Accidentally stealing a parking spot

[LifeOnPluto]

Agree with PPs. If the truck driver did not have his indicator on, you were not rude in taking the spot.

[sevenday]

If the spot is so tough to get into the normal way, I shudder to think what backing in with a truck would be like.  Of course the truck driver might not know this yet.  And I do agree, no reverse lights, no turn signal, I would have thought that the truck was leaving, not attempting to back into the spot.  I've passed up empty spots before for various reasons - i.e. I saw a space open up further up, or I wasn't actually going to park in that lane but needed to travel down the one-way lane to get to the turning point and reach the next lane over for the spot I DO want.  I wouldn't expect anyone to know without signaling/reverse lights.

[TomatoBunny]

I see several posters mention that a turning signal should/could have been used. Honest curiosity here, but what good would a turning signal do in this scenario? As CB described, I would have assumed the truck was making claim for the spot that the car in front of him was vacating if he'd put on his turning signal.

I just don't know how a turning signal would signify anything about him backing into a space?...  I'd never get "I'm backing up in a turn here." from a lone turning signal.  Is this perhaps something that's understood as a possibility in some areas? (perhaps busier/more cramped cities?)

I think the lack of reverse lights are key here. It seems he wanted to pull up further than the other car allowed him to before shifting to reverse. That then allowed you to park in the meantime. Seems like bad luck for him. Things happen.

[siamesecat2965]

I think his lack of reverse lights was to his detriement. The OP coudln't have know he was intending (if he was) to back into that space, and since another car was leaving, I would have probably made the same assumption, that he was waiting for that spot, NOT wanting to back into the very small spote he had just driven past.

I had a parking situation myself the other day, but I'm pretty sure I was in the right. I came down a parking aisle, and saw a car pulling out. I put my blinker on, and AS I was pulling into the spot, another car came around the other end into the aisle. She then gave me a dirty look, as if I had stolen her space, but the whoel time the car whose space I took was pulling out, she was nowhere to be seen, so I'm guessing she was in the next aisle, saw the car pulling out in mine, and decided to come around and park there, perhaps not seeing I was already waiting, and signaling for that spot. I just parked and got out, and went on my merry way.

[marcel]

Once somebody drives past a space it's fairgame for me.

I know that people who are used to big parking lots with wide lanes, or street parking with a lot of space etc. do sometimes not realize this, but backing into a space (regardless of wheter it is paralel parking or perpendicular parking) uses a lot less space, and therefore is often the easiest method of parking.

I will almost always back into a parking spot, regardless of how much space there is, simply because it is much easier to manoeuvre that way.

Saying that driving past a spot makes that spot fair game, sounds to me like you do not back into parking spots yourself, but that does not mean that you should not be aware that others do like to keep the manoeuvrability of backing into a spot. Only when people do not stop just past a parking spot, are they actualy driving past it.

I will always assume that a person who wants to park somewhere will drive past that space and then back into the space. A person driving just past a space and then stopping, is already a sign that that person most likely will attempt to park in that spot.

I agree with PPs that a turn signal should be used as well, but the fact that a person is standing still in the best spot to get into a parking spot is also some kind of indication of intent.

If I were the OP, I would have left the spot again, because the other car was there first.

[TootsNYC]

I see several posters mention that a turning signal should/could have been used. Honest curiosity here, but what good would a turning signal do in this scenario? As CB described, I would have assumed the truck was making claim for the spot that the car in front of him was vacating if he'd put on his turning signal.

I just don't know how a turning signal would signify anything about him backing into a space?...  I'd never get "I'm backing up in a turn here." from a lone turning signal.  Is this perhaps something that's understood as a possibility in some areas? (perhaps busier/more cramped cities?)

I think the lack of reverse lights are key here. It seems he wanted to pull up further than the other car allowed him to before shifting to reverse. That then allowed you to park in the meantime. Seems like bad luck for him. Things happen.

good point.

[Girly]

I know that people who are used to big parking lots with wide lanes, or street parking with a lot of space etc. do sometimes not realize this, but backing into a space (regardless of wheter it is paralel parking or perpendicular parking) uses a lot less space, and therefore is often the easiest method of parking.

Uh, what?

Maybe for you it's easier.... but it makes no difference if it's pull nose in, or back in. It takes the same amount of space either way.

[Betelnut]

I know that people who are used to big parking lots with wide lanes, or street parking with a lot of space etc. do sometimes not realize this, but backing into a space (regardless of wheter it is paralel parking or perpendicular parking) uses a lot less space, and therefore is often the easiest method of parking.

Uh, what?

Maybe for you it's easier.... but it makes no difference if it's pull nose in, or back in. It takes the same amount of space either way.

I'm with you on this Girly.  That statement makes no sense.  If you having to pull forward to back into a space, it seems like it even takes more space (temporarily) since you are driving past the space, then backing in.  When I park head-in, I just ... drive into the space, not past it.  Either way, the car itself is still taking up the same amount of space.  I hate backing up, so I never park by backing in, if I can help it.

[marcel]

I know that people who are used to big parking lots with wide lanes, or street parking with a lot of space etc. do sometimes not realize this, but backing into a space (regardless of wheter it is paralel parking or perpendicular parking) uses a lot less space, and therefore is often the easiest method of parking.

Uh, what?

