Why can't people reverse?

Has anyone noticed that loads of people are afraid of reversing or are crap at it?

I've noticed it more and more recently and I can no longer put it down to people having just passed their test because everyone I get in a car with has been passed for 4+ years.

In car parks there is a refusal to reverse in and instead they drive in despite it actually being harder to get right. Parallel parking is also a no no unless the space is a good three car lengths long. If they are put in a situation where there is no other option other than a reverse then it is always done in the most cautiously scared fashion possible. Even the more confident drivers I come across don't like to reverse.

Is it the way learners are taught these days? The more i think about it I only really learnt to reverse confidently because my dad forced me to and also my drive is at the back of my house along a narrow dirt track with an awkwardly placed wall so the only option is to reverse into it.

does this frustrate anyone else? do you even notice it?

Why is it your concern? Your mannerisms are awful

People reverse slowly because they don't want to ruin their car in a tight space

Its also less natural than forward facing

Also most people, myself included park forwards into a space, you can access the boot easier and its faster/quicker than reversing in

Because ultimately it leads to poor parking and poor parking makes it difficult for the rest of us.

Also i'd say its quicker to reverse park than driving in. If you reverse in you can get it right first time but when you drive in you have to either adjust it to get it in right or leave it poorly parked, so many car parks are too tight and narrow to get it right fist time when driving in.

When you walk round a car park and you see someone parked inconsiderately take a note of which way the car is facing and I bet you the majority drove in.

I can't parallel park for ****. I do reverse into bay parking though, much easier.

The problem is, when you parallel park in lessons, there's no car behind. In reality, you get spaces just a little bit bigger than your car. They should teach this on lessons

I always look for a drive thru space where I can just drive into and drive out of.

If that's not possible then I'll reverse in, easy to do and makes it much easier to drive out, especially when it's busy.

Haven't parallel parked for a while now (never needed to) but I think I can still do it. I know a lot of people drive into spaces but I always find it's harder to reverse out (you just have to move and hope everyone else stops, until you can actually see).

Doubt that's the case with every instructor. The more my driving improved, the tighter the space my instructor would give me when practicing reverse parking. Tbh, he should've been letting you practice in all kinds of spaces since it probably would've prepared you more for when you're driving alone

Might I suggest you're not a good parker going forwards?

I rarely need to adjust going in forwards

I just returned from sainsburys, about 50 cars? All drove in

As camoxide said, visibility is better from the front

You can be a bad parker regardless of which way you go into the space

are you one of those people who drive in and think "done!" and leave the car in any old state?

I find that when driving in (not just me but others) then a little bit of straightening up is required unless youre in a reasonably sized car park.


Also yes visibility is better from the front so surely you want to have the best visibility when coming out of the parking bay into potential traffic/ pedestrians. when reversing in you know that there is no traffic to watch out for and your mirrors do a good job of telling you where the car either side of you is.

I always reverse into a parking space. My dad taught me to do it that way, so I've stuck with it. Parallel parking is more difficult. I'm a pretty confident driver, but in all honesty, I don't like doing that much. Three car lengths is a bit excessive, though. One and a half is enough. I won't try and squeeze into a tiny spot. I will just park further away.

One and a half?! Pah! This is a pretty standard space for me

I've managed smaller than that too. Living in a city with very limited street parking leaves you without many options.