car parking antics

[jphanna]

a few times in my life i was able to run 2 cars. my favored car.....country drives only, and pampered every week, plus a scrubber to take to shopping centres for milk and bread etc.

me and my son are currently looking for a scrubber to do the chores, but right now, the FG (keeper) is driven to the shops. if i have people in the car, they find it amusing that i park in the back corner of any car park and think i have OCD.

one of these people who find my parking behavior questionable, yesterday was driving to the shops in a corolla. it was a hilly car park. i just mentioned that if they park on the lower part of the hill, whoever opens their door will probably with gravity swing wide open and hit the car. park at the top......

she didnt listen and when we came back, we just got in the car and an old lady rolled up on the high side, and sure enough....door swings wide open and BANG into her door.

OCD......maybe? but my doors dont have a single ding in them.

BTW......this is how my son describes the proposed scrubber car we are going to get. he has been doing the searching 99%.

'dad, with this car we can park on the front door at Coles'

[Ben73]

Also I don't get why people in the largest cars have to park in the smallest parks closest to the door of the shop.
They would rather go back and forward 3 times to squeeze into a park then open their door 30cm wide and squeeze their way out rather than parking an extra 15m away.

I always park on the far side of my local shop. I pull into the park at 20km/h, swing my door way open since no one is nearby, then walk past the person who entered the car park before me, but is still driving at 1km/h trying to squeeze into a tiny park near the door.
I get in the store first and also have done the extra steps adding to my minimum daily 10,000.
Win win in my books.

[commodorenutt]

I'm the same - drives my wife insane when I park 3 or 4 spots further away in a larger spot, or one near a wall/pole/garden (50% risk reduction).

But you always get some idiot who will park beside you, when there's 25 other spots to pick from...

[Fed]

I always park beside risk reducers figuring they will take more care opening doors.

[ebv8]

i drive an FG scrubber, in 12 months its had its fair share of carpark dings.
My BA GT was parked at work once and someone hit the front bumper and bent the bonnet and drove off.....never again!

[Big_Daz]

I just flat our refuse to take my SSV to the shops...lol... If we do go to the shops we take the Wife's Jeep and park somewhere where its big enough to not only fit the car but get my son out of his seat/etc... I just laugh at people who would rather drive round and round 10 times to get a park right next to the door because they are too lazy to walk a few extra metre's...

[Mercury Bullet]

Originally Posted by commodorenutt

I'm the same - drives my wife insane when I park 3 or 4 spots further away in a larger spot, or one near a wall/pole/garden (50% risk reduction).

But you always get some idiot who will park beside you, when there's 25 other spots to pick from...

Tell me about it.

Park miles away from anyone, come back to the car and there's a 4wd next to it.
Always a friggin 4wd.

[Ben73]

It also seams Im the only one who will reverse into parks when possible. So much quicker and easier. Plus it's safer to reverse into a known clear space rather than reverse out into an unknown flow of traffic. Not to mention people opposite you who reverse out without looking behind. They just check for cross traffic then reverse out.

[mike_nofx]

Originally Posted by Fed

I always park beside risk reducers figuring they will take more care opening doors.

Same here, Park next to a beemer or a Merc so theres less chance they open a door on me.

Vans arent even so bad to park beside since the door the kids usually exit from slides, not swings open.

[jphanna]

Originally Posted by Ben73

It also seams Im the only one who will reverse into parks when possible. So much quicker and easier. Plus it's safer to reverse into a known clear space rather than reverse out into an unknown flow of traffic. Not to mention people opposite you who reverse out without looking behind. They just check for cross traffic then reverse out.

a few years ago i seen an article where an insurance company statistics, claim their number 1........most common motor accident claim is 2 cars backing into each other at supermarkets.

makes sense what you do. i reverse whenever i can(......in the back corner)

[mike_nofx]

Originally Posted by jphanna

a few years ago i seen an article where an insurance company statistics, claim their number 1........most common motor accident claim is 2 cars backing into each other at supermarkets.

makes sense what you do. i reverse whenever i can(......in the back corner)

Problem with reversing into a spot at a supermarket is that when returning with a trolley full of groceries your boot is furthest away. Plus someone else has likely parked right up your ****.

[roKWiz]

Antics alright,
I've been staying in a motel this past 6 weeks, usual one way in besides the office and one way out around a pool, park nose to kerb at 45 deg.
Its pretty self explanatory. !
The amount of drivers who come in, then back the wrong 45 deg along the kerb (at 90 deg to the next car blocking them in) or others who drive in the wrong way and go out the entrance is astounding.

The new owner wants to install CCTV and reckons it would make some great youtube viewing, honestly I've never seen anything like this and I stay at a lot of various accommodation sites on the East coast.

[commodorenutt]

Originally Posted by Ben73

It also seams Im the only one who will reverse into parks when possible. So much quicker and easier. Plus it's safer to reverse into a known clear space rather than reverse out into an unknown flow of traffic. Not to mention people opposite you who reverse out without looking behind. They just check for cross traffic then reverse out.

Some workplaces I've been to have adopted this rule as part of OH&S. It makes sense when people straggle into work over the course of an hour, but all try to leave at once (ensuring chaos as they all try to back out into each other). But you're right - it's far safer to visually check the spot immediately before reversing in, than to back out into the unknown.

Originally Posted by mike_nofx

Problem with reversing into a spot at a supermarket is that when returning with a trolley full of groceries your boot is furthest away. Plus someone else has likely parked right up your ****.

