Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Miscellaneous/2021 April 30

= April 30 =

Estimating distance at the exit from the parking lot
Using the thumb rule it is possible to roughly estimate the distance to the nearest point of the vehicle parked in front of me. Suppose I try to get out of the parking lot and I am afraid not to hit the vehicle in front of me, how can I use the thumb law along with the fact that I see the vehicle moving along the horizontal axis when I try to get out of the parking lot (I get out of it in a turn) to be sure I do not collide ? David (talk) 09:51, 30 April 2021 (UTC)
 * If your depth perception is that bad, maybe you should visit your eye doctor. ←Baseball Bugs What's up, Doc? carrots→ 09:53, 30 April 2021 (UTC)
 * I suffer from Amblyopia, there is nothing to do about it. Anyway, it does not answer the question. David (talk) 10:06, 30 April 2021 (UTC)
 * It's treatable. And I'm getting the impression you shouldn't be driving. Though here's something to consider: If you can see the bumper of the car in front of you, you should be at a safe distance. For a more scientific approach, you could park a few feet behind a parked car in an open lot somewhere, and measure the distance. Then compare that with what you consider to be a safe distance, and move your car forward or backward accordingly. Then observe what it looks like from your driver's seat. ←Baseball Bugs What's up, Doc? carrots→ 10:11, 30 April 2021 (UTC)


 * The only advice I know of is get to know your own car and know where its front end is; and use visual cues as to where the front end of your car is. I don't know of any rule of thumb that is universal; the front ends of automobiles varies so wildly in terms of height and length I'm not sure it's possible.  Parking a Ford F-150 is going to be different than parking an Alfa Romeo Spider, and the front end of a Cadillac Eldorado is way further away than the front end of a Volkswagen Type 2.  -- Jayron 32 11:02, 30 April 2021 (UTC)
 * Seconded: get a couple of plastic traffic cones or even just a couple of large cardboard boxes large enough to be visible above your bonnet (hood) and boot (trunk) from your driving seat, and practice parking between them and deliberately nudging them to learn what your car's ultimate limits are: you'll probably find you'll can get much closer than you think before you're touching them.
 * Learning the absolute limits is useful for manoeuvring into (and out of) a tight parking space, before adjusting the vehicle forward and back to leave an equitable gap to the other vehicles. However, be mindful of unusual configurations and items like front-mounted winches or rear towhooks on other vehicles. {The poster foremrly known as 87.81.230.195} 90.200.135.95 (talk) 14:29, 1 May 2021 (UTC)

When the distances are close it's not easy. Lots of cars have backup cameras for this purpose now. I don't know whether cameras on the front are common. It's also common for a passenger or stranger to stand outside the car and gesture to you showing how much space you have. Finally, car bumpers (at least in the US) are designed to withstand low speed collisions (say 0.5 mph) without damage. So if you inch the car forward slowly and it accidentally gently contacts the car in front, chances are everything will be fine. I wouldn't do that on purpose, but it's happened to me unintentionally a few times and I was not able to detect any resulting marks on either car. There was a time when the bumpers were required to withstand fairly energetic collisions (like 2.5mph or even 5mph) so cars from a certain era have large and ridiculous looking bumpers. But they don't do that any more afaict. 173.228.123.166 (talk) 19:26, 30 April 2021 (UTC)


 * Front Parking Sensors. Alansplodge (talk) 13:47, 1 May 2021 (UTC)
 * That could be extremely useful to the OP - and even more so to other drivers, as I remain unconvinced that the OP should even be allowed to drive. ←Baseball Bugs What's up, Doc? carrots→ 15:03, 1 May 2021 (UTC)
 * Maybe a self-driving car when they sort out the glitches? Alansplodge (talk) 17:28, 1 May 2021 (UTC)