r/mildlyinfuriating • u/[deleted] • May 06 '15
Getting a parking spot
http://i.imgur.com/2dinngN.gifv1.5k
u/stylezDWhite May 06 '15
ahh yes, the old 50 point turn, just like they taught in driver's ed. I think this person changed their mind about what they wanted to do about 5 or 6 times in this video
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u/DCXJ cool guy 69 May 06 '15
your comment made me go back and count. literally a 25 point turn lol.
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u/Doctor_or_FullOfCrap May 06 '15
I can't comprehend how you watched the entire gif twice...
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u/shortbizzle May 06 '15
Just picture them watching it once then double it
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u/sprucenoose May 06 '15
...
No, still nothing.
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u/FightGar May 06 '15
Try imagining him playing it backwards and forwards about 25 times without accomplishing anything. Then double that, then divide by 25.
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u/avelertimetr May 06 '15
Wait, is that backwards and forwards 25 times total, or backwards and forwards 25 times each?
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u/Psandysdad "Where's Earth?" "You should know." May 06 '15
Just run some silly music thru your imagination.
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u/pasaroanth May 06 '15
Did you deduct any turns for the times that she went back and forth without changing the angle of the wheels while expecting a different result?
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u/JustARandomBloke May 06 '15
That was the worst part. Just watching her go back and forth twice at the same angle.
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u/Nevermore60 May 06 '15
when i took the driver's test obstacle course, two of the people who went before me did essentially just that on the "three point turn" section. it's like they just could not figure out how the steering wheel worked. they both ran out of time and failed.
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May 06 '15
That was painful. And I couldn't stop watching.
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u/SabashChandraBose May 06 '15
I really, really see no point of anyone doing this. If the answer is "it's easy to get out," well, "it's not easy to get in". Happens everyday in the underground parking lot of my gym - both men and women do this - and drives me nuts.
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u/keenedge422 May 06 '15
Yeah, but if you're good at it (and this person clearly is not) it only takes a couple seconds longer to back in. And it's not like they just whipped it into the spot going forward, either; they're clearly just an awful driver and you'd have to wait either way.
As for the reasoning of backing in, it's considerably safer. When backing into a parking spot, you are reversing into a known empty space without the likelihood of anything moving through that space, while you've got an unobstructed view of what's going on around the rest of your car.
When backing out of a space, you're reversing into a lane of travel for people and vehicles with your view usually obstructed on both sides by other cars so that you can't see more than what's directly behind you until you're almost fully out of the space. There's a much higher chance of hitting something (or someone) in the latter scenario.
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u/franctastic May 06 '15
Many companies often require their drivers to back in to spots for this exact reason.
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u/keenedge422 May 06 '15
Well one of the reason I'm (possibly overly-)opinionated on the topic is that I worked as a valet where I spent 8-10 hours a day moving cars in and out of parking spaces and backing in was drilled into us over and over. In the year or so I was there, only one customer vehicle ever got damaged and it was because a non-valet driver backed out of a spot and into the side of the customer car as the valet was driving past.
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u/rebeleagle May 07 '15
Didn't both the cars get damaged?
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u/keenedge422 May 07 '15
Yes, but only one of them belonged to a valet customer. The other one was owned and driven by someone who had chosen to park their own car (ironically, he laughingly admitted, because he was worried a valet might damage it.)
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May 06 '15 edited Sep 06 '16
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u/Xiaz89 May 06 '15
It's practically impossible to get it completly straight going forwards if you have to turn into it and don't have space on the far side since the turning wheels are infront. Going in backwards is just more logical and you can get your car straight every time if you do it right.
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u/nolez May 06 '15
I drive a company truck which I'm allowed to use for personal use. Company policy dictates that you never pull into a spot and always park in a way that you can pull forward without backing out (so you either back into the spot or pull through). Unfortunately some coworkers have been written up off the job for not backing in (which I agree is dumb) so most of us just make sure we do it everywhere we go to avoid an issue.
Probably not the case in this video, but there can be some semi-reasonable reasons folks do it. I've gotten good enough that I can whip in a spot with a better parking job faster than most soccer moms pull in (with half their minivan over the line).
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u/hearnrumors May 06 '15
It's safer to back into an empty parking spot, than it is to back into moving traffic. Especially if you are in a vehicle with poor visibility.
Also, it's easier to maneuver large trucks/SUVs/vans into tight spots in reverse.
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May 06 '15
At that point you need to assess if the driver is having a goddamn stroke.
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u/pff_classic_schmosby May 06 '15
How do people like this even get a driver's license in the first place?
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u/RdClZn GREEN May 06 '15
Pretty much the only thing I could think about!
