People who park over the white line!

What to do with them? I will NOT park over a line, or on one, it drives me crazy to see an open spot, say, at Costco, only to find some idiot giving the world the finger by parking over the line so as to make it almost impossible to squeeze in. Then there are the players who park their precious new vehicles with the line in the middle effectively taking up 2 spaces. They invite some agressive person to key their new baby, it's what I feel like doing. I feel like spray painting a message on the over the line folks, saying in effect, park your @@#$%^^&&*(*&&$#@ car correctly! How do you feel about these folks...do you park over the line??

I never park over the line.  I don't want the idiot that parks next to me to be so close that when he shoves open his door, my truck gets dinged in the process. 

Parking over the line is an absolute no-no. 

Some where about 40 years ago I was dating a crazy dame who took me Christmas shopping with her.  Macy's lot was jambed.  I was driving.  I saw some one getting into a car so I pulled up and waited for them to get out.  Instead of backing away from me the guy backed in my direction and a babe pulled right into the spot.  She saw I was waiting.  I beeped at her and hollered but she stuck her nose in the air and waddled away. 
 
 
Angie said you go park and  I will meet you in the lobby.  With that she got out.
 
I parked 1/2 a mile away and walked back found her in the lobby with a
s--- eatin' smile on her face. 
 
What did you do, I asked? 
"Let a lot of air out of her two front tires.  Come on lets shop." 
 
 

I only do that when I have to pay for use of the bathroom facilities

I tend to park far away in a parking lot far away from other traffic.  I do this to protect my car.  It never ceases to amaze me that when I do that, some dude with a worn out vehicle parks right next to me no matter how far away I park.  Believe me I park far away.
 
I tend to be protective of my vehicles as I never drive them in the rain or snow.  I garage them in a heated garage and never ever let them get dirty.  I guess my vehicles are a car magnet????
 
Paul E. Smith
Knoxville, TN

I like to park far away just to get in the walk and will seldom park right next to another car.
 
The lane straddlers that really grate are those with the fancy Mercedes, BMWs, Corvettes and Ferrari's that not only straddle but do so at an angle.

Years ago I used to have to drive to downtown Sacramento twice a year to visit a CA state agency.  The first few floors of the big parking garage clearly said "Compacts Only."  They were always full of big SUV's and pickups parked over the white lines taking up two spaces. 
(Full disclosure, the folks I met with were the most competent people in that field I ever ran across)

I have a problem with the spaces marked compact only.
 
Compacts fill all the spaces and should park only in their own.
 
My SUV is a compact Semi.
 
I try to park between the lines.  With the turning radius on my Infiniti it's difficult to even park parallel between them.

Tom,  Costco seems to make it's spaces "Full-Sized"  to make the line-squeezers have a bit more room...Try some of the other Big-Box stores where the wife's Ford Focus can't fit into a space without brushing the lines on both sides (Best Buy is an example).
   The best freebie I have ever obtained (anywhere) has been my Handicapped Placard from the State of Indiana. Seldom do I have to look outside the immediate perimter of a store, and the spaces are large enough for my F150 Supercrew (and for ME!), Plus access to the building becomes a bit less of a physical burden.

Parking lots are mostly regulated by city zoning ordinances. The largest SUV or pickup is no more than 7 feet wide and 18 ft. long with a few exceptions at the body not counting the mirrors. Most cities dictate 8.5-9 ft wide parking stalls 18-20 ft long and 60-64 ft back to back to give a 24 ft. driving aisle. They put in those "compact" spaces reluctantly and only do so when physical dimensions force them. They are not done as a courtesy or favoritism. Parking garages will tend to the tighter dimensions than surface lots. Target stores has its own minimum standards of 9 x 20 to 64 ft. back to back regardless of what a city allows. I know, I've designed and managed design on a lot of them.
 
The turning radius of a vehicle is the biggest culprit, not the size. Most of the big SUVs and Pickups have a wider diameter turning radius so have the most difficult parking.
 
Come next week I'll be tooling around with this 6'-10" wide by 22'-9" long RV with a 54'-6" wall to wall turning radius. I'll be parking in the outer stalls. Walmart will even let me park overnight.

• Go to Walgreens
• Purchase a 99 cent tube of red lipstick
• Keep in coat pocket for such occasions

• Leave a nice note on a windshield that someone can wash off with their windshield wipers.

 

Davydd:  Nice machine and I wish you happy travels.  Thats gotta cost a hunk of change.  You went first class.
 
Paul E. Smith
Knoxville, TN

 
Suppose you arrive and find other cars parked out of sync?
 
