Growing number of cars parking on wrong side of the road

Forums › Transport (cars, bikes and boats) › Growing number of cars parking on wrong side of the road

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86 posts

Master Geek
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#3263019 22-Jul-2024 17:07

johno1234:

Huh? You *have* to reverse into a (parallel) park on the street. Idiots drive in forwards then have 10 goes at trying to get close to the kerb but still end up 3 feet away from it.

Parks that are at right angles such as supermarket car parks are not found on streets. Reversing is acceptable. Driving straight in requires swinging in from very wide and then you just end up at an angle like this |/| so you end up reversing out and back in again, so worse than just reversing into it in the first place. I always reverse into right angle carparks if possible. After all, if you drive in forwards then you are just kicking the reversing can down the road to when you leave and you have to reverse out into traffic which is worse than reversing in to a park.

Parallel parking is not the problem so I didn't bother mentioning it.

There are plenty of right angled car parks directly off streets - they are not just confined to commercial carparks.

You must have a lack of basic driving skills if this is an issue for you.

It's far easier to reverse out of a narrow car park than to reverse into one. Reversing out (into traffic) is also quicker than reversing in - meaning less time exposed to traffic while doing so.

The majority of drivers still seem to be able to park correctly but the number is slowly decreasing unfortunately.

Handle9

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#3263020 22-Jul-2024 17:11

John19612:

johno1234:

Huh? You *have* to reverse into a (parallel) park on the street. Idiots drive in forwards then have 10 goes at trying to get close to the kerb but still end up 3 feet away from it.

Parks that are at right angles such as supermarket car parks are not found on streets. Reversing is acceptable. Driving straight in requires swinging in from very wide and then you just end up at an angle like this |/| so you end up reversing out and back in again, so worse than just reversing into it in the first place. I always reverse into right angle carparks if possible. After all, if you drive in forwards then you are just kicking the reversing can down the road to when you leave and you have to reverse out into traffic which is worse than reversing in to a park.

Parallel parking is not the problem so I didn't bother mentioning it.

There are plenty of right angled car parks directly off streets - they are not just confined to commercial carparks.

You must have a lack of basic driving skills if this is an issue for you.

It's far easier to reverse out of a narrow car park than to reverse into one. Reversing out (into traffic) is also quicker than reversing in - meaning less time exposed to traffic while doing so.

The majority of drivers still seem to be able to park correctly but the number is slowly decreasing unfortunately.

It's significantly safer to drive out of the carpark into traffic than it is to reverse into traffic. You are signted the whole way through both parking and leaving the park. Reversing out of a carpark often results in you being unsighted while reversing out.

John19612

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Master Geek
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#3263023 22-Jul-2024 17:18

Handle9:

It's significantly safer to drive out of the carpark into traffic than it is to reverse into traffic. You are signted the whole way through both parking and leaving the park. Reversing out of a carpark often results in you being unsighted while reversing out.

My vehicle doesn't turn invisible when reversing - yours must be unique.

RunningMan

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#3263025 22-Jul-2024 17:20

John19612:

Parallel parking is not the problem so I didn't bother mentioning it.

There are plenty of right angled car parks directly off streets - they are not just confined to commercial carparks.

You must have a lack of basic driving skills if this is an issue for you.

It's far easier to reverse out of a narrow car park than to reverse into one. Reversing out (into traffic) is also quicker than reversing in - meaning less time exposed to traffic while doing so.

The majority of drivers still seem to be able to park correctly but the number is slowly decreasing unfortunately.

I've linked to the rules twice already, but here goes.

6.13 Parking at angle

(1) If the road controlling authority has indicated that vehicles may be parked only at an angle to the direction of the road-way, a driver must not stand or park a vehicle (other than a cycle) otherwise than in accordance with the direction indicated.

(2) An all terrain vehicle, a motorcycle, a moped, or a cycle may be parked otherwise than parallel with the roadway if during the hours of darkness it is sufficiently illuminated so as to be visible from at least 50 m.

Right angle parks are angle parks. Nothing in the rules about which direction to park in an angle park, unless there is a specific direction indicated at the site.

johno1234

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#3263035 22-Jul-2024 17:28

John19612:
johno1234:

Huh? You *have* to reverse into a (parallel) park on the street. Idiots drive in forwards then have 10 goes at trying to get close to the kerb but still end up 3 feet away from it.

Parks that are at right angles such as supermarket car parks are not found on streets. Reversing is acceptable. Driving straight in requires swinging in from very wide and then you just end up at an angle like this |/| so you end up reversing out and back in again, so worse than just reversing into it in the first place. I always reverse into right angle carparks if possible. After all, if you drive in forwards then you are just kicking the reversing can down the road to when you leave and you have to reverse out into traffic which is worse than reversing in to a park.

Parallel parking is not the problem so I didn't bother mentioning it.

There are plenty of right angled car parks directly off streets - they are not just confined to commercial carparks.

You must have a lack of basic driving skills if this is an issue for you.

It's far easier to reverse out of a narrow car park than to reverse into one. Reversing out (into traffic) is also quicker than reversing in - meaning less time exposed to traffic while doing so.

The majority of drivers still seem to be able to park correctly but the number is slowly decreasing unfortunately.