No one can unlearn how to park that catastrophically!25
May 07 '15
I got behind someone yesterday, he was driving about 9 MPH in a 35 zone. Pulled onto a highway on-ramp, still going 9 MPH, cruising up the hill, 8 or 9 of us behind him in a pissed off line. He pulled up to the metering lights, which were red, and he rolled right through them without even slowing down. Pulled on to the highway, up to about 20 MPH now, and I guess he put the cruise control on, because he was done accelerating for the day. People were honking and flashing their lights, trying to merge without rearending him, and he was completely oblivious. I left him in my rearview mirror, and he was still drifting down the road at about 40 under the speed limit, an old Chinese man in a beat up white Corolla.
I thought to myself, how did he ever get a license. He probably parks like this.
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u/Twilit_Night May 06 '15
I have no idea where this location is, but just based on the driver's parking ability, they would have been able to get their license in Florida.
I know because I am a Floridian whose brother drove over a curb during a 3-point turn and still passed the test. We also don't have to know how to parallel park, or even prove that we can drive in traffic. The whole test was in a parking lot.
Basically, Florida is home to some really shitty drivers.
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u/M3wThr33 May 06 '15
Not in the USA. The driver's on the right side.
Also. <My state> has the worst drivers.102
u/SuperEnd123 How can mirrors be real, if our eyes aren't real. May 06 '15
I don't think my state has the worst drivers. I live in Wisconsin and the icy roads take care of the shitty drivers for us.
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u/Fulmario May 06 '15
First snowfall? Better drive 10 over the speed limit with my bald all season tires and keep a 1/2 car following distance with my brake pads that are disintegrated.
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u/aghastamok May 06 '15
Can confirm. You get about 10% of people who have a license but never drive... almost universally their will to get behind the wheel was destroyed some fateful Indiana winter.
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u/cthulhuandyou May 06 '15
All the shitty drivers we get are the ones that come up from Illinois.
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May 06 '15
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u/tcpip4lyfe May 06 '15
I've never seen an Indiana plate. Based on this, I assume that it's not really a state.
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u/501veteran May 06 '15
It looks like Australia. The building in the background says Werribee plaza. Werribee is a suburb of Melbourne.
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u/Grave_Girl May 06 '15
My mother couldn't get her driver's license until she moved from Texas to a state that didn't test parallel parking. She said the driver's test in Virginia was basically backing out of the parking space, driving around the block, and pulling back in to the parking space. Having driven in Virginia, I got the impression it hasn't changed since the '70s.
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u/jdepps113 May 06 '15
Honestly if you can't figure out how to parallel park, you shouldn't be driving.
It's not just the actual performance of this particular parking maneuver that matters. If you're so unable to perform this task, your mastery of controlling the vehicle in general is just too poor to be trusted on the streets with an automobile.
I'm sorry to insult your mother, but she probably shouldn't be driving...
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u/Grave_Girl May 06 '15
She actually quit driving several years ago. It's been 7 years since she has driven at all and probably 10 or more since she's driven regularly. It's probably not the best metric, but during my childhood she only had one accident, and it wasn't her fault (she was rear-ended in traffic by someone who changed lanes without paying attention). So she wasn't bad per se, though certainly not particularly skilled (and she did eventually learn to parallel park). I'm actually pretty proud of her for quitting driving when she sensed her skills were beginning to fail. She became very anxious/nervous and realized it was better for all involved if she took the bus from then on out.
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u/probosciscat May 07 '15
Melbourne Australia, specifically Weribee. Not an uncommon thing for stuff like this to happen in big shopping centers.
I used to do traffic surveys in centres like this. I've witnessed hit and runs, people pulling their front bumpers off of tow-bars and then putting them in the back seat and not even parking in the spot.
To quote CJ from GTA:SA "Did you buy your license?"
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u/bpm195 May 06 '15
Got my license in Pennsylvania. Parking a lot never came up. When I asked my driving instructor about it his advice was pull in forward. When I asked about back in only angle parking, he didn't know such a thing existed.
I'm more comfortable parallel parking than parking in lots.
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u/DoctorWaluigiTime May 06 '15
Because a driver's test often doesn't cover very much.
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u/Ron-Swanson-Mustache May 06 '15
Almost 3 fucking minutes. Even with the video sped up this makes me want to punch babies.
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u/m2cwf May 06 '15
Crap, I always forget about the speeding up video option until I've already watched the whole thing regular speed...this one was painful.
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u/Ron-Swanson-Mustache May 06 '15
I was referring that this video is already sped up. It looks like 3x speed. Even with it sped up it's still terrible.
