Parking Etiquette Every Driver Needs to Know

Parking Etiquette Every Driver Needs to Know

We’ve all encountered our fair share of stressful situations in parking lots– parking spot thieves, “double-space parkers,” and even car door bangers. Though we can’t avoid parking lots in general, dealing with these pesky habits people do can be very inconvenient. Obviously, parking etiquette isn’t stressed enough in driver’s education, so check out these six essential tips for polite parking etiquette.

6 Parking Tips You Need to Know

1. Use your signal

If your dealing with a busy parking lot, it’s always best to signal to other drivers when you’re waiting for a parking spot. Even if you’re not waiting for a spot, signaling into a spot always alerts drivers to yield. In return, respect other drivers by waiting your turn for a spot or waiting for a car to park.

2. Give space

This tip is absolute key when it comes to practicing good parking etiquette. It’s best to remember to give other drivers space to open and close their car doors. This includes block someone’s trunk or tailgate. Be sure to also pull into the space far enough for cars to safely drive and passengers to cross, but not too far to where there’s no room for another car to park across from you.

3. Park in your designated stall

You should always park your car in parking lots or stalls fit for your car. For example, it’s very inconsiderate to park in an electric charging spot if you’re not driving an electric car. You should also never park in a handicap stall if you don’t have a legal, proper sticker indicating that you are. It should also be very obvious to not park your enormous truck in a compact space.

4. Don’t take up multiple spaces

This tip goes hand in hand with tip #2, but this one needs to be addressed because it’s absolutely rude and wrongful to do so, especially in a crowded parking lot. You should always park your car evenly between the space lines, but if your car absolutely needs more space, take the time to park further in the parking lot where there’s hardly any vehicles to bother.

5. Straighten out your tires

Once you’ve pulled into your space evenly, be sure to straighten out your tires. This also gives room for other drivers to safely leave and get in and out of their cars.

6. Pull out of your stall slowly

When you’re ready to leave your stall, take the time to back out or pull out slowly. Keep in mind that you are still in parking lot where there’s pedestrians walking and other cars driving. For the safety of you and others, do so very gradually and be sure to look both ways before proceeding out.