Who should have waited? (Car park question)

[LifeOnPluto]

DF and I carpool to work together. The car-park we use has spaces which can be easily reversed into. This morning, we had just pulled up (doing a reverse park). DF was driving, and I was in the front passenger seat. As DF turned the motor off, another car came up, and manoeuvred itself so that it was in a position to commence a reverse park into the spot next to us, on my side (note, there were several other spots available in the car-park, so it wasn't like this was the only one).

Before the other car started reversing, DF and I opened our doors, got out of the car, closed them, and walked around to the front. This would have taken less than 5 seconds, tops.

The other car reversed a little (but not into the spot), then sped away (with squealing tyres) towards another empty spot. As it did, the driver gave me a filthy look. I suspect she was annoyed that I hadn't waited for her to reverse park into the spot next to me, before opening my passenger door and getting out, etc.

My question was: was I rude? Should I have waited for the other car to reverse into the spot (and for the other driver to get out) before getting out of my own car? Or should the other driver have been the one to have waited until I had alighted from my car, before she reversed into the spot?
 

[radcat]

Personally, I would have waited if I could see there were people getting out of the car before I started to reverse.  I think the other driver behaved like a childish drama queen.

[doodlemor]

It sounds like somebody didn't have enough coffee before leaving for work this morning.

No, of course you weren't rude.  Waiting for others in a parking lot is just one of the small inconveniences of modern life.  The other driver should have waited patiently, and then parked.

[QueenofAllThings]

There is no 'correct' way. Either would have worked. Clearly, you wouldn't open the door while she was parking, and hopefully, she wouldn't park while you were opening your door.  In that there is no right answer, you were fine. Chalk up the dirty look to the fact that she was having a bad day and ont worry about it.

[Amara]

I would have waited, but the reason would have been to secure my own personal safety.

[delabela]

I agree with Amara - I don't think either way is rude, but I always worry that people won't see me in that type of situation so I would have waited. 

[jaxsue]

I would have waited, but the reason would have been to secure my own personal safety.

This.

General comment: the other driver's reaction was OTT, of course. 

[MorgnsGrl]

I think it's better for whoever is going to need more time to be the one who waits, and you don't always know who that is. If the already-parked car includes a baby in carseat + stroller, for example, I think the person who's going to be getting the baby out should wait for the other car to park, because unstrapping baby can be a big production. But in this case the OP didn't know if the car waiting to park was going to be terrible at it, and require many back and forth maneuvers that would take ages, so I think since she was quick it was perfectly reasonable for her to get out of the way first.

[AuntyEm]

I agree that the other driver was having a bad morning and was possibly running late so completely over-reacted to having to wait a couple of seconds for you to get out. 

If you were already exiting before she began to back up then I think she should have waited.  If you opened your doors in mid-park then I think you should have waited the couple of seconds for her to get into the space without having to worry about hitting you or your open door.

[staceym]

I would have waited, but the reason would have been to secure my own personal safety.

This.

General comment: the other driver's reaction was OTT, of course. 

I agree - if someone was in the process of backing up into a space next to me I definitely would have waited.  But, their reaction was way OTT!

[MrTango]

You were fine.

I'll bet the driver would have expected you to wait until she opened her door and got out, too.

[Niamh84]

The other driver should have waited - she was rude.  Though if I was you and I saw that she wasn't waiting and was already reversing into the spot then I would have waited for safety reasons like others said above.

[Hmmmmm]

I would have waited, but the reason would have been to secure my own personal safety.

This.

General comment: the other driver's reaction was OTT, of course. 

I agree - if someone was in the process of backing up into a space next to me I definitely would have waited.  But, their reaction was way OTT!

Agreed.  I normally wait for the car pulling into the spot to complete parking before I try to open my door.  My reasoning is that it is much easier for me to see someone pulling a car into a parking spot than it is for the person driving the car to see that I'm in the car and about to open my door.  I'd rather they not hit my car door. 

If I've just pulled into the spot and they saw me pulling into the spot right before them, I'll still wait.  Most people take a few seconds to turn off the car and collec their belongings before actually exiting the car. 

But their reaction was way over the top.