Maybe for you it's easier.... but it makes no difference if it's pull nose in, or back in. It takes the same amount of space either way.

I'm with you on this Girly.  That statement makes no sense.  If you having to pull forward to back into a space, it seems like it even takes more space (temporarily) since you are driving past the space, then backing in.  When I park head-in, I just ... drive into the space, not past it.  Either way, the car itself is still taking up the same amount of space.  I hate backing up, so I never park by backing in, if I can help it.

I am not talking about the space the car is using up when parked, (though people parking nose first are more likely to park skewed) but about the space you need for the parking manouvre, whis is less when parking backward.

If you think that you need the same amount of space, please tell me how you get your car lined straight into a space when there is only a few inches on each side of your car, and the lane you are driving in is no more then a car length wide, because I see that as physically impossible.

The problem with going head first into a space is that you manoeuvre the car with your front wheels, so as soon as you have put those front wheels between the other cars, you have lost almost all of your manoevrability. If you back into a space, you have most of your car in a parking spot, before you start seriously losing manoeuvrability.

As I said earlier, what do you do if there is only a few inhes on each side of your car in the spot you want to park in? You have to be almost completely lined up with the spot when you enter it. To be lined up at that point, you need a lane that is something like 1.5-2 car lengths wide. When backing into the same spot, you do not have to be lined up when you enter the spot, since you are lining up while entering the spot. You can enter the spot from a lane that is only 1 car length wide (or even slightly less), therefore you need a lot more space for the manoeuvre when going head first.

[Girly]

Sorry, I still disagree. I have parked in SUPER TIGHT city spaces before, and I just pull right in. If it's so tight on both sides of the car that you only have a few inches on either side of the car, you won't be able to open the door to get out anyway, so that parking space isn't for you.

I guess we just have different driving styles or something, because it's VERY rare that once I pull nose in to a space I am either crooked, or have to back up to straighten myself out.... I can't even remember the last time that's happened to be honest.

My husband can pull nose in and parallel park. I have no idea how he manages that.... I haven't mastered parallel parking at all.

[Specky]

Where I live, it is illegal to pull through from one space into another AND back into a space (except parallel parking).

[AdakAK]

I don't like to back up either, but here it is fairly common for people to do so.  Especially in trucks.  I'd never really understood why but Marcel's answer does make sense to me.  Usually they turn their turn signal on and they don't sit for long before reversing.  Since there was a space opening up, I'd have left it.  If not, I would move. 

I don't pull forward if a truck particularly stops after passing a spot because I don't trust them not to be backing in, I put my signal on and wait.  When I first moved here I was almost hit thinking the same as the OP; they passed the spot, and are not taking it.  It has made me more cautious.

[marcel]

Sorry, I still disagree. I have parked in SUPER TIGHT city spaces before, and I just pull right in. If it's so tight on both sides of the car that you only have a few inches on either side of the car, you won't be able to open the door to get out anyway, so that parking space isn't for you.

I guess we just have different driving styles or something, because it's VERY rare that once I pull nose in to a space I am either crooked, or have to back up to straighten myself out.... I can't even remember the last time that's happened to be honest.

My husband can pull nose in and parallel park. I have no idea how he manages that.... I haven't mastered parallel parking at all.

re the bolded: I have lived in places where there is not enough parking available. If there was a spot that would fit your car, even if you could not open the door, you would take it there, and just climb out the back. Even without this extreme, aound here, it is common to have to park in spots where you have to squeeze very tight to get out the door

Also, when you park directly, nose first, how wide is the lane/street that you are coming from?

[Hillia]

I don't pull forward if a truck particularly stops after passing a spot because I don't trust them not to be backing in, I put my signal on and wait.  When I first moved here I was almost hit thinking the same as the OP; they passed the spot, and are not taking it.  It has made me more cautious.

This is my problem with people backing in (aside from the fact that it takes longer and yes, most of my grocery runs are at the end of the day when I just want to get <item> and get home).  I'm cruising down the parking lot, going slowly because it's a parking lot, but all of a sudden the vehicle in front of me puts on the brakes and starts backing up.  Often I will have to back up also, because they've driven past the spot they're now trying to get into.  With luck, there's not somebody behind me so I can back up; oftentime there is, and since they can't see past my vehicle, they don't know what I'm doing and sit there and honk at me...

If you really feel that backing in is the safest method to get into a parking space, please do it on the outer edges of the lot where the traffic is lighter, or do it when there are  not 5 other cars coming down the aisle behind you.

I also have to say I'm surprised at the assertion that it's so difficult/impossible to park correctly nose-in.  I do it several times a day, as do 90% of the other drivers I encounter, with vehicles from tiny compacts to large pickups/panel trucks, and it seems to work out fine for all of us.

[marcel]

I also have to say I'm surprised at the assertion that it's so difficult/impossible to park correctly nose-in.   I do it several times a day, as do 90% of the other drivers I encounter, with vehicles from tiny compacts to large pickups/panel trucks, and it seems to work out fine for all of us.

As I said, this probably means that you have wide lanes and wide parking spots. when parking is tighter, backing in is easier and more people will be backing into spots instead of going nose in.


re the bolded. I have encountered several situations where it is physicaly imposible to park nose first, but where it is possible to back in. I have never encountered a reverse situation.