To park normally or ‘pull through’?

By Ken Miller (contact)

Friday, Jan. 27, 2012 | 3:25 p.m.

You see it in every parking lot these days. Somewhere along the way it became so accepted that few people question it anymore. But hell with it—I’m questioning it.

I’m referring the practice of “pulling through”—instead of parking normally in a parking space, you pull up one space ahead of it so that your car faces forward.

Why am I shining a spotlight on this widely accepted activity, you ask? The answer is … I’m not entirely sure. Truth be told, I find myself pulling through on occasion when a parking lot is particularly empty. But there’s always a nagging feeling when I see it (or do it). Maybe it’s because I was raised to park the traditional way my entire life, and I’m just having trouble adjusting.

Or maybe it’s something else—like, perhaps, such activity may not, in the long run, be safe. Proponents of the practice tell me that it actually makes parking lots safer, as they don’t have to worry about backing out of their spots, instead pulling forward and being able to see oncoming traffic and pedestrians better.

I can think of a few instances where it might not be so safe, however—say, for example, that you’re pulling through just as another motorist is attempting to park traditionally into the same space. Or how about pedestrians? A pedestrian is walking along the parking spaces, watching carefully for motorists behind them while someone pulls through ahead of them.

Not the strongest arguments, sure. I’ll acknowledge that I still struggle with whether this practice is harmless or not. However, one thing is certain—parking lots were not designed for pulling through. If we ever get to the point where everyone wants to do it, we won’t be able to—for every space where someone pulls through, another space will be left behind it, requiring the next motorist to park traditionally.

By the way, I’m speaking of straight-ahead parking spaces, not the diagonal ones. I’m assuming most of us have enough sense not to pull through on a diagonal spot, especially when such an action puts us in a wrong-way lane. To those who do so, just let me put this issue to rest: Stop. Now.

So weigh in—is pulling through the wave of the future, or an impractical, possibly unsafe, practice?