Is it dangerous to back a car into a garage? I have a “weird” neighbor who refuses to park her car in the garage unless she backs it in??? Is this a safe thing to do? I tried researching this goofy subject, but couldn’t find any information.
I don’t see how it makes much difference unless you leave it running and get fumes into the house.
The car would have to run long enough to fill the garage with carbon monoxide to become a problem. Even a single-car door is quite large and there will be a significant air exchange between the garage and the outdoors. There are a few people in my neighborhood that back in and they are still alive. I share your concern and don’t back in. I’m used to backing out the 60 or so feet to the street now and I won’t change.
BTW, is she weird because of the way she parks her car, or are there other mystifying affectations?
Yep, she’s weird in EVERY way! Just wanted to make sure that her odd parking behavior wasn’t going to affect me, since we live in a condo unit and her garage is next to mine. I think I’m just looking for a good excuse to move! thanks for your reply.
Strange behaviour indeed! It takes far more effort and attention to back in than to go in forward, whereas backing out is easy, since you have the whole wide driveway. There are exeption; I worked in a chemical plant where a leak would be vey dangerous. For rapid evacuation, the company required everyone to back into their parking space, so they would be able to leave quickly. When going to a concert, we back the car in at the parkade, so we can leave more quickly and not cause congestion.
I would classify this behavior as irraional bordering on dysfunctional.
In some ways it is safer. Backing into traffic out of a drive or garage is dangerous. Baking into a parking space or garage risk damage to the car or garage. Which risk do you want to take. At least backing into a garage is not likely to cause injury.
As a kid many years ago I worked parking cars in a parking garage. We had to back into the spaces as a safety requirement.
I find it much easier to back into a garage than into traffic. You don’t have to watch your car’s front end when you’re backing into the garage.
I also always back in, for the reasons mentioned…it’s definitely safer. If everybody did that there would be a few childrens’ lives saved every year. Please everybody with small children, develop this habit.
I have an old, single stall garage, and I’ve also put some bright reflective and pink duct tape in key spots to act as guides. I put the tape where if I line the tape up with the body surfaces in the rearview mirrors I go in perfectly. When I get to the spot where my right rearview mirror housing lines up with the duct tape, I’m perfectly centered. I too am weird.
I also always back into parking spaces for the same reason. It’s safer.
watch out if you back out onto a street you are in the wrong even if some one hits .it is against the law in some states to back out of
driveway or small streets in main traffic
It is safer. There is less likelihood that a kid or dog will suddenly appear in that garage, but it is not unlikely one will suddenly appear in the drive as you back out. Same thing with parking in a parking lot. You can’t see as well backing out so you are less likely to see that car or the woman with a kid in a shopping car behind you when backing out.
There is also the fact that you have far less maneuverability turning in or backing out when you park with the front of the car in first. Just try turning the wheel full right or left as you back out of a spot, then try it pulling out of a spot.
It just takes a little practice. It should be required of anyone getting a drivers license.
It depends on how you look at it. If you back it into the garage, you are relatively sure that you are not going to run over any children or pets in the driveway because you have the opportunity to visually inspect the driveway before you line up the car to back it in and, obviously, when you pull it out of the garage, you can see better. On the other hand, if you back it into the garage, you are more likely to hit an object inside the garage or the garage itself. Something else to consider is that when you back the car out of any parking space, you are taking your car from a confined space to an open space.
For me it really depends on the length of the driveway, the amount of traffic on the road, the amount of visibility, the size of the garage, and the presence or absence of children and pets in the neighborhood. Realistically, there is no single answer for all conditions.
Your forward visability is always far better than your rearward visability. Better visability always equals better safety.
If your garage opens into your house and your kinds might be playing in the garage when the car isn’t there, then pulling in forward might be safer, provided you check the driveway carefully befor backing out. beyond that, I can’t envision a situation where pulling in forward is safer. But I recognize that there are a lot of different situations beyond those I can envision.
In addition to the prior reasons, backing in makes the front of the car easily accessible in the event there is any trouble getting it going again. I got into this habit when I lived in a house with a tight garage and a finicky car. Jumping batteries, working on the engine etc is much easier with the front end facing out and the door open.
“Your forward visability is always far better than your rearward visability.”
Really? I don’t know about that. My mother’s camper has a back-up camera and rear visibility is just about as good as if it was forward visibility. She didn’t spend a fortune on that back-up camera system either. Any responsible SUV or minivan owner with children should have one, that is unless they have a horseshoe driveway.
For years my grandmother lived in a mobile home retirement community. Pets and children (except those visiting for short periods) were prohibited. However, the likelihood of hitting one of those aluminum car port supports is a lot higher if you are a senior citizen backing the car in.
We don’t live in a world of absolutes. Besides, it isn’t that hard to open the garage door and look inside before you line up the car to back it in while you are still perpendicular in relation to the garage.
Depending on which side of the car is up against the garage wall, it is easier to get out of car with more space on the drive’s side. In a two car garage (with a lot of stuff up against the sides), the car on the left would be backed in and the car on the right would be head in. With the cars closer to the garage walls, each driver could enter and exit easily. Also it allowed access to any stuff on the back wall of the garage, i.e. rake, broom, shovel, etc.
Sorry, I don’t have time to think about this. I’m kept up at night worrying about all those people who put the toilet paper roll on backwards!
My dad did it for at least 50 years and I’ve backed into driveways and garages for over 35 years. When I got my license, we lived on a main street and if you tried to back out into the street you may take two to three minutes until traffic would clear enough to complete the maneuver. So it was just natural to pull to the side of the street (no on street parking was available) and slowly cut off traffic coming the other way until you had EVERYONE blocked. Then backing in the driveway to the garage was easy.
Neither my dad or I suffered any ill effects from backing into garages. The only danger is if you miss the brake pedal and go through the back wall.
I have a Y-shaped driveway to eliminate that problem.