Front End Parking vs. Concrete Bumpers

On parallel parking you enter with reverse, because you have better maneuverability.
On vertical parking, especially in narrow places, you MUST enter with reverse, again for better maneuverability.
Assuming that the central pillar is the middle of the car - usually - and the driver is sitting in FRONT of this middle, he has better visibility when leaving the parking place.
A car maneuvering to park can be seen from a distance. A car leaving a parking place is mostly hidden by the other vehicles and a careless driver may hit it.
Leaving a parking place with reverse to MO is a dangerous maneuver, irrespective of the car.

May be I am missing something, but why in Florida "parking front end it is the law"??
Can anyone explain? (Please excuse my too many questions in this site, but different countries have different customs/laws)

 

In Canada there are parking places that have posted signs - "do not back in". For them I back in carefully.
I hunt for "pull through" spots in grocery stores and malls. If I have to I back in.
If there is a law -anywhere- against that, then the law is an a$$.

I watched dumfounded as two women backed out into each other. I wonder who was at fault? Probably 50/50.

But we're assuming people obey the traffic laws. On my morning walks I watch people sail through stop signs, others slow and go. I watched one driver of a brand new SUV ignore the "yield" sign and sail through hitting a Pontiac Sunbird. The front wheel of the SUV climbed onto the hood and the SUV proceeded to roll through the intersection, destroying it. The Pontiac was not really badly damaged. Or at least the occupants were not injured, other than shock.

It's sad! Crackerjack drivers (that's where they get their licenses).

 

Though this sounds like a good idea, in a Fred Flintstone kind of way, the OP said his girlfriend was complaining. Why not tape the girlfriend to the front bumper? Two birds, one stone. No longer hitting the parking curb and girlfriend ain't complaining (or at least you can't hear her very well while she's taped to the front bumper).

Works for me. Wonder why I'm still single?

Dumb Mike

 

You're welcome! But be careful to leave yourself a wee bit more room. You know how the Prius like to lurch an inch either way after you hit "P"

 

That's funny...my company REQUIRES us to back into a parking space...provided there are no pull-through spaces available..."my" Prius is a company-provided vehicle, so...I back in. (listening to the daffy beeping while I do so...)
I cannot think of a reason---at least not a good one, for making it illegal to back into a parking slot, but one of the MANY benefits of living in the "Redneck Riviera" is the fact that we're not "intelligent" enough to come up with goofy rules about how you can park in a city parking space.

I haven't noticed my vehicle "lurching" when I put it into, or take it out of "P", but then again...I also have to use my parking brake. I'll have to look out for this. That's about the third or forth "Priusism" that my vehicle hasn't displayed---but it's only 1200 miles old.

 

It's not a Priusism - it's an AutomaticTransmissionism. Any car (at least, any of the ones I've seen) will roll a few inches in park if the parking brake isn't applied when on non-level ground, until the parking pawl stops the motion. Since you always use your parking brake, you won't notice it.

 

Some places here it is illegal to reverse in if the parks are in front of shops. Keeps the stinky exhaust out of the shops.

 

This is the main reason here, too. Having once worked in a lab where diesel delivery vehicles consistently ignored the rule and left their (pre-'clean' diesel) engines running, I do support that one.

The other instance is in places (probably such as the condo as another poster mentioned) where they have permit stickers affixed to the windshield. Gotta make it easy for the ticketers--this way they only have to walk on one side. (Also gives them another box to check on the ticket, probably, too).

 

If I hit the concrete bumper the plastic piece that is attached to the bumper pops out and I have to replace it. It goes about two inches below the bumper and it will hit anything that sticks up 4 or 5 inches. I never had any problems with my Accord but I have had to reattatch this 3 times so far--a major pain because eventually the snaps will wear out and it will just hang loose. I can just barely touch something and it will snap out. I am thinking about drilling a couple of holes and using some bolts to hold it together, but I am worried that it was made to snap out and that this might rip it apart.

 

Ok ... So I just finished reading this thread from the beginning. I've had my 2010 now for about a month or two an I agree that I too have problems gauging the closing distance while parking. I will try the "underside of mirror" trick next chance I get.

Some of the tricks I use are:

Use the car next to me and line up the front doors.

Use the backup camera to check if I am pulled in far enough.

If there is a glass window in front of me use it as a mirror.


The Prius is short enough too not stick out even if I leave a large gap. I'm am feeling confident now that when I think I am too close, I still have inches if not feet of clearance.

I would love to have a front bumper camera!

Regarding backing out of spaces ... I automatically put on my four way flashers when I back out in the vain hope that other drivers are actually paying some low level of attention ;-) With the backup camera's ultrawide angle view I actually can see more when sandwiched between two SUVs than if I had backed in.

 

I back in but when I do pull in...I use the car next to me as a guide to how far to pull in. Most of them are longer than the Gen III and I can se the reflection in their paint job. Good luck...but like all things, it takes practice.

 

Installed a new product on the market called CurbAlert, that detects curbs before you damage the front of your car. It's pretty sweet and gives an audible beep when you need to stop. It's adjustable and I have mine setup to alert at 18" from the front of the car. I set mine up to only alarm on curbs 4" high or higher (ignores low curbs). It also tells you when you are about to scrape on upward slanted driveways.

Note: As installed only protects from front curb damage, does not detect anything on the side of your car. It could however if you mounted it on the side of the car vs. the front.

Here's the website that tells all about it : curb-alert.net

It took about 20 min to install. I'm interested in everyone's opinion on this, since it's the first product that I have found that detects curbs. My sister has a new Prius and I'm going to install one on her car.
Note: Lower pic shows CurbAlert mounted on my Mazda3

 

$180.00 for a curb alert..just learn how to judge the curb. I will admit that its tricky....what I do is look out the small window or drivers window to find the curb, then get as close as I'm comfortable with. It is not a crime if your not sitting on top of the curb.

 

I never encountered this problem until I lowered my car almost 2". Unless you're lowered too, I scrape worse than all of you. I'm not complaining though, just saying.

 

I never really have an issue in our Gen II. However, my new Lexus is apparently significantly lower than my old one in the front. Haven't hit any curbs, but driveway aprons are terrible! I've chin-scuffed it 3-4 times already in 6 months...and I'm careful...

I like that curb alert, but at $180 I'd be afraid it'd just get torn off on a driveway apron.

 

The CurbAlert mounts either low or HIGH (looking down). If you have a really low bumper then you want to mount it high in the grill area, insuring that it has no chance of hitting anything. The vehicles on the CurbAlert website show both types of mounting. The unit comes with hardware to mount it either way depending on the application and user preference. It is also made of lexan and is virtually indestructable.

 

The Lexus has a completely sealed front end though, you can't see from the grill area to the ground...

 

Ha ha ha ha!