Reverse into it: America’s back-in parking wars

America’s parking lots have found their own weird little culture brouhaha. One side pulls in nose-first, like we’ve all done for a century. The other backs into spaces, a trend for less than a decade.

In the Baton Rouge region, you see back-in parking mostly with big trucks. The habit may have started in industrial settings, where some plants required employees to back in so they could exit faster if something went wrong. A practical safety rule was exported into everyday life.

It’s also being mainstreamed nationwide. AAA began promoting back-in parking in 2020, arguing it’s safer because you’re less likely to back out into passing cars and pedestrians.

But critics call it antisocial and needlessly fussy — a small act of parking-lot dominance that slows everyone down while the driver performs a 14-point maneuver in a space designed for a Corolla. Proponents see it as prudence. 

In a New York Times story, one driver offered a more honest explanation: she hated her job and wanted a faster escape. 

Read on (NYT 🔐 )