One of the all time greats!!!..
I am humbled sir…
Sheesh Dave, im just an old guy who used to turn wrenches and who also built 413s and torque flight 727s and also liked to drive really fast. It was a lot of fun.
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You’re one of the most liked and respected regulars here
Your comments are always insightful, relevant and appreciated
You get MY vote 
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Thank you!
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To: davesmopar and cigroller: Six years ago I was being ribbed for complaining about not fitting in the new cars, and never acknowleged the criticism from Volvo-V70 and VDCdriver.
In the driver’s seat of the Buick Verano my head was about 1.5" from the roof. Always had to duck when I hit bumps, and couldn’t see easily to the right because the rear view mirror would take up too much of the windshield. Between that and the thick A pillars, I almost creamed a few cars and almost ran someone over until I figured it out.
The airbag still scares me a bit. Sometimes I feel dangerously close to the steering wheel. My inseam is more like 28-29 inches these days. 30" gives me a full pant break on my shoes.
To wolyrobb: I like the idea of a camera in front of the Impala. It’s annoying to find myself three and a half feet back in parking spaces.
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I have a habit of trying to always back in a parking spot, have you tried doing that, might be able to see the distance a little better… Heck I use the little Vibe/Matrix to get groceries and I back it in the garage with 2 center post in between the stalls and I can back right up to the poll with no problem, I do this cause the other things are in the way if parking normal distance and it makes taking the 100# doggie outside a pain if not over like that, well one day I drove it for something and just pulled in straight and hit the stupid poll with the side of the bumper cause I couldn’t tell I was that close to it, so sometimes you can see baking up better than pulling forward… And if you have a back up camara even better…
So might try backing in parking spot, practice somewhere there are no cars close to get used to it 1st if not already good at it… Or install a camera in the grill as Wolyrobb mentioned…
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While it makes some sense from a backup camera point of view, backing into a supermarket parking space is either illegal or highly discouraged here in Calif. Not sure which. If you back-in anyway, you’d almost certainly be required to pay for any damage that resulted, whether it was your fault or not.
I still live in a free state, we are allowed to back in anywhere lol…
I do it mainly because it is much safer to back in while you know where other cars are vs trying to back out not being able to see cars flying down the isles and possibly hitting you because you pulled out in front of them because you can’t see with out a back up camera…
So, for me anyway, it is much safer to back in, but to your point, only if you are able to back your car up…
Being in a high center SUV/truck reduces the issue cause you can see much better, but if you are between to Suburban’s in a Corolla etc, you just have to cross your fingers and hope you don’t back out in front of someone and get hit, because you are at fault…
Sorry, but you may live in one of the most beautiful states and maybe even places in the world, but y’all have some stupid crazy laws, it is like corporate having a store manager and still micro managing all the employees…
Again, nothing towards you sir…
I back up in parking lots as well. I do this to help reduce the possibility of hitting discourteous pedestrians.
In Jamaica, it’s not an issue to back out of a parking lot because the culture there always yields to a moving vehicle.
But in the United States, a moving vehicle must yield to a pedestrian.
I can’t count the amount of times while backing out of a parking lot here in the united states a pedestrian(s) would intentionally walk straight in my direction without care for its life, as if a vehicle ever ends up in a hospital being hit by a human.
I used to yell at these people and tell them to use common sense but I would soon learn that it’s my responsibility as a driver to ensure I don’t hit a pedestrian, and that a pedestrian always has the right of way in this country.
To this day I feel such a law is unfair. I would never in my right mind walk in front of a moving vehicle intentionally. Not even if I was paid to.
Now, I back into a parking space so that when I’m leaving the lot i don’t have to worry about people walking into me.
EDIT. Notice when you put your car in reverse, the taillight of your car turns white ? The culture on the island understands this to mean a vehicle is imminent to back out and the driver’s view is limited. So everyone will yield to such vehicle for it to safely back out.
Not here in the United States though. Your reverse light means nothing here and people just keep going about their way.
That is a state by state thing, TN does not give a pedestrian the right away at all times… Even the cross walks, if the hand shows stop and you keep walking and get hit, too bad, unless you can prove the driver meant to hit you, ya know 10 points… lol
That is one reason for back up alarms, to notify a person you are backing up and you can not see them, so walk at your own risk…
Now a person can sue for anything, so they can sue you for hitting them, but doesn’t mean they will win… An investigation is normally done to show who was at fault…
Like the possible back-up law, y’all have some messed up laws, another reason I have no desire to ever visit either (NY/Cali) place, and a lot of other places also…
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That is a common misconception in my area as well, it is an incomplete description of pedestrian’s rights.
Pedestrians have the right-of-way in a marked crosswalk and cannot cross against a do not walk signal. In my area there are pedestrian fatalities each week, outside of a crosswalk and drivers are found to not be at fault.
Drivers are required to take due care in parking lots, reckless pedestrians do not have the right of way.
I usually stop walking at least 20 feet from a vehicle that is backing out so the driver can move without an obstructed view, any closer and they usually just wait for the pedestrians to pass by. People have different driving practices; should I wait for the car to leave or are they waiting for me?
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That’s very good. Very few times ( like very very few ) a pedestrian would yield to me backing out. That person makes it so much easier for me to back out.
Only if everyone would do this, our safety would increase.
When I’m driving with my friend, he would exit the car and act like a traffic officer so the people would give me way.
Nobody cares here in NY if you are backing out.
Yeah, I normally wait for people to walk on by me, it is more of a courtesy thing, I figure I am already in my vehicle and they are in the heat/cold/rain or whatever… Plus if you see them and then hit them, it is just target practice and you are at fault… lol
You’re apparently speaking of parking lots managed by a private firm called California Parking Authority. They forbid backing into parking spaces lest you damage the car behind you, fill an enclosed area with exhaust gas or just discolor walls from your exhaust.
It is, as far as I know, not illegal to back into a parking space in your local supermarket.
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Me too. Too many people and other cars pull past me as if I’m not there while my car is pulling out backwards. There are no blind spots pulling out nose first. I pull in nose first at the grocery store and pulling into my garage. It’s more practical to have the trunk facing out when loading groceries into it.
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Now that I can understand, In TN we only have one plate on our vehicles, the rear (of course), so some pay to park-parking garages require you to pull nose in so they can drive by and check you tags…
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