REVERSE PARKING
10 January 2021 | As we were walking home and wandered into a parking lot near the Zion Food Centre, a car drove into the parking lot. The driver pulled forward and then put the car into reverse. At that point, I was reminded (though I’ve known it for a while) that Singaporeans back into parking spots. Very rarely will you find someone who parks with their nose in and, if they do, they are likely Westerners. Even in the parking lot at our apartment complex where there is a lot of space, everyone backs into the parking spots.
When you read a bit more about this interesting practice you begin to understand why this became common practice throughout the country.
Common knowledge in a parking lot is that the car in front of you will always back into the spot so the unsaid protocol is to wait for the car and to give them adequate space to maneuver into the spot. One could say that Singaporeans suffer the pain of reverse parking upfront in order to create safer protocols for getting out of the parking lot which leads to #2 below.
Reverse parking makes it easier, quicker, and safer to get out of a parking spot because other cars are more visible to the driver whereas there are many blind spots when trying to reverse out of a parking spot.
Lastly, though not explicitly said, cars who reverse park generally save a bit more space as they stick out less than if they pull in from the front.
And while reverse parking is common practice, I still stand in awe of the fact that there is little to no deviation from this practice throughout the country.