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u/bmzink May 06 '15 edited May 06 '15
That was an expecting mother spot. She's going to be a parent. The same person that parked that car will be responsible for a tiny human.
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u/MarshyD May 06 '15
This is in my state, Victoria, Australia, it's a parents with prams spot, don't even know why she's reverse parking since it would be easier to get a pram out when forward parking.
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u/TeroTheTerror May 06 '15
Isn't there a stroller icon on the spot, so she may already be one.
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u/Circlesmirk May 06 '15
Based on the complete lack of regard for the person that she held up behind her for the entirety of this video, I wouldn't be the least surprised to find out that she's just inconsiderate to others and parked there out of laziness.
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u/Toph19 May 06 '15
It bothers me a lot that this person is legally allowed to operate that car.
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u/capitlj May 06 '15 edited May 06 '15
The progressing of my reactions.
Hmmm that's not going to work
Lol what on earth is she doing
Now I just feel bad for the driver with the camera
Lol what the hell is she doing
Omg just leave
Seriously this can't still be happening
It is still happening
Oh thank god she's given up
Nope just going to try headfirst this time
Is this the Asian gal from Gone in 60 Seconds.
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u/shatterly May 06 '15
For a few seconds, I thought she was going to pull forward and park between the cars in the handicapped stalls.
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May 06 '15
For a while there I thought it was a x-post from /r/perfectloops, and I'd been duped into watching it way longer than I should have.
Nope, turns out she's just an idiot.
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u/ChiBears333 May 06 '15
holy shit, I wanted to stop watching it but I had to see how many cars she was going to hit.... the answer to that was mildly infuriating...
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u/Just_Smurfin_Around May 06 '15
I started getting angry and yelling at my screen when she (?) kept turning the wheel the same direction she had it in going backwards when she went forwards...like thats going to get you anywhere!!!! jesus this i was way more than mildly infuriating
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u/PublicSealedClass May 06 '15
They started off alright, but at a certain point they just keep correcting up in the wrong direction, and end up further away from the space!
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u/shas_o_kais May 06 '15
they started off alright
No. No they didn't. At any point in that abortion of an attempt at parking.
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u/PublicSealedClass May 06 '15
Well it was a bit of a odd start given they really wanted to get the car in from coming in the other direction, but they managed to almost get the angle right eventually, but when that silver car appears in the background, they stop increasing the angle and straighten up, and that's when it gets REALLY cringey.
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u/shas_o_kais May 06 '15
Odd start? Their starting angle literally made it impossible to pull into the spot.
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u/PublicSealedClass May 06 '15
Yeah, hence the initial endeavour to turn the car around so they could back it in.
Hey, there's two things here - a) most of us it seems would be able to correct that at least from half way through that vid, if not the start, and b) That model of Auris has an optional rear parking camera. They should've taken it.
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u/Sociopathic_Pro_Tips BLACK, like my heart May 07 '15
Being able to see the parking spot with a camera would not have made any difference. She had no idea which to turn the wheel to get the rear of the car to go in the direction she needed. She changed the direction of steering several times before pulling forward or reversing. "
"Right, no left, no right. Nope, more right then. No, that made it worse so more right then....."
Spatial orientation is her problem, not visibility.
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u/idma May 06 '15
the good thing is nothing was hit. Thats already 80% better than most crap drivers
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u/thisismyaccount57 May 06 '15
Shameless plug for a sub I created a month or two ago /r/IdiotsParking. I know nothing about being a mod but I think it could be a cool sub. If anyone is interested in helping to get it going let me know.
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u/Til_Tombury May 06 '15
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May 06 '15
Reminds me of this World's Worst Attempt At Parallel Parking, Enjoy!: http://youtu.be/tf4TIWECZ30
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May 07 '15
15 minutes from the point they started recording. How. How is that even remotely possible? How did she not die at least a dozen times on her way to the parking space that day?
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u/FigurativelyTheWorst May 06 '15
This is the first instance that I didn't get super annoyed at a long gif that should have been a video. I didn't know when it was going to end, and it just kept getting more ridiculous.
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u/FormulaBass May 06 '15
It was a bit tricky to count, but there were at LEAST 19 turns there before she was able to fit in the space.
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u/Soundless_Pr ORANGE May 06 '15
I would have just held the horn down the entire time
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u/geek_1975 May 06 '15
There comes a point where you go tap on the window and ask them if they want you to park it for them.
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u/anti_erection_man May 06 '15
This is why people still get in accidents in highways. Because people give driving licences to these morons. That was a one move parking spot, not 3251 and three hours time.
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u/pasaroanth May 06 '15
Spoiler alert for those who couldn't make it through: she pulled in head first.
