In the front, yes - but knowing how much your rear might be sticking out is another story. That’s tough to judge with rear-view and side-view mirrors only.
Maybe it’s different elsewhere but at least in the Midwest US we have a range of different length parking spots, from very short to long, so it’s habit to pull as far forward as possible to ensure you aren’t sticking out into the aisle.
The courteous folks hop back in and reposition if they’re parked funky, but those types can be far and between.
How do you not hit stuff when reversing? I agree that it’s tough to judge with mirrors only but it’s definitely possible if you’ve been driving for more than two weeks.
Drivers simply don’t give a shit, everything else is just excuses.
I get that basically locked in within a couple weeks of driving the same car. Do you not know approximately how long your car is while in the driver’s seat? Does it not get better over time??
I don't instinctively know, but I do put the barest amount of thought into it as I know the approximate length of my car and I have the super basic ability of depth perception. So I can do a pretty damn good job of judging just how deep my car is in a space.
And If I'm off enough that it proves to be a nuisance to those who might use the walking space in front of it? I act like a decent fucking human being and move my car. Cause I'm not a complete narcissistic prick.
Does it really make someone an "asshole" for just pulling up until their tire hits something? Feel like this is something 95% of people would do without realizing it until they got out and saw the sidewalk.
Like do you guys really think these people are intentionally blocking the path or something?
Personally, I try and have a modicum of spatial awareness that allows me to know my surroundings enough that I don't have to collide with something to know I've gone far enough.
Try to walk on this this kind of sidewalk with a stroller and a walking child and you’ll understand why it is serious. Or try to pass it in a wheelchair.
A normally zoned, and properly provisioned parking spot has a stop, and would never be designed where cars would block pedestrian access.
It is normal to pull in and expect a stop point.
Depending on size or design of car you may be accustomed to not hitting the stop block (low car, small car, etc), but you would, as the driver, assume you are not inappropriately “too in” if you HAVEN’T touched the (in this case inexistent) stop block.
All of these drivers subconsciously believe they are comfortably in the spot, without sticking out front or back. Because of this none of them have any suspicion they need to look to double check.
One of the core principles of car and pedestrian cohabitation is to use barriers and information to keep cars and pedestrians separated, without relying on the “common sense” of the driver.
Drivers do not have “common sense” of a heavy machine, and must be separated from impinging on pedestrians.
They are. And even if it wasn’t the case, their lack is not an excuse; if an intersection has no clear priority sign, it doesn’t give drivers the right to pass as they want.
I doubt there are many non rural, non isolated 4 way intersections in all of western Europe or north America without a sign.
The point that you clearly cannot grasp is this: cars are unsafe, and hard to handle. Good design and especially focusing on separation are required for an orderly interface between cars and pedestrian spaces, even in Europe where as you say, the drivers are quite good.
I never said stop blocks are a bad thing. I just say that, if you don’t give a shit about others enough to just check if you correctly parked, you’re an asshole.
I think this stop is something very American. In Europe it’s very rare to see a stop for the cars. You just learn to drive correctly. American drivers are just worse at driving than European ones, because your streets and parking spaces and literally anything else car related is just huge. And same with parking spaces. You are used to having a stop, so you only learn how to park correctly if there is a stop.
Much as the dutch have mastered the design of new roads to separate them from pedestrian and cycling paths, stop blocks are simply a good feature.
Many buildings in Europe aren’t even handicapped accessible (such as old buildings, cramped buildings) and that doesn’t mean European disabled folks are “better” wheelchair operators, it just means antiquated spaces aren’t always designed with modern best practices.
Stop blocks keep people safe, and ensure access for those like the disabled.
It’s not that Europeans are “better drivers” ,(evidence: this picture), it’s that it isn’t a law there, and isn’t part of the design of the spaces these parking spots are in.
There are some parkings with stop blocks in Europe, but they’re more of an exception rather than a norm. What I think is a better solution, is to have a wider sidewalk with some trees, shrubs, lamp posts, etc. right next to the curb, that act as a natural limit for how far people will park their car.
