We still have a crew cab long box pickup. It is 22 feet long, and it has one of the worst turning radii of any vehicle I have ever owned. I know it is big, and I am careful when I park it to avoid being a nuisance to others. I have learned some valuable lessons from experience. One is that the overhang is longer at the back of the truck than at the front. That means there are some places where I stick out less if I back into a parking space than if I pull in head-first. I do have to be careful about that overhang, however. If there are trees, shrubs, or other objects near the curb, the advantage is diminished. I also know that even though my truck does not have electrically folding mirrors, taking time to fold them can help in narrow parking spaces. Most parking lots around here are striped with enough width for the truck, but it is common for the length to be a couple of feet longer than the indicated space. In many parking lots, I can take up a bit of extra space if I park farther from the store. The edges of parking lots often have plenty of space.

I see other drivers of large vehicles bully their way into spaces. It is common for others with big trucks like mine to take up four spaces in a parking lot. I try to avoid that as much as possible. Most of the time, I can park my truck without being in the way simply by walking a few steps further. When I visit my favorite bookstore, the diagonal parking around the store leaves the back end of my pickup sticking out into the traffic lanes. However, I can park curbside just two blocks away without inconveniencing others.

As a bike rider, I am aware of the hazards of large vehicles in small spaces. The road alongside the bay in our town has a bike lane outside of the traffic lanes. However, long vehicles are routinely parked in diagonal parking spaces with their backsides extending into the bike lane. Some vehicles block the bike lane entirely, forcing bike riders to enter the traffic lanes to get around them. I have a rearview mirror on my bike and know how to navigate those hazards safely, but I have seen some close calls involving other, less aware cyclists.

Diagonal parking is common around here. It allows cities to park more cars in a block, provided there is enough width in the street to accommodate them. I don’t know the statistics, but it seems plausible to me that even with the hazards of cars backing into the traffic lane, there might be fewer accidents simply because people are not skilled at parallel parking. That is another skill that I appreciate. It allows me to park in places rejected by other drivers when parking our small car. Often, I can squeeze my pickup into spaces that drivers of shorter vehicles reject.

Recently, the city of Bellingham announced that a section of State Street in the downtown core will have its diagonal parking reversed starting this morning. Instead of pulling forward into parking places, cars will back into them. Reverse angled parking offers improved visibility when exiting spaces and provides easier loading and unloading. The primary reason cited by city officials for the change, however, is increased safety for cyclists and pedestrians. Too many drivers focus on cars when pulling out of parking spaces and fail to see pedestrians and cyclists. I understand this because I’ve had cars pull out right in front of me when riding my bike. Fortunately, I have good brakes on my bike and I have learned to look for reverse lights on parked cars. So far, I have escaped injury, but I understand the desire to make conditions safer.

It will be interesting to see whether or not the new system works. I think I will like it, but my observation is that many drivers aren’t very practiced at reversing their cars. I expect people to have trouble lining up their cars in the parking spaces.

When I was learning to drive, I was allowed to practice my skills by arranging tractors and vehicles on the sales lot of my father’s business. They were generally backed into their parking spaces, so their fronts were displayed. We also had trucks that were backed into their garages. I had plenty of opportunities to practice backing up, including backing trailers into tight spots. When our children were learning to drive, I had them spend time in an empty parking lot, pulling into one space and then backing into the next. They repeated the process until they could align the vehicle properly, whether going forward or reverse. Both of our children regularly back their cars into parking spaces. My pickup is too tall to fit into our garage, so it sits in our driveway and I back it into its parking space. This allows for a much easier entrance into our narrow street, where cars are often parked alongside the curb.

The city claims that its new reverse-angle parking allows for approximately 30% more parking than parallel parking and will reduce parking accidents. I’m not confident about the second part of that prediction. My observation is that many drivers struggle with reversing. They don’t know how to estimate the distance ahead of the space and are unaware of the turning radius of their vehicles. It is different in reverse than when going forward. Many drivers fail to use their mirrors effectively, resulting in trouble seeing the rear corners of their car from the driver’s seat. However, once they have become adjusted to the new parking scheme, it will force them to practice, and I predict that, like youth learning to drive, practice makes a bit of a difference. For a few days, however, I will avoid the area of the new plan. I expect a bit of chaos to attend the learning of other drivers.