Artic driver

When I was learning to drive and old family friend used to take me to an
industrial estate to let me practice some manoeuvres and teach me to reverse
park. In that industrial estate was amongst others, a bonded warehouse so I
got plenty of opportunity to watch artic drivers turning on a sixpence. Got
a lot of respect for them too. So this morning in the local car park I was
rather entertained for about 20 minutes.

Here's the scene. The car park is also the road to the delivery bays of many
of the shops and it's always a busy car park. I've seen many a large vehicle
including artics make good manoeuvres there, sometimes with only a hair's
breadth between them and the cars. Now I don't know whether the one driving
the Boots artic today was new or a C*******s temp but in attempting several
times to turn a corner, albeit a tight corner, he hit a car on the side so
much it rocked, reversed and hit a wall, went forward ( turning at the same
time) and hit a lamp post. When he got out for a look I said I'd move if it
would help. I shouldn't have had to, there was room but he was very nice and
I was feeling sorry for him.

Then he started reversing again and aimed for me, who was waiting patiently
to get past him to the exit. Luckily there was nothing behind me and I
reversed PDQ even further away. After half a dozen tries he was getting
nowhere, there was a queue behind me waiting to get out and none of us could
move in any direction while the poor driver continued forward and back,
hitting walls, lamp posts, entrance gates etc. Even I could see he just
didn't have the right angle to take the bend and by this time ( about 15
minutes) I was really feeling sorry for him, he was in such a mess he was
never going to get out of it. Luckily another HGV driver appeared from the
back of the queue to direct him, got him lined up enough to let the queue of
traffic past and presumably got him round the corner eventually. I didn't
get a look at the car he hit, but I was glad I had went back to my car when
I did.

One thing it did show though which IMHO is rare nowadays was that despite
the blockage caused for both pedestrians and vehicles not one horn was
blasted and not one angry word said. I was rather proud of the locals there,
the spirit of the season was obviously alive and well. I actually expect he
got a round of applause when he finally made it :-)

Splodge...

Yes, that was rare indeed Sandra, but I'd have loved to have watched it
all - providing my car was two miles down the road! It can't be an easy
thing to park a huge truck when you're in a limited space.

It reminds me of when I was in London once and I watched a woman trying to
park in a bay outsidide the pub I was in with several friends. Someone
commented on the poor woman, and everyone in the pub got up to watch her
failing dismally for what seemed like ages. When she did eventually park
reasonably well, she saw this great crowd looking out of the pub windows, so
she locked the car, walked into the pub and gave us all a bow from the
waist. Wotta gal - I would have scuttled out of sight pronto lol

Rabbit...

The family friend who took me to the industrial estate said when I started
learning to drive that he wouldn't try to teach me to drive 'cos a) I was
paying a professional to do that and b) things had changed so much since he
had learned to drive that it wouldn't do me any good. BUT he said he'd make
sure I was one of only two females he'd know who could reverse park into a
tight space. The other one was his daughter ;-) I must admit I'm glad he did
'cos it was never covered on my driving lessons and I always choose now if
possible to reverse park. I just wish he'd thought to teach me to parallel
park but that wasn't even a requirement when I sat my test. I never parallel
park if there is an option within half a mile, or is that a couple of miles

pmj...

What's the difference between this "reverse parking" & "parallel
parking"?

That isn't a catch question - or a "test" - I'd genuinely like to
know - I thought that you should *always* (for safety & practical
reasons), whenever possible, reverse into (& thus drive forwards
out of) a parking space (whether in a Road or a Car Park or wherever).

Splodge...

Blimey, pmj, how long it take you to type all that?!

pmj...

What? - The little Diagrams?
Quite a long time, actually!

I always thought reverse parking was simply reversing to park in a car park
space or by the side of a house etc.
Parallel parking is when you draw level with a car and then reverse into the
space behind or in front of that car - or is that too simplistic?

Paul Jeffree...

Yes, that's the terminology the driving school chappies use.

I agree with pmj on the desirability of reversing into almost any parking
space. But it's a lot easier if you've got decent side mirrors - much easier
with our camper-van than her little Clio for that reason. Then again, the
instructors say you should hardly use the mirrors but look thro' the back
window - tell that to Sandra's artic driver!

pmj...

Well, isn't that just (basically) a kind of "Reverse parking"?

Obviously there are variations on the theme, but the point is that
you should always Park, by *Reversing* into the Space (doesn't matter
whether that's also involving turning into the Drive or Parking Space,
or Drawing up Parallel to the Line of Spaces & then doing a sort of
"wiggle" (Reverse Left, then Right) to get into the Space.
The point is, you Reverse in, never try & go in forwards.

pmj...

