Why do apartments not let you back your car in?

Question

Me and my girlfriend recently went to a friend's house, and since I was driving her convertible BMW 330i with the smallest back window in the world, I feel much safer backing into a parking space with no known obstructions rather than back out with kids playing or grown-up idiots that STILL walk in the path a moving car, huge blind spot or not. I'm not about to drop the top just to move out of a parking space either, especially if it was 57 degress out and neither of us had a jacket since it was even a bit hot when we went over.

With that in mind, I didn't see a "Do not back in" sign in guest parking (only on the residential side so I didn't think it mattered), backed in anyway, and then I come out around midnight with a notice threatning to have her car towed pasted to the windshield if I didn't park their way. Why do apartments (and even schools) have a "do not back in" policy in effect?

In response to dryheatdave: I know you still have to look for ped's/children either way (and I do), but:

Backing in: The A-pillar is 2-4" wide at the most, and people are more responsive to a car in forward motion for some reason, and you have the most vision since your head is looking straight ahead.

Straight in: If you've driven a drop-top, you'd understand. With a 1' X 3' back window, at least 2 feet of tarp before the back corner windows (if any, my friend's Camaro doesn't have back corner windows and it's about 2 1/2' of tarp), and even hardtops have a good 3/4' for a C-pillar.

With that blind spot in mind, when you're backing out, you have your head twisted 110 degrees at the most (not 180), so you have to bob your head around once in a while, but still have your back to the opposite side. Also 9 times out of 10, other drivers take advantage of their right-of way and zoom past you, and pedestrians are less likely to yield to a car backing out for some reason.

Answer 1

So they can see your tags and have your car checked out.

Answer 2

Maybe it's that rare "common sense" coming to the fore ? I have never heard a good justification for backing into a parking space - dumbest thing I have ever seen.

Whether you reverse into OR out of a parking space, you ALWAYS must look for "kids playing or grown-up idiots that STILL walk in the path a moving car".

But when you reverse INTO a parking space, you also have a car (or pillar) on either side AND a wall, or other obsctruction at the back of the spot.

If you think you can reverse into a parking spot withOUT looking for human obsctructions - you are eventually going to kill someone.

Answer 3

Fender benders are MUCH more likely to happen when people back into spaces. While i'm sure you are a very good driver, there are plenty of people who back into spaces and accidentally ding the person parked next to them. Being that it is a public lot, its very easy to simply drive away, sticking the owner of the other car with an expensive repair bill. By parking forward, most drivers can see antoher car directly in front of them and avoid hitting it.

Answer 4

The only reason I can think of is that a car backed up to a wall tends to produce a black soot mark on the wall.(from the exhaust) Especially in a "cold start" situation.

Answer 5

I think this is stuiped, blind spots, little kids behind you, dogs and cats, wheelchairs, and all the smaller objects we can't see, untill we hit them.I would talk to the mangers there and see if you can talk to the comany who ouns the apartments, and see if this can't be changed.

Answer 6

Josh nailed it. That's what it's all about, they want to be able to see your tags without having to get out of their car when they come through.