ONE MIGHT say that Western Civilization can be traced back to one act of extreme code enforcement. According to Livy, it occurred on April 21st, 753 B.C.E.
Twin brothers Romulus and Remus, fresh from having deposed the ruler of Alba Longa, who had been messing with their sheep, decided to found their own city on the banks of the Tiber River.
The brothers disagreed on where to start. Romulus chose the Palatine Hill, and began to mark out where the walls of the city would be.
He took this very seriously, and declared that these boundaries were sacred and inviolate.
Remus mocked Romulus. He hopped back and forth over the lines in the dirt, laughing that they meant nothing.
So, to prove that they did mean something, Romulus killed Remus on the spot. Rome would have order, dammit.
We all know that Rome then grew to be the greatest city of the ancient world. The Roman Empire spread itself by the act of building cities (and absorbing those that already existed).
That’s what the spread of civilization was – the bringing of cities, and their order, to areas where they had been absent.
Thus, the behavior that one adopts in order to live in a city, and share space with others, is to be civil.
Still, to this day, there are barbarians among us – those that ignore the rules of civility, both written and unwritten, making the act of city life more difficult for the rest of us.
They don’t pick up after their dog. They leave their trash cans out all week. They talk loudly on their phone in public.
Increasingly, they now listen to music or videos from their phone without earbuds.
But it’s the vehicular incivilities that always bother me the most. For instance, the guy (it’s almost always a guy) idling in the fire lane at the grocery store or department store, because he can’t be bothered to actually go park in a space while he waits on his significant other.
Now you may say these people are waiting for someone with a disability, but usually there are not. They are just lazy and narcissistic. I watch. I know.
And while we are on parking, let’s discuss the greatest of all my incivility pet peeves: What I have come to call “combat parking.”
This is when someone decides to back into a parking spot, so as to be head-out, rather than head-in (pulling through two spots to be head-out doesn’t count).
This maneuver in a busy parking lot, like at Target, always causes confusion, delay, and anger.
What benefit does the combat parker gain? My research has brought up a few articles that claim parking like this is safer for pedestrians in the lot, especially when the car is going to leave, and can do so head-out. However, there is no empirical evidence to back this up.
Also, general urban design wisdom holds that the opposite is true – anything that makes drivers feel more confident is generally bad for pedestrians. Drivers should be kept as alert and cautious as possible.
But the true reason that I suspect most people combat park, and the reason that I call it that, is far more stupid. Amazingly, I heard it explicitly expressed in an NPR broadcast of Planet Money back in August.
Episode #791 of this show, which I listen to as a podcast, was titled “Tips From Spies.” The first two segments interviewed people actually in the intelligence community.
The first described the Data-Analysis-Decision-Action (DADA) thought process for tactical problem-solving. Interesting, but kind of a no-brainer.
The second described the bane of all intelligence operations in urban areas – Little Old People (LOPs) – always looking out of windows and noticing if anything in the neighborhood is awry, at all hours. Amusing and true.
The third segment broke form and interviewed someone who reports on the intelligence community for NPR, rather than someone actually in it. This reporter actually recorded herself as she combat-parked at a Kroger, acknowledging while she did so that she was totally disrupting other drivers around her. Why?
“So that you can get out of a bad situation fast.”
Aaaaaaarghhh!!!
I almost threw my iPhone out the window of my truck when I first heard this segment (side note, this must be how Trump supporters always feel listening to NPR).
The reporter also taught her baby-sitters to park this way, and urged that everyone should do it. Did a spy tell her this? Any security professional? Of course not.
This is an absurd, irrational attempt to feel safer in a world where we hear about active shooter scenarios on a daily basis. But despite their frequent occurrence, I have never heard the words, “Anderson, we survived today because of head-out parking.”
In fact, I will posit that combat parking probably increasing your odds of injury through regular-old road rage by many degrees of magnitude, while increasing your odds of surviving a mass shooting not a bit.
So here are your two Urbanist View approved parking options:
Don’t back into parking lot spaces. Head-first, always. Pull through if you can. That’s fine.
If you must be head-out, always, park in the Black Friday hinterlands. You can probably find a spot to pull through, or at least not annoy everyone in the more congested part of the lot with your asinine combat parking.
Give up your barbarian ways and be civil, dammit. We are all trying to share space in the city.
This article appears in Feb 7-13, 2018.
I’ve seen a few fender benders from two drivers both backing out at the same time. Never seen that from those who park nose-out.
Let’s not project our “combat” mentality on those who perhaps want to be safe and be careful for both pedestrians and cars. We have enough division in society without you dividing us by the way we park.
