Reverse angle parking FAQ.............
Written For: August 2008
Frequently asked Questions
Q: Why angle parking?
• Parallel parking not sufficiently meeting our parking demand.
• The community has a parking shortage. We are short more than 900 spaces.
• Introducing angle parking will put a large dent into that figure and make it safer for our residents whom at night have to walk blocks to their homes.
• Police will more easily identify vehicles “cruising” for drugs, prostitutes, victims, etc …
Q: Why reverse angle parking instead of head-in angle parking?
• Better visibility when leaving
o even when parked next to large vehicles or vehicles with tinted windows
• Eye-to-eye line of sight between parker and approaching road-user
o Reduces accidents involving oncoming motorists
o Reduces accidents involving bicyclists
• Allows quicker entry into traffic flow
• Simpler than parallel parking maneuver
• Trunks/tailgates are unloaded to curb
• Safer while unloading children and pets,
o open vehicle door guides them towards safety zone of sidewalk
• Safer on inclines because it forces drivers to curb their wheels tires
• Safer for disabled parking
o places each disabled parking stall close to the existing curb ramps, and allows the wheelchair-using
o drivers to unload out of the way of traffic
• Vehicle headlights do not shine into homes.
Q: How do you reverse angle park?
• Signal when slowing
• Pull past space
• Back into space on angle
Q: Is backing into the stalls difficult?
• The backing maneuver may be unfamiliar, but certainly is much easier than parallel parking: a common task on city streets.
Q: Will headlights shine into homes across the street?
• One side of the street keeps the parallel parking. Those vehicles will block the headlights from entering the homes across the street from the reverse angle parking.
Q: Isn’t it harder and take more time to reverse angle park?
• It takes longer for most people to parallel park than to reverse angle park.
• Reverse angle parking has fewer steps than parallel parking
Reverse Angle Parking Parallel Parking
1. Signal when slowing
2. Pull past space
3. Back into space on angle 1. Signal when slowing
2. Pull past space
3. Back into space on angle
4. Pull forward
Q: It's so easy just to pull forward into a standard angle stall.
Doesn't this convenience make it the best parking method?
• It boils down to safety and when you want to have your convenience. With standard angle parking, it's simple to pull in but can be a bear to pull out. You may have to back your car entirely out into the traffic lane before you can even see the oncoming traffic (not very safe.) With back-in angle parking, getting into the stall is more difficult than going front-in but exiting the stall is more convenient because you don't have to pull out very far at all to see the oncoming traffic. In addition, if you have packages to load you can stand on the sidewalk while loading them into your trunk. That's a nice convenience!
Q: How do you communicate with cars behind you that you backing into a parking stall?
• The law requires you to signal when slowing and backing into a parking spot. You should signal just as you would when parallel parking.
Q: Won't reverse angle parking increase the number accidents?
• Actually, one of the most common causes of accidents is people backing out of standard angled parking without being able to see on-coming traffic. Reverse angled parking removes this difficulty. The initial stopping and signaling required for back-in angle parking is already an everyday occurrence throughout the city with parallel parking. Because of this familiarity, we do not expect accidents to increase. In fact, both Seattle and Tucson reported a decrease in parking-related accidents after back-in angle parking was implemented.
Q: Will we be able to park on both sides of the street?
• Yes, one side of the street keeps the parallel parking and the other side becomes reverse angle parking.
Q: Why do we need to mark the pavement?
• Marking the pavement
o prevents wasting valuable parking spaces
o protects off street parking access
o maintains visibility at intersections
o motorcycles and scooters will have designated parking spots
o disabled parking is protected
Q: Why is the street becoming a one-way street?
• To safely implement angle parking, two-way streets become one-way streets
Q: Will I still be able to double park?
• The goal is to increase spaces so you won't need to double park. However, no one can guarantee that a space will be open right in front of your home at exactly the time you need it. In the event you need to double park to unload groceries for example, another car will be able to pass as long as you don't park in the middle. We asked our neighbors on Chester St who already have angle parking if double parking is a problem. They told us that, even when the semi pulls up for deliveries to the little store there, vehicles are able to continue on to Eastern Av without delay.
Q: What if I don’t like one-way streets?
• One-way traffic increases safety by
o reducing speeds
o limiting the number of cars entering difficult/trouble intersections, such as
• Eastern Av and S Collington Av
• Bank St and S Collington Av
• Bank St and Gough
• Bank St and S Washington St
• Bank St and S Wolfe St
• Pratt St and S Collingtion Av
• Baltimore St and S Collington Av
• One-way streets are less likely to become part of a bus route
• Prevent commuters from using our neighborhood as a speedway
Q: Isn’t speeding a problem on one-way streets?
• Baltimore’s Department of Transportation (DOT) states that speeds slow when converting two-way streets to one-way streets with one lane of traffic. In addition, speeds are reduced in areas that have stop signs at each intersection, like most of our neighborhood.
Q: Don’t you remember Pratt and Lombard as one-way streets? Cars were flying!
• Pratt and Lombard were one-way streets with two lanes of traffic that had parallel parking on both sides, like Wolf and Washington are now. DOT says blocking the second lane of traffic with angle parking is an effective traffic calming measure and reduces speeds dramatically.
Q: Isn’t it ugly or tacky?
• Here’s what is uglier.
o The safety issue of walking 3 or 4 blocks from your car to your front door
o Houses that are unsold/unrented because of an obvious lack of parking
o The amount of gas wasted circling for parking
o Our carbon foot print when we spend 20, 30, 40 minutes searching for a space
o Our bumpers from squeezing into spaces we shouldn’t
Q: Don’t you realize this type of backing maneuver is very difficult for seniors, …?
• We know of no evidence to suggest age, gender, race, etc plays any role in the ability to back or park a vehicle.
Q: Won’t it hurt by business/restaurant?
• Lack of parking close to retail and commercial establishments is a deterrent to customers
Q: Where can I see reverse angle parking in action?
• Hampden, hon!
Q: Are any other cities using reverse angle parking?
• Arlington, VI
• Baltimore, MD
• Bethlehem, PA
• Birmingham, AL
• Burnaby, Canada
• Burlington, VT
• Charlotte, NC
• Chico, CA
• Everett, WA
• Honolulu, HI
• Indianapolis, IN
• Knoxville, TN
• Marquette, MI
• Montreal, Canada
• New York, NY
• Olympia, WA
• Plattsburgh, NY
• Portland, OR
• Pottstown, PA
• Salem, OR
• Salt Lake City, UT
• San Francisco, CA
• Seattle, WA
• Tacoma, WA
• Tucson, AZ
• Vancouver, WA
• Ventura, CA
• Washington, DC
• Wilmington, DE
• And many, many more