Well you clearly have a strong opinion on this. In my personal opinion you’re flat out wrong. I stand to be corrected if you’re verified as a qualified traffic engineer though

As to right angle parks on streets: I can’t think of any in Auckland or other cites I drive in. Can you give an example? Sounds like a very unusual setup.

RunningMan

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#3263036 22-Jul-2024 17:28

John19612:[snip]

You must have a lack of basic driving skills if this is an issue for you.

It's far easier to reverse out of a narrow car park than to reverse into one. Reversing out (into traffic) is also quicker than reversing in - meaning less time exposed to traffic while doing so.

Disagree. Far safer to reverse into such a park. As you drive past the spot prior to reversing you can clearly see if it is occupied, so you can sight the area you are about to drive into. Compare that to reversing out of a row of tight spaces into busy traffic, you may not have any sight at all of traffic in either/both directions, so basically relying on that traffic to not crash into you even though they have the right of way.

I've heard of this incorporated into health and safety policies with companies insisting their vehicles are reversed into carparks or users of their carpark must reverse into spaces.

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johno1234

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#3263038 22-Jul-2024 17:32

John19612:
Handle9:

It's significantly safer to drive out of the carpark into traffic than it is to reverse into traffic. You are signted the whole way through both parking and leaving the park. Reversing out of a carpark often results in you being unsighted while reversing out.

My vehicle doesn't turn invisible when reversing - yours must be unique.

It seems clear to me that Handle9 is saying that the driver who is reversing out is unsighted not other drivers on the road. Your sarcastic replies here are diminishing your argument.

Behodar

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#3263089 22-Jul-2024 17:39

johno1234:

As to right angle parks on streets: I can’t think of any in Auckland or other cites I drive in. Can you give an example? Sounds like a very unusual setup.

~1 minute with the map open in my own town:

Maybe not the best example, but it proves that the things exist.

John19612

86 posts

Master Geek
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#3263090 22-Jul-2024 17:39

RunningMan:

I've linked to the rules twice already, but here goes.

6.13 Parking at angle

(1) If the road controlling authority has indicated that vehicles may be parked only at an angle to the direction of the road-way, a driver must not stand or park a vehicle (other than a cycle) otherwise than in accordance with the direction indicated.

(2) An all terrain vehicle, a motorcycle, a moped, or a cycle may be parked otherwise than parallel with the roadway if during the hours of darkness it is sufficiently illuminated so as to be visible from at least 50 m.

Right angle parks are angle parks. Nothing in the rules about which direction to park in an angle park, unless there is a specific direction indicated at the site.

While that may be what the legislation says, this is what NZTA recommends (therefore best practice) for angled parking: NZTA best practice

Further reporting on the matter: Reverse angle parking illegal

John19612

86 posts

Master Geek
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#3263092 22-Jul-2024 17:49

johno1234:

I stand to be corrected if you’re verified as a qualified traffic engineer though

Are you?

johno1234

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#3263094 22-Jul-2024 17:50

Behodar:

johno1234:

As to right angle parks on streets: I can’t think of any in Auckland or other cites I drive in. Can you give an example? Sounds like a very unusual setup.

~1 minute with the map open in my own town:

Maybe not the best example, but it proves that the things exist.

So I see. Would you agree that Shapley Pl while clearly a street is somewhat like a service lane or carpark? In other words less through-traffic than many streets in the area and no front entrances to premises? In the context of the parking discussion anyway. Are there any right angle parks in "normal" streets? I expect not as they take up a lot of room but add a lot more carparks - in other words aimed more at parking than driving.

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johno1234

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#3263096 22-Jul-2024 17:53

John19612:

johno1234:

I stand to be corrected if you’re verified as a qualified traffic engineer though

Are you?

No. Wasn't this obvious as I pointed out that I was posting my opinion and not presenting it as an authoritative fact?

johno1234

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#3263098 22-Jul-2024 17:57

John19612:

While that may be what the legislation says, this is what NZTA recommends (therefore best practice) for angled parking: NZTA best practice

Further reporting on the matter: Reverse angle parking illegal

If the park is set at 90 degrees then neither nose in nor nose out can be deemed the "wrong" direction. For angle parking at the more conventional acute angle then clearly nose in would be appropriate. To reverse into such a park would be particularly awkward and likely less safe.

MadEngineer

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#3263107 22-Jul-2024 18:31

John19612:

There needs to be a crackdown on the fools that reverse into parks. It should be made illegal like it is for reversing into angled parks.

This comes up at least once a year here but certainly so for angled parking. You'll instantly earn yourself a notice if you reverse into an angled park on a no-u-turn street.

For other parks I try to reverse in especially at supermarkets when I'm not collecting a full boot-load.

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Ge0rge

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#3263120 22-Jul-2024 20:00

John19612:

There needs to be a crackdown on the fools that ~~reverse~~ drive into parks. It should be made illegal like it is for reversing into angled parks.

Fixed that for you, based on a quick search...

A research paper - The pull-in/back-out parking manoeuvre has a higher crash risk.

Article from Driven - based on Monash University report.

Article from Drivingtests.co.nz recommending reversing into a park.

Article from ABC Aus - refers to Monash Uni report as well as UK Institute of Advanced Motorists study.

Article from GeoTab - a vehicle fleet management company.

All the above recommend reversing in being safer than driving in.

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