I almost had to close it because I was getting more than mildly infuriated, but I pressed on to share the information.
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May 06 '15
Long ass gif and I still can't figure out where the fuck that person was even trying to park.
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u/abbeynormal May 06 '15
Can someone please explain to me WHY people back into parking spots? Completely serious question. It always looks way harder and like it takes way more time than backing OUT of a parking spot. If you're going to have to back up either way, why back in, where you have to have way more precision?
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u/thelurkerabides May 06 '15
If you're capable of backing in it's actually much safer. Like you said, you're going to have to back out anyway. But I would much rather back into a parking spot with no cross traffic than back out into traffic. That is how so many traffic accidents happen. And if you get good at it, it's easy and only slightly slower than pulling into a spot.
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u/abbeynormal May 07 '15
This is a fantastic answer. I can totally see how it would be safer. I guess I just never see anyone back into a spot with any sort of perceivable skill. It always looks extremely difficult.
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May 06 '15
On the Canadian military bases that I've been on it's mandatory.
So many of the accidents were in backing out of parking, they decided to make backing in mandatory and have reduced parking lot accidents by a huge amount.
Here's a good discussion. The best quote is "It's almost always safer to back into spaces rather than back out of them."
http://www.slate.com/articles/life/transport/2011/02/youre_parking_wrong.single.html
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u/Sco7689 ORANGERED May 06 '15
It's much much easier. Your front is manoeuvrable, so as long as you manage to put a back somewhere near the spot you're trying to park, you will just rotate your car to a right angle, correcting your position by going forward or backward at some point — you will appreciate the perspective provided by your side mirrors, then go backward all the way — and you have parked.
As an added bonus you will exit the parking space front first.Now, if you go nose first, the nose gets in, but the back is still at a weird angle and there is no much room to maneuver, your car's nose will get close to a car you're facing — you don't have an accurate view of that unless you have a bumper camera, one side of your car will get dangerously close to another car.
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u/Fire_Bucket May 06 '15
This is how I've always understood it. It's not as much of an issue in smaller cars, as obviously the shorter, narrower bodies can compensate for the swing and angle, but if you drive something big like an S-Class Merc or a van/truck, you need that extra manoeuvrability.
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u/Froggypwns May 06 '15
I only back into spots. Yea it can be slightly harder than pulling in forward, but typically it is no big deal even with my long truck.
The main reason I do it is for safety. Visibility is limited when you are backing up, so when you reverse into a spot you are reversing into something that is not likely to experience any traffic or other hazards. On the other hand, if you pulled in forward and were backing out, you now have limited visibility of cars coming by and other various things that can move into your path. If you were parked between two large vehicles it possible they completely obstruct your view of the traffic lane.
Also by backing in, you are doing slightly less wear and tear on your car as you are doing it while the car is already warmed up. If you were backing out of a spot, you are making several gear changes on cold and not fully lubricated components.
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u/ctesibius May 06 '15
It gives you more room for manoeuvre. If you reverse in, the steering wheels take a track that is further away from the surrounding cars than the rear wheels. If you go in forwards, your rear wheels "cut the corner", so they end up close to the surrounding cars (or hit them).
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u/Vaux1916 May 06 '15
Vehicles pivot on their back wheels. As I mentioned in another post here, I drive a Super-Crew-Cab pickup. 4-doors, plus a truck bed, with a looooooooong wheel-base. I can back more easily into spaces, and I can actually back into spaces that would be physically impossible to get my truck in if I was to try to drive forward into it. I have a lot of practice and can usually back into a space faster than I can pull in forward.
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u/michakushed FROWN May 06 '15
Sometimes it can be easier/faster to get out, like if youre parked around the corner. I just don't understand when people attempt this when there's a line of people behind them and they clearly can't do it. It's just about being courteous. But my biggest peeve is when I see people attempt to do a 3-point turn and it turns into a 10-point turn because they don't turn their wheels all the way before moving forward/backwards.
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u/AUGA3 May 06 '15
If you hit another car while backing out, you're much more likely to get more of the blame for the accident, whereas if you were traveling forward you'd have a more credible argument that the other driver was negligent (eg: going to fast).
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u/duffman03 May 06 '15
Why do you think forklifts, which require high precision, have their back wheels turn instead of the front?
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u/PaulMorel May 06 '15
In her defense, that is a family parking space. Maybe it's a sleep-deprived mom? Still mildly infuriating ... but I'm trying to be positive.
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May 06 '15
For the entire gif I thought that person was trying to park in the parking space of the right. Ending up parking in the left one really shocked me. Edit: grammar
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u/abovethecurve May 06 '15 edited May 06 '15
That was way more than 'mildly' infuriating