Spot the bad parker/driver

[obi_waynne]

I saw a car today with 6 parking sensors, a rear parking camera and one of those rear magnifying parking lenses in the rear window.

When I saw this I thought that this guy is just advertising to the whole world that he is rubbish at parking.

What are your thoughts on this? Am I being a bit harsh? Are there any other addons that just cry out "I'M A BAD DRIVER!"

 

[herb]

the question is waynne was his/her parking good with all the aids cause tbh im up for anything that will improve parking standards cause lets face it it is pretty bad atm

 

[HDi fun]

I can see the benefit of parking aids in very large cars, S class mercs or LWB Jags and 7 series BMWs are obvious candidates with long overhangs front and rear and today's efficiency driven aerodynamic styling.

I do wonder why they're fitted to Micras, for example, which are stunningly easy to manoeuvre at close quarters and have superb all round vision.

I often notice the protracted buggering about some people seem to make of the simple task of even driving fowards into a parking bay. I thought small cars were bought for ease of parking.

Well, you've got me fooled then.

I do think that the current L test is far too picky on parking, however. It seems that you need to be able to reverse, mm perfect into a maked bay without using mirrors to check your position etc. Often the bays are not well marked at all. And now you're not even allowed a quick out and back in to align the front wheels straight ahead. What has this got to do with the candidates ability to drive safely on the road? Very little, in my opinion.

 

[Loz]

I've seen Smarts with reversing sensors, which has always amused me as the back window is about 10 inches from your head & the back of the car is practically flat!
I've got parking sensors on my LWB work van & to be honest they get ignored, there's so much much they can miss. :amuse:

 

[HDi fun]

They're not perfect, in the same way that airbags and seatbelts aren't perfect. They're just a means to mitigate against even greater damage.

 

[HDi fun]

How about this - parking sensors working in the K radar band as a means to confuse conventional Gatso speed measurement devices?

Perhaps this is a good way around the 1998 missive.

You weren't speeding, just parking swiftly?

 

[marti5]

Hmmmm, Im not a bad driver, but my car came fitted with 8 PDC sensors and a reverse camera from factory.

You should see the newer 7 series that has even got virtual drive lines that come up on the computer screen or you can have it on head up on the windscreen for you to follow for perfect parking !!

 

[obi_waynne]

And Audi have an auto park system now.

 

[HDi fun]

I've seen that on the current Superb. What a joke.

 

[wezzel98765]

Lexus have auto park too ... was on Top Gear

 

[stamford]

My brother-in-laws wife has a new Alambra with parking sensors, totally useless as she reversed into a post! Apparently the field of vision was not too good.

The only reversing aid worthwhile is a towbar

I always amaze the missus with my parking, she does throw down the gauntlett by saying you'll never get in that space..........................:toung:

 

[turbonutter69]

I always amaze the missus with my parking, she does throw down the gauntlett by saying you'll never get in that space..........................:toung:

I get like that with people. I think if you can't reverse your car properly or can't park it then you shouldn't be driving. It's like when you see a lady in a big X5 or something that just can't drive it. They shouldn't have big cars if they can't drive them properly.

 

[stamford]

Best parking in the world has to be Paris, comical to watch! They park anywhere and everywhere, they make their own gaps and nudge cars along to get in.

 

[Chris Green]

I've seen Smarts with reversing sensors, which has always amused me as the back window is about 10 inches from your head & the back of the car is practically flat!
I've got parking sensors on my LWB work van & to be honest they get ignored, there's so much much they can miss. :amuse:

Curiously, Smart's aren't always that easy to see out of the back of, thanks to the all-enveloping seat pan which is also a head rest. This means you've more or less got to lean out of the seat to look round. If you've got a stiff neck like me, you tend to use the mirrors more than you should instead, leaving you parked about four feet away from the car behind - still at least it's better than backing into them! Being quite high off the ground, the front of the car behind soon disappears below your window line too. I guess it's not the size that matters, but how easily you can see out.

Having wider track at the back compared to the front doesn't help with the distance from the kerb either. Whenever my wife asks me 'how's that for distance?', I usually reply 'that's OK I'll walk to the kerb", or "don't worry, I'll get the gangplank". I shouldn't encourage her really - last time she went closer than normal I ended up buying a new alloy.

My old Citroen C4 VTS had all-round sensors, but the front ones could be fooled by clouds of hot exhaust coming out of the backs of buses, being splattered with rain from oncoming traffic and all manner of things that aren't parking hazards, even steeper-than-usual speed ramps. I once picked it up unexpectedly early from an off-airport car-park to find it really hemmed in. Every single sensor was flashing on the 'map' of the car on the dashboard and sounding off accordingly, all at the 'very close' setting. In the end, I had to get the manual out to find out how to turn them off, as I could see me losing my rag and damaging the car.

Gadgets that shriek 'Bad driver'? What about those springy probes that make grating noises against the kerb to fend off damaging your alloys? Why not go the whole hog and have Deeley Boppers fitted all around your car at bumper level? Come to think of it...........a cheap alternative to parking sensors!

 

[obi_waynne]

At the deeley boppers suggestion. (You've just admitted to being an 80's child Crhis!)

 

[turbonutter69]

Seeing as this thread is about bad parkers. Some fool opened their door on the Focus yesterday and put a little scratch on the drivers door. It's only small but it still wound me up.