Well, I reckon that's actually being Complicated!!!
:-)
You call it two separate things?
They are *both* "Reverse parking" - & if you can do one, then you can
(or should be able to!) do the other!!!
& if you can't do them both, then you should learn how to & you
shouldn't drive on the Public Roads (or Public Car Parks) until you
can!!!

OK, in the "old days", people could prolly (sometimes, in some areas)
get away with not being able to drive properly, but in these days,
with more traffic & fewer Parking Places & Spaces (& more tightly
packed Parking Spaces), there's really no excuse for not learning
how to Drive properly (& that *includes* manoeuvring a Car/Vehicle
into a Parking Space.

I'm like Sandra, cos I'd rather drive somewhere else than parallel park

pmj...

Well, I s'pose if you *prefer* not to do that [*1], then yes, you will
have to Drive somewhere else? (that's you choice, isn't it?)

Cos in many places, you *have* to do (what you call) "Parallel parking"
- though I just call that "Reversing into a Parking Space"

[*1]
If you *can't* actually do it (as opposed to just preferring not to),
then I would suggest that you should learn how to?

& if you *physically* can't, then fair enough - isn't that what
Disabled Badges are for?
They allow you to Park in places where able bodied people aren't
allowed to. (Such as Places that have extra Room & don't need such
tight manoeuvring to get into)

Splodge

I've attempted to draw below, 3 typical Parking Scenarios -

1) a Road with Parking Bays Parallel to the Kerb
2) a Road (or Car Park) with Parking Bays at an angle to the Kerb
3) a Road (or Car Park) with Parking Bays Perpendicular (at right
angles to) the Kerb

& I've indicated the direction of Traffic flow & indicated the
Car/Vehicle to be Parked & the Parking Bay (Space) to Park in...
BTW - I've show a two-way Street, but the same basic principles
would apply in a one-way Street, just the same

All of those scenarios are best approached by *Reversing* into the
Parking Bay.

I can't think of any occasions where it would be better/safer
(or easier/more practical) to drive forwards into the Parking Bay

Ali...

I can.

1) With parking along the kerb, where there is sufficient space (3 car
lengths?) to simply drive forwards into the end bay.

2) In a car park with bays back-to-back, and sufficient empty bays, drive
forwards into a bay, and continue into the bay backing onto it, thus being
ready to drive forwards out of the bay.

I don't drive, but I've seen both these manoeuvres often enough. Perhaps
there isn't enough room 'darn Sarf' for you to have the opportunity to try
them? :^)

Ray.Milne...

Was always told "Longest way IN, shortest way OUT"

pmj...

& apart from all the various "Safety" aspects, it's actually far
*easier* to manoeuvre a car (or whatever) into a tight Space, when
Reversing (despite any protestations to the contrary!) - that's just
a simple law of Physics/Mechanics - cos when you're Reversing, the
Wheels that are Steering are at the *Rear*, so the Turn can be tighter.

When you go forwards, the Rear wheels sort of "drag" behind & don't
follow the same path as the Steered wheels.

That's how you can actually get any normal Car into a Parking Space
that is less than 1 Foot longer than the length of the Car.

OK, yes, it will take 2 or 3 sort of "twiddles" & "shuffles" to do it,
& needs some accurate Clutch control & careful looking behind & in
front [*] & also a knowledge of the length (& shape) of the Car that
you are driving) but it can be done (& often *has* to be done in many
modern, busy built-up areas).

[*1]
A useful thing to know is to remember to look in the Shop windows
(or whatever else is available like that, such as the reflection
in another car), when parking in a tight Space - cos when you can
get a good *side* view, like that, you can then (confidently) Reverse
right up to within an Inch of the Car behind, (& ditto in front, when
(or rather because) you can't see the Front of your Car either) so as
to be able to do it quickly & easily.

Also, when someone is helping, make sure they indicate to you the
*actual* gap there is (getting smaller as you get nearer).

Don't let them just wave you on &/or then just try to say "Stop!".

Cos they can't possibly know how quick your (or the vehicles)
Reactions (& response) is/are.

& if you wanted to Park in a Space on the *other* side of the
Road/Street/Car Park, then you would have to turn around & approach
it from the appropriate direction, obviously - it's not safe to cross
the Flow of Traffic, even if it might be inconvenient to have to
drive on & turn around)

BTW - These diagrams need to be Viewed in a *Fixed Pitch*
(Mono-Spaced) Font, not a Proportionally Spaced Font, otherwise
the Spaces & Characters will show up wrongly Spaced/Sized

1)
_____________
- - - - - - -
->
<- _
_ _ _ _ _ _
_____________

2)
_______________
\ \ \ \ \ \ \ \
->
<- _

\ \ \ \ \ \ \ \
________________

3)
_______________
| | | | | | | |
->
<- _

| | | | | | | |
_______________

???:-)

Splodge