in or started over.
If you back up with your front wheels turned all the way to the side, the back corner of your car barely moves. Mostly of the movement is your front end swinging to the side.
This can be useful when you need to make a sharp turn. It allows the back corner of your vehicle to make a very tight turn around the opening of the parking space.
Basically going forward, to turn the vehicle 90 degrees might take say 30 feet of forward motion. Going backward, it might only take 3 feet of “forward” motion to turn the car 90 degrees.
Much tighter turning radius for the end of the car opposite the turning wheels.
This is why a forklift’s steering control works by turning the back wheels not the front wheels. Allows that forklift to rotate around the front, without the front moving at all.
Forklifts have a more extreme version of this design since you can turn those wheels full sideways (and even a little backwards if you want), but the same principle operates in any vehicle with one set of turning wheels.
That truck driver needs to learn to back in. This situation is exactly why pickup trucks are often parked with the front facing out.
I’m not following…how is the direction of the car relevant to this photo?
The assumption is that there is not much room in the lane. When you pull in forward, especially with a longer vehicle, you need more room to swing out and get the front end aligned with the spot before you enter the space since the rear just follows the front turning wheels. When backing, you just have to get one of the rear wheels into position and then the front end swings out while pulling into the spot rather than before pulling in. It’s way easier to pull out of the spot when you do this, too, because you can turn the wheel immediately, whereas when you’re front in, you have to back almost all the way out before you can start cutting the wheel. Of course it also depends on how far past the rear wheels the vehicle extends as to how much it will swing out.
You can’t turn the wheel immediately on the way out or you’ll drag the back end of the truck into the vehicle next to you.
If they didn’t have the room to swing out to go in straight, they likely won’t get backed into the spot on the first try as well. The number of cars getting run into while parked if everyone backed in would sky rocket. I have met at least 3 people who told me they couldn’t parallel park, I’d rather those people just pull in forward so they can see where the other cars are.
As I said, it depends on how much of the vehicle extends beyond the rear wheels as to how far you have to swing out or pull out before turning. But it’s still significantly less than with front-in parking.
And I’m not talking about skill, I’m talking about physics. I lived in a place there there was a rock wall opposite of the parking spaces and just enough room between the cars and the wall for the width of a car and maybe another foot of clearance. If the spots next to mine were occupied, it was physically impossible to pull in or out front facing without several rounds of adjustments. But backing in and out was perfectly fine. And it was only big enough for cars.
And there are plenty of spots in my city that are back in parking only (usually angled). It’s way easier than parallel parking and parallel parking is much more common. And the reason is that the cars pulling into these spots don’t have to swing into the incoming traffic lane like with front in. So they only block one lane of traffic while parking. Though most people don’t get that and swing out anyway because they’re used to front in parking.
I’ve actually been hit more times by front pulled in cars. Both because they are not at all cautious pulling out and because they mis judge how wide they should swing out before pulling in and end up side swiping the cars next to them. So it’s not even that much of a skill issue. People who don’t have skill parking will fuck It up no matter what way they have to do it.
I’d say it’s even simpler than physics; it’s just a matter of geometry
Not so much simpler as more specific. Geometry is just a subset of physics. The common properties of objects in a three dimensional perspective of the universe. 😁
Both parallel parking and backing in are a part of the bloody exam for a license here in the UK. So the people who are unable to should not have a license in the first place. And that is before we start talking about the outsized trucks americans are so obsessed with. I tend to think we should all redo the exam every 10 years or so just to make sure we are still fit…
I thought trucks were backed in for the hitch to not stick out. Why would backing the truck in help? Just so the driver could see wtf they were doing?
Thanks for the explanation everyone! I have started to drive a truck at work and I didn’t know about this
And thanks for not being jackasses while explaining too!
In tight fits you are much more able to park straight than if you parked nose in.more space for the front end to angle and get the back end where needs to be as well as space to move the front end back and forth to straighten out.
Nose forward you are pretty limited in sideways movement and need to do like 18 tiny 3-point turns to try and get it lined up good.
More maneuverability, being able to pivot around the wheels that are first to enter the parking space, kinda like the difference in results when going nose first into a parallel parking spot vs backing in.
The same reason parallel parking is done backing in.
So I’ve driven fire trucks and similar sized vehicles. If I’m trying to get the truck in a driveway and have two lanes to work with I can go nose first. I go into the lane opposite of the target driveway to swing the front end into the driveway. It definitely takes both lanes if you don’t want to make a 100 point turn, Austin Powers style.
If it’s a tiny road or only one lane then I have to back in. I approach by getting as close to the target drive as possible and then swing the nose away from that side of the road, lining up at a better angle when I start backing. This pic shows it well but you don’t need nearly as much space irl. Your just go slower and cut the wheel harder. The back tire could be just a bit above and to the left the #3.
My point is you can get into a lot tighter spaces backing in. There’s a reason why forklifts steer from the back. The truck in the pic should have backed in or started over.
If you back up with your front wheels turned all the way to the side, the back corner of your car barely moves. Mostly of the movement is your front end swinging to the side.
This can be useful when you need to make a sharp turn. It allows the back corner of your vehicle to make a very tight turn around the opening of the parking space.
Basically going forward, to turn the vehicle 90 degrees might take say 30 feet of forward motion. Going backward, it might only take 3 feet of “forward” motion to turn the car 90 degrees.
Much tighter turning radius for the end of the car opposite the turning wheels.
This is why a forklift’s steering control works by turning the back wheels not the front wheels. Allows that forklift to rotate around the front, without the front moving at all.
Forklifts have a more extreme version of this design since you can turn those wheels full sideways (and even a little backwards if you want), but the same principle operates in any vehicle with one set of turning wheels.