Easily solved with clever design (but needs more real estate).
A couple of 80s era shopping centres near me have a wide pathway down the middle of the adjacent rows of cars to keep pedestrians (and trolleys) off the roadways. So instead of having cars in nose-to-nose rows, there's a good 3m between them.

Works very well, and encourages everyone to reverse into the spots, as you can wheel the trolley right to the boot. One downside is getting stuck behind a new licence holder who can do 40 in a school zone, but has never been taught how to reverse into a 90° rear-to-kerb spot....

But I make a point of going there when I need to get heavy stuff in the trolley (like boxes of drink) as it's so much easier.

[roKWiz]

Originally Posted by commodorenutt

But you're right - it's far safer to visually check the spot immediately before reversing in, than to back out into the unknown..

Especially in a panel van or truck.

Design wise, Some of those old style car parks are being built again as it seems safer for pedestrians to walk down a centre walkway than out where the traffic is reversing.

[Vesper Martini]

Originally Posted by commodorenutt

But you always get some idiot who will park beside you, when there's 25 other spots to pick from...

Theres already two self confessed on this thread..

[Vesper Martini]

Originally Posted by mike_nofx

Vans arent even so bad to park beside since the door the kids usually exit from slides, not swings open.

But front doors on a Van can be the worst! the often need to be opened wide for access and have that sharp bottom corner perfect for denting front Guards.

[GTP534]

My Territory is a daily driver and gets left at the train station car park. I always look for spots in between 2 cars already parked. Better again is a spot next to a column with a car already parked beside the spot. You do get to know which cars are parked regularly at the car park and if they are still there when you return.

I've found this is a great way to reduce the risk of door dings and dents and doesn't involve driving around to find a suitable spot. When I used to park in remote areas I invariably came back to dings and rubs.

[marty351]

The amount of sleep being lost from this issue is astounding.

[ronwest]

Originally Posted by jphanna

a few times in my life i was able to run 2 cars. my favored car.....country drives only, and pampered every week, plus a scrubber to take to shopping centres for milk and bread etc.

I've had the good fortune to be in that position for some years.

My car gets driven on our roadtrips + a weekly run to Bunnings, or wherever - other than that it's in the shed.

My wife's car is for whatever she wants + quite often transporting grandkids around.

Around 15 years ago I was looking for a "scrubber" and ended up with my brother's old ute.

When it died a horrible death I bought a s/h BF2 ute, 100K kms, booted and spurred with ladder racks, etc for $8500.

Great purchase. Carries whatever I want and has the added benefit of keeping kms down on "good" cars.

If you regularly don't need seating for more than 2 I can thoroughly recommend a ute.

[roKWiz]

Originally Posted by ronwest

I've had the good fortune to be in that position for some years.
My car gets driven on our roadtrips + a weekly run to Bunnings, or wherever - other than that it's in the shed.
Around 15 years ago I was looking for a "scrubber" and ended up with my brother's old ute.
When it died a horrible death I bought a s/h BF2 ute, 100K kms, booted and spurred with ladder racks, etc for $8500.
Great purchase. Carries whatever I want and has the added benefit of keeping kms down on "good" cars.
If you regularly don't need seating for more than 2 I can thoroughly recommend a ute.

Yeah, problem is every parts vehicle I've bought has been to good to pull apart and are pressed into service as "scrubbers" and packhorses.
This falcon van was only supposed to last for a month now I'm getting tetchy about it in car parks.

Man, I gotta stop visiting ebay.

Originally Posted by mike_nofx

Same here, Park next to a beemer or a Merc so theres less chance they open a door on me.

Vans arent even so bad to park beside since the door the kids usually exit from slides, not swings open.

I'unno... I've seen a lot of bad drivers in expensive cars.
Nowdays I'll only park beside a beemer or a merc if they've reverse parked... I tell myself it suggests that at least they have some sort of ability to drive their car and haven't just bought it for the status.

[fordomatic]

I’m done having a nice car and being worried about even taking it to the shops, what’s the point of having a nice car if your too scared to drive it anywhere. Can’t wait to sell the nice car and get something I’m not stressing about all the time, life’s to short for that.

[Express]

There are about a half a dozen spots like this at my local Woollies supermarket where no cars can park either side and I usually park in one of them.

If they are not available I either parallel park out on the street or come back later.

Wooliies Carpark.jpg


.

[BPXR6T]

"Scrubber", I always thought the term was "beater" and scrubber meant something else entirely. Urban dictionary says, "A young woman of ill-repute whose parted legs are constantly in the company of men. Considered by some to be the junior version of the slapper..."

[M&Ms]

I park next to a pole, and/or near an expensive car.

There's a guy in our area that drives around a white Lambo Huracan, and always takes up 2 spaces at the local shopping centre. Can't blame him really, as the potential parking fine is far lower than a door respray.

[Vesper Martini]

Taking up 2 spaces whilst tempting can get people pretty agro.

have a look at Google images for examples.

[marty351]

Originally Posted by Bevsta007

Taking up 2 spaces whilst tempting can get people pretty agro.

have a look at Google images for examples.

Agreed. If you're afraid of getting a lite damage on such a car, DON'T BUY ONE. It is extremely selfish and downright arrogant to expect people to respect your property when you don't respect others. So what if you can afford the fine, what about the poor sod who misses out on a Carpark because you don't give a ****.

[au350hp]

https://youtu.be/jwop72TM0Vw Found this gem whilst looking on Hemmings Motor Auctions. Would this happen here? What a bunch of cowardice imbeciles.