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Comment by LatteLazy | Hacker News Reader

I've always taken the fact people DON'T always back in as evidence of the HUGE discount factor people apply to things in the future. You either back in or back out. Backing out is self evidently harder, more dangerous, more stressful etc. But it won't happen for at least 1h so people accept it the same way they run up credit card debts they don't need or don't deal with minor health issues until they're life threatening.

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I just assume one of 2 reasons:

* there is a wall and they need to pack/unpack something from the boot.

* they are incompetent at parking.

I don't buy "I wanted to save a bit of time now", backing up doesn't take all that much longer if you're competent at it and stress of having to back out with no vision is not worth it.

I dislike not being in the middle of the parking space, so I tend to re-enter multiple times when I have to head in. Back in takes less time for me (but I agree that this is a weird obsession).

Backing out is easier in one respect, because you are backing onto a road or open parking area that's much wider than a car-width. Backing in requires maneuvering into a narrow spot that's only slightly wider than the car itself. You can't "miss" backing into the road again, but you can miss backing into a parking spot and it makes you feel really stupid for "showing off" and not driving straight in like most people do. Maybe this is just my parking anxiety showing...

You're supposed to have an easier time controlling your car in reverse. At least in all cars I drove, including my father utility truck with only side mirrors (and tbh, the small convex mirror below the regular one should be present on every vehicle).

When the parking spots are parallel to the road, I see people back in all the time, so I know it should be true for everyone.

Easier is relative :) You have better maneuverability in a way, but it's harder too because you're looking the wrong way, and the steering wheel turns opposite way to that which you are used to. I always have to think to myself "left hand down means the back goes over there...", it's not as instinctive as driving forwards.

Um... The manoeuvres are identical in terms of geometry. Only direction changes. The only question is, do you want to be going forwards or backwards at various points. So it cannot be wider one way or the other.

(assuming your car is a rectangle)

You need to back out in both cases, literally zero difference whether you do it when arriving or leaving makes no difference, but loading your grocery when parked head in is way more convenient than the other way in which case it can be striaght up impossible with car parked against you or the wall in underground garage and narrow spaces between cars where you can't fit shopping cart.

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