How about that time-honored Savannah driving practice of stopping in the middle of a lane of traffic to let someone out, then spending a few minutes in a
farewell conversation. Don’t worry about pulling to the side of the road, those people in the 15 cars you’re blocking won’t mind. I’ve never seen this phenomenon anywhere else but here.
I just read about a Fifteen year old who shot and killed a Twelve year old boy who was attending the funeral of a Twenty year old man who was shot by the police during an arrest for murder. Kinda puts you parking problems where they belong. Why not spend your time thinking about why this happened in your lovely city of Savannah. Savannah is a city of many complexities least of all parking.
Oh I get it now.
After reading some letters to the editor it appears Jason has been told to stir up controversy. OK well done. You got me to click twice over WEAPONIZED PARKING STYLES!
Troll me twice… shame on me!
I drive a pickup truck and will 99% of the time back in. I do it because it’s easier and faster to back in. As long as the line painters in a parking lot cater to a mini car driver and I have to back and fill several time pulling head in to squeeze into my miniature space I’ll continue to do so.
Responding to your statement “However, there is no empirical evidence to back this up.”
Get this: “NSC analysis of government data indicates that 9% of pedestrian deaths in parking lots result from backup incidents.”
https://www.nsc.org/road-safety/safety-topics/distracted-driving/parking-lot-safety“
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHA What a stupid A$$h@le!!! Wussy talks about “sharing space in the city”, but doesn’t realize he is the A$$h@le that likely follows people too closely not allowing them to back into a spot without jamming things up!!! What about parallel parking? You gonna whine about that next and complain about it’s illegitimacy? Get off of people and get a life, maybe try writing about something important….
wow. how utterly incorrect. so-called journalist. DO SOME RESEARCH. or put away your crayons. or just get a job you are better suited for. (trade that keyboard in for a push-broom)
there is A TON OF EVIDENCE that backing into parking spaces is MUCH safer. someone with a masters degrees in City Planning & Urban Design – should know at least that much. what a waste of years.
So THIS is what journalism has devolved into ?
Liberals writing drivel like this?
This is single most ***** article (except of some woke fairytales) that i’ve read in last years.
I almost always do back to my parking space. Not to “get out of a bad situation fast” but to see better – no car, pedestrian, or baby stroller or shopping cart will instantly show up between two already parked cars, and it is much, much harder to notice it (especially kids) when you backing up FROM your parking spot. With trucks that is sometimes only option to park safe or even fit between cars.
I hardly see ANY proper argument in this article (in which a personal telecommunication device of an author was mentioned…) WHY ‘combat’ parking is bad.
One and only mention is that “always causes confusion, delay, and anger” which is simply not true – i have never, not a single time visibly annoyed OR came irritated by that common task of backing up to a parking space. If someone is ‘confused’ by that simple manoeuvrer, perhaps shouldn’t drive a car at all? And for delay – while it may take few seconds longer to back up it is all recovered when driving out, as you can judge situation better and won’t have to relay on other drivers to let you go, or warn you if you miss something driving out…
you can back into a relatively controlled space, in which there is no cross vehicle traffic and much less likely pedestrian activity…
or you can back out to a completely uncontrolled space where there is both vehicle and pedestrian cross traffic, and while your ability to operate the vehicle safely is impaired by restricted visibility.
My mom’s career was in insurance. She gave insider advice. Back in to stationary surroundings. Head out into moving surroundings. It’ll keep your premiums down.
2023 and a bit late to the conversation, but I ALWAYS do combat parking. It’s a basic skill you learn this in the Army. Also, if it’s in an underground parking lot, backing completely up to the wall makes it impossible for someone to open your trunk or detach your spare wheel if it’s attached to the rear (SUV). Driving away becomes easier due to a better visibility.
Also, to park you use your indicators. Wether you park in front or rear first, it doesn’t matter, doesn’t really cost more time and the person behind you would have to wait a few seconds anyway, aka you don’t disturb anyone and it’s commonly known as courtesy. Now talking about courtesy, is there any reason to bring up the way people park and who they vote for? Is this delusional clown suffering from severe TDS?
Btw, is anyone surprised this delusional clown hasn’t written anything here since 2019? Me neither.
One word: Idiot.
You’re an idiot who has probably never driven anything larger than a Prius. If you drive a big vehicle or a REALLY big vehicle that might even be a bit longer than the parking lot, it is FASTER to “combat parked” than the back and forth of parking head in and then pulling out again (and again) to get yourself in the center of a space such that the people on both sides can get into their cars. Only people that CAN do it usually combat parked cameras assist the maneuver. My backup cameras show both a rear and forward view to help with the backing and centering. ALSO, if you are combat parking against a curb, there is more room for you to back up and make sure your long vehicle doesn’t stick out into the aisle.