Reversing Gone to Pot

Daisyboots, thank you. Discussions on GN can be so helpful.

I can park reasonably ok. A while ago we were on a weekend break, the OH was parking in an unfamiliar and irregularly shaped car park and making a right pigs ear of it. I asked, 'Can I do it?' 'Certainly not!' was the response. surprise

Moocow I hired an autonatic car in England which was a Nissan Juke and that had those sensors in the bottom of the wing mirrors that beeped if you went over the white line etc. I only found out at the end of the hire that they could be turned off. If you are using your indicators they dont beep so quite clever I suppose. We have since bought a Juke but it doesn't have those sensors in the wing mirrors than goodness but does have a good reversing camera and sat nav.

I am guessing that all these innovations are paving the way for self-driving cars, which will need to perform all the functions mentioned.

I assume self-driving cars will also be able to be driven normally too. So you could have it self-drive the boring bits of road or traffic jams and then take over when it's more interesting.

I like driving, we did a 500+ mile trip on Thursday, but the roadworks on the M6 are so tedious. I'd prefer to take a nap then, or read a book.

Even tho I have been driving for 42 years I still cannot reverse park ! When I go backwards my coordination just goes ! So if I can’t drive into a parking space I don’t go in there !

Maybe they are a nuisance to people who can park but an absolute boon to people like me who were useless without it.

I'm an excellent parker thanks to my dad teaching me how it's done. My mum was too, again thanks to my dad. DH not so good as never shown how and too old when we met to take advise. I would love the modern car that helps in the night and when bollards are low behind.

What make/model are all these cars with their bleepers for crossing white lines, drivers driving too close, etc? I think it would turn me into a nervous wreck or mad at theconstant bleeps. Salesmen don't make you fully aware when you are looking at a new car and I am in need of a new one so more hestant about getting one to suit us.

When reversing into a small space I rely on the beeps. When they turn into a squeal I know I've arrived! The camera is very deceptive. You think there is much more room than there really is so I never use it. I find parking on the wrong side of the road far easier than on the right side

I just love my reversing camera. I was hopeless before and for the first time ever I can park anywhere- it is wonderful and I would highly recommend. I can back into spaces between 2 parked cars and I can get into a small on-street parking spaces and I can get out of tight spots- all things I had to avoid before.

Have always disliked reversing especially if it was to park, so just have avoided it and drive a bit further til i find a space as big as 2 buses where i can glide straight in. Voila!
More of a problem in towns which i tend to avoid if possible for that reason. Go for a carpark in that situation.
Regret very much never practicing parking, probably too late now, but do have a peeper which warns of hedges and/ or concrete being too close and then have to differentiate between the two...hope always its hedges!

OH is a chauffeur with top of the range parking sensors. I can't look at a picture in front of me and reverse. I just don't get it.

DH's car beeps if seat belts aren't worn, if he crosses the white line, if anyone drives too close behind or beside, if it thinks he should change gear, if he exceeds the speed limit, if it thinks he's going to crash, and if he leaves the keys in and opens the drivers door!
Orange lights flash in the wing mirrors if other vehicles pass by closely, it has a front and rear camera, parks itself and folds the wing mirrors in when the engine is turned off!
Now, if I could just teach it to vacuum and wash dishes!!!

The camera view is deceptive and that is where the problem lies. It means the driver has to be able to adjust to the new view and this is difficult. It is a bit like using a pair of specs that is not your prescription. I think this can be dangerous.

It seems to be doubly so for female drivers. Possibly that is in part due to the male brain being able to process maths and geometry with greater confidence.

Not every new addition to our cars is good for all. It is a matter of choice. So do not use the camera unless you are happy with it. Too much reliance and then change cars and get no camera or one that shows a different picture. At all times when driving you need to be comfortable with your car and know how it responds.

My latest car has so many new attributes it is mind boggling. Some of them depend upon me having a smart phone (which I do not have). Some of the others are of little or no use to me as I wish I had the ones in the other car. So what do I do? I drive the car using all the knowledge I have and ignore the extras I do not want. I have front and rear cameras but they are of no help to me so they are not used.

The one attribute I have found most helpful when parking is the beeps warning of closeness to the other vehicles. The sound increases the closer you get and this enables parking in the tightest positions, essential in today's congested cities.

I used to be a brilliant reverser/parker (if I do say so myself!) when I had to park on the road outside our house. I'd see a little space (maybe not much bigger than the car) and my passenger would say, you won't get in that! Yes I will, I'd say, and I did, normally first time! However, since having our own driveway and garage I am now absolutely and embarrassingly rubbish! Practice isn't it, use it or lose it. I've lost it! Haha!

When I had driving lessons, I found I was very good at reversing. It was the driving I never got the hang of.

Oh you all surprise me! I love mine! But I still use wing mirrors as well so I can keep in the habit, incase I ever have to use a car without the camera. Keep practising, you will grow to love it. It frightened me at first but wouldn't be without it now.

Cosying up not costing

I too belong to theAlima School of Motoring. I park approximately in the middle of three parking spaces on a not busy day or time and blow me I come back to two other cars costing up on either side in an empty ish car park.

Never used reversing cameras. Never could reverse any distance but am an expert at street parking, I can reverse into the smallest space providing it's nearside

My husband maintains that men find it much easier to reverse than women because they had pedal cars as children!!

Can’t get on with that system,tried it here and when in Australia where there parking spaces say “nose in or rear in.” I’ve reverted back to way I’ve always done it, looking over my shoulder.

Hired a car once with it and nearly drove into the van next to me when reversing out of a parking space. I prefer the alarms when you are getting to close to an object or someone walks behind you.

Mine beeps uncontrollably as I reverse but I'm still miles away on all sides. It cries wolf which makes me more likely to hit something like a pillar in a car park!!! because I always ignore the noise. As for the camera, why are there two boxes yellow and red it's too confusing - I bet it was designed by a man - sorry if that's sexist. Why can't there be one box and when the box touches the car behind you've hit it?

Alima - that is such a wonderful description of the way I park. I read it out to DH who nearly choked on his coffee. Some people can park and some can't - that it the way it is.
anyway he can't make Yorkshire Pudds like mine even if her can reverse park into a postage stamp sized gap.

Those parking sensors and the rest in my car just distract me. That constant bleeping when I know I have room in our drive drives me nuts.
DH's state of the art camera is so good, he never parks it straight.?I'm going to stick to my mirrors regardless.