I live in a good size city with limited parking. Parking
lots at transit stations are non-existent. In some areas, local conditions are
conducive to relatively close parking assuming everyone participates in
furthering the common good of close parking for all.
In this episode of How to Park Your Car, we will treat the
unique situation of finding close parking along a street in which you are
actually driving away from the destination. Parking participants arrive around the same
time so it’s not the hunt for an open spot.
The general rule is
The closest spot is at the end of the string of cars parked,
which is farthest away from your destination.
This rule is important to keep in mind for two reasons
1 – you don’t need to drive 5 mph hoping a parking spot will
magically appear before the end of the line of cars already parked, and
2 – the closer everyone parks to each other, the closer ALL
participants get to park to the final destination AND (bonus reason!) more people get to park.
There is a proper approach to this style of parking. As you
can see below, the desired method is to pull past the parking spot and align
your car with the curb. Then, reverse slowly (unless you’re very proficient) to
within 1 to 2 feet of the car behind you. This will allow the car behind you to
exit the space and give you some maneuvering room should the person who parks
in front of you decide to kiss your bumper. [not that this is likely,
considering the need for this entry]
The illustration below shows the wrong way:
Pull in and only reverse a little, if at all, leaving
between 6 and 8 feet between you and the car behind.
When this method is utilized, over the course of 4 or 5
cars, at least 3 parking spots are lost. This is not in accordance with
furthering the common good of close parking for all.
Another group participation exercise is two or more cars
approaching the same line of parking. The general rule is
The car in front gets the closer spot.
Car A pulls in according to Diagram 2. Car B, trailing
behind Car A, then pulls in front of Car A. Car B waits until Car A has
performed its complete reverse positioning prior to completing its parking and
exiting the vehicle. Otherwise, unsightly gaps appear. Once Car A has come to a
complete stop, Car B reverses as indicated in Diagram 2.
In NO circumstances should Car B try to scoot in behind Car
A in the gap that Car A has temporarily created while performing proper parking
methods.
© Kestrel, 2012
5 comments:
This is hilarious!! and oh so true.
Tragedy of the commons, aka why should any individual do anything for the common good? [bonus pts for the illustrations]
I'm thinking of printing out these instructions and leaving them on offending cars' windshields.
Kestrel, I think that would be an excellent idea as obviously, these drivers do not have a clue.
there's someone in the slope who has handmade "poor parking" tickets which you get on your windshield if you leave too big a gap (wasting precious parking territory) or park too close to other cars. While I feel their pain, I can't help but imagine they have too much time on their hands.
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