The design failure is not following parking lot design best practices and installing parking stoppers or bollards on spaces that are directly next a walkway. People are going to pull forward to the only point of reference they have which, because there are no lines or stoppers, is the sidewalk curb.
The teal car clearly all the way up on the sidewalk is definitely an asshole though.
They have the reference of spatial awareness and not just drive until you bump into something as well. That's how you end up with fucked up body panels.
A distraction for sure, doesn’t excuse for the inconvenience of course, but if you ask why is then is because:
People are buying increasingly stupid ass huge cars
The ability of the average driver to actually drive well is decreasing as much more automation/aiding systems are injected into the driving experience
It follows that then people will often graze the cars parked just aside theirs, when manoeuvring into or out from a parking slot, especially on the corners of the bumpers
Any owner will then try to avoid this by moving his car outside of the possible trajectory of the driver who parked/will park the car just aside theirs and who most likely can’t park a car, while yet choosing to buy a stupid huge ass car, and they do this by moving the farthest away from the rear parking line.
Of course they could have bought a small car instead and avoid invading the walkway, a small car surely also would have paired well with the smallness of their brains and/or appendages, but the lack of taste is since long time well past endemicity levels.
My whole neighborhood looks like this and I fucking hate it. Sometimes I fantasize about having a giant Flex and cut every car where the sidewalk begins
Here on the UK you occasionally come across someone with a ‘yank tank’. Massive impractical things… they take up more than one parking space and still poke out into the road. How in hell they get in and out of car parks is beyond me.
Luckily it’s rare probably because of the sheer impracticality of them. I can barely get down my street with my large buy not stupid car… one of those they’d have to get out and walk…
This is why parking spaces tend to have those horizontal blocks. It’s to stop dumbass drivers like those depicted in the picture from blocking the sidewalk.
Unfortunately, with the rise in insecurity compensators (“sports” utility vehicles and light duty trucks). Those measures are quickly defeated.
I live in the southern states of America and the amount of dOdGe RaM 1500 hD/f150s and “luxury” SUVs just blatantly blocking the sidewalks in urban settings (downtown) is too fucking high. If you are visually impaired expect to run into many of these idiot’s cars/trucks.
I’m sorry to say that I’m often one of those dumbass drivers (though I drive a little Civic). I need to do a better job of not pulling so far. Pedestrians and bicyclists deserve a sidewalk free of obstacles, and It’s not good for the car either.
It’s often because people line up their car according to the car next to them. If one person does a lousy job and the next person copies them it begins to spread like a virus.
A good rule of thumb is to look just below the side mirrors. The average height person seated correctly will see the stop line appear just below the side mirrors when the front bumper is at the line.
Easy way to know with yourself in your own car is to park right at the line, then sit in the drivers seat and compare where the line is in relation to the mirrors when seated normally.
Yeah this is probably it. Would explain why people with small cars always pull in waaaaaay to the front. Everytime I think I see a space I’m bamboozled by small cars.
Most sidewalks in the US are a poured concrete slab, and 99.9% of all parking lots are asphalt (tarmac for the Brits). I wouldn’t even know where to obtain those large concrete paver blocks shown in the photo.
This would be considered a very fancy parking lot in the US.
Yeah I looked at it again and apart from staring at the license plates i don’t see anything that would tell me personally what country it is… I knew it wasn’t my country lol
Hahaha I wouldn’t know, looks like a parking lot anywhere pretty much to me. A parking lot not a roadway and what’s the big deal? I just asked if it was America
Idiots that can’t drive properly maybe drive until their wheels touch the kerb? I very rarely see this in the UK, that’s madness.
Fun fact, when I visited the USA I was very confused by these weird concrete slabs they had in their car parks along each parking space.
Turns out, enough of their drivers are incompetent enough at driving that they’re put there for them to bump up against as they’re parking, because they aren’t able to figure out how to park properly by themselves xD amazing.
The US doesn’t have compulsory drivers education to obtain a drivers license, so most people have a broad set of bad practices while driving. No one teaches people in the US how to drive safely and with etiquette.
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