Everyone is saying it's so backing out is safer, which is true... but for me that's not the primary reason.

I drive an Isuzu D-Max. It's a "ute" (truck?) - not one of the obscenely big ones, but it's bigger than a hatch back or sedan.

In a narrow bay, or narrow approach, you can get lined up in the bay first go if you reverse in because you start with your ass in more or less the right place, and front of the car which is moving left and right to get lined up is not in the narrow bay until you're more than half way in.

If you drive in front first you often don't have enough lateral space to get your rear wheels lined up, so you end up parked akimbo first go, so you reverse out to straighten up and come in again.

Additionally, with a rear camera you can see exactly how much room you have so you can use every centimeter. Looking over the nose you can get to within 15cm or so, but you can always use all the space with the camera without any effort.

Reversing might not be easier than front first the first few times, but with a little bit of practice reversing in does take less effort than going front first.

My backup cam makes it easy to know how far to go in. Much easier for me than figuring out the front distance.

I find it easier to backwards park, especially in tighter spaces. Mostly because it's easier if you look properly and watch your mirrors and don't rush. It's also easier to leave because you've got better line of sight for oncoming traffic

You can see people walking in the path if the car much easier If a small child ran behind the car while reversing I don't think I'd see them even anywhere near as well as I would if they ran out in front of the car as i was pulling out of the space.

It's easier. You need enough room for the nose to swing around because the front wheels follow a wider trajectory than the rear wheels. The access road is usually much wider than the parking spots, so backing into the spot gives you much more room to maneuver.

You also have much better visibility overall. If you go in nose first, you can't see the front corners of your car, and you also have terrible visibility when backing out of the spot. If you back in, the mirrors show you exactly how close you are to the cars around you, and you have an unobstructed view when you leave.

Like most everyone here, I feel that I can see the parking space better when I arrive than the roadway when I'm leaving. Seems safer. But the best is pulling through. Win/win!

1. I can do it as fast after years of valet as a teenager, and its easier to make sure I'm centered since I can see the lines in my mirrors.

2. It's easier and quicker to get out, you never know if reversing out of a spot is going to be feasible and the visibility might not be as good when trying to exit.

my tags expired in 2021

I had trouble pulling into a parking spot when I first started driving, because I couldn't judge how close the front of my car was to the car's bumper next to me (as I turned in)

So I started backing-in because I could see everything with my mirrors and could maneuver more easily. I still prefer backing-in, depending on the situation

Getting out quicker, matching other cars that did it for no reason, or I plan on sitting in my car and I like the view better that direction.

To assert dominance.

Beacuse sometimes you have to go somewhere where going out of the parking is going to be near immposible so its Just better to back out when there is not a lot of pepole and have better vivisbilty when going out of the parking.

I think you just need more experience driving. Either one is pretty much equally easy, it just depends on how much space you have to work with and what angle you're approaching from. For example there's one parking spot at my workplace that's basically impossible to get into without backing into it.

I didn’t see anyone else mention this, but to add to other comments, I don’t want to risk hitting the curb with my front splitter in my low-clearance sports car. Obviously SUVs don’t have this issue…

I already knew what the answer would be, and we have 20 people saying the same thing. But in my experience, the people who back into parking spots are among the worst parkers.

They save time pulling out, but they take ages to back in, generally speaking. Especially in a busy area where cars are lined up to find spots, you're waiting for every car in front of you to park before you can drive past them to the next spot.

You've got all these answers that include "it's easier" and "it's safer". Yet in the same posts they insult people who don't have the same opinion as them. I hate people that back in because it wastes my time waiting for them to maneuver when it's quicker to just pull forward.

When you're leaving a parking spot and backing out all the same logic applies that these bozos use to justify backing in, but it's more socially acceptable and doesn't require accuracy, which speeds up the process. People that HAVE to back into parking spots are control freaks.

I don't like starting my drive on a low-note of backing up out from a parking spot, anxious I will accidentally scrape a vehicle or bonk the curb or whatever may it be. Ending the drive by backing into the parking space means next time I leave I'll start by driving forward to pull out.

My van is much easier to reverse into a bay (although most of the time I go near back and find a drive through).

Backing out in the van is nightmare safety wise.

Most cars have their battery on the front. Reverse parking ensures that you can reach the battery with jumper cables if it is empty

There are cities that still have laws on the books that state you cannot back out of your driveway. Obviously not enforced but the reasoning is there. At the grocery store, I don't back in because it becomes a pain in the ass to get to your trunk, everywhere else, yeah I back in. It's safer.

Safety, driving out of a parking space is safe than reversing out. Also every company I've worked for has had a reverse parking only policy, also for safety reasons, so it's habit too.

I have never hit anything when backing in or driving out forward. I have hit 4 vehicles while backing out. It may be an attention thing, no idea. It is better for my wallet to back in

For a certain area, I back in to a parking space so that the sun in the afternoon is coming through the back window. This means that my drivers seat and steering wheel are not the temperature of the sun when I have to drive away. Other people may park in different ways to avoid the sun in the morning should they prefer to drive out to get lunch.

It's easier to back into the space and it's easier to drive out of it. The question should be why do people drive forwards into parking bays and then struggle to back out?

Once you know the proper method, it's easy and efficient. Knowing the proper method is requested to get a licence so many people don't forget.

A big bonus is that you see where you go when leaving. So if a car comes on the street you see it.

Finally many companies have a back parking mandatory as it's safer in case of emergency evacuation. Not an issue in a supermarket but definitely a thing on a chemical factory