What to do then?

Gregg---Join'em !!! That way, since you are the late comer, you'll be the one that sticks out as unusual when all the early arrivals have gone ! 

Davydd


Parking lots are mostly regulated by city zoning ordinances. The largest SUV or pickup is no more than 7 feet wide and 18 ft. long with a few exceptions at the body not counting the mirrors. Most cities dictate 8.5-9 ft wide parking stalls 18-20 ft long and 60-64 ft back to back to give a 24 ft. driving aisle. They put in those "compact" spaces reluctantly and only do so when physical dimensions force them. They are not done as a courtesy or favoritism. Parking garages will tend to the tighter dimensions than surface lots. Target stores has its own minimum standards of 9 x 20 to 64 ft. back to back regardless of what a city allows. I know, I've designed and managed design on a lot of them.

The turning radius of a vehicle is the biggest culprit, not the size. Most of the big SUVs and Pickups have a wider diameter turning radius so have the most difficult parking.

Come next week I'll be tooling around with this 6'-10" wide by 22'-9" long RV with a 54'-6" wall to wall turning radius. I'll be parking in the outer stalls. Walmart will even let me park overnight.

We'll all be looking forward to the trip report! Safe travels!

mayor al


Gregg---Join'em !!! That way, since you are the late comer, you'll be the one that sticks out as unusual when all the early arrivals have gone ! 

I know.
I hate it when that happens ... but, it happens.

Sundancer7


Davydd:  Nice machine and I wish you happy travels.  Thats gotta cost a hunk of change.  You went first class.

Paul E. Smith
Knoxville, TN

Marlene wanted my old one but I had to trade it in and disappoint her.
 
Our RV will be shown at the Minneapolis RV & Camping Show for the next four days by Lake Region RV's. That was a condition of the purchase since we drove up to Winnipeg, Canada and "intercepted" it on the assembly line (where the photo was taken) before anyone else had a chance to see it. Great West Van is a very small company that probably builds less than 100 RVs per year. We got aced out last fall on another one by someone that pulled the same trick as we just did.

Davydd


Parking lots are mostly regulated by city zoning ordinances. The largest SUV or pickup is no more than 7 feet wide and 18 ft. long with a few exceptions at the body not counting the mirrors. Most cities dictate 8.5-9 ft wide parking stalls 18-20 ft long and 60-64 ft back to back to give a 24 ft. driving aisle. They put in those "compact" spaces reluctantly and only do so when physical dimensions force them. They are not done as a courtesy or favoritism. Parking garages will tend to the tighter dimensions than surface lots. Target stores has its own minimum standards of 9 x 20 to 64 ft. back to back regardless of what a city allows. I know, I've designed and managed design on a lot of them.

The turning radius of a vehicle is the biggest culprit, not the size. Most of the big SUVs and Pickups have a wider diameter turning radius so have the most difficult parking.

Come next week I'll be tooling around with this 6'-10" wide by 22'-9" long RV with a 54'-6" wall to wall turning radius. I'll be parking in the outer stalls. Walmart will even let me park overnight.

 
You should be ez to spot at Camp and Brew!

Davy, not disappointed.  I still have money in the bank this way.
 

wheregreggeats.com

mayor al


Gregg---Join'em !!! That way, since you are the late comer, you'll be the one that sticks out as unusual when all the early arrivals have gone ! 

I know.
I hate it when that happens ... but, it happens.

That's usually how it happens for me.  If it's a large parking lot I tend to park far away where there are more spaces.  But since I tend to frequent smaller stores and restaurants (as I assume we all do, being members of this site), it's not always possible to park far away.  And when everyone else is parked straddling the lines, it's pretty much impossible not to do so.
 
But then, as you say, they all leave.  And you look like the idiot.  I just hope I don't run into some of you with your keying and lipstick-writing tendencies if that happens!

^^Leave enough room for me to get in on the driver's side without giving my doorjamb a lapdance & you'll have nothing to worry about! There were a lot of other spots that day, that was ridiculous.

White lines? What white lines? All our parking lots are now covered with packed snow and black ice in Minnesota. Late in the winter it just finally overwhelms the plows because of the little nuisance snows of less than an inch that just get packed down. Our snow does not melt until late March.

Late March?  I think that's optimistic -- this weekend's predicted thaw notwithstanding.  I hope you're right.  .
 
I have a parking contract for a ramp on the University of Minnesota campus.  But although those of us with contracts are allowed to enter even if it is marked "full," it's open to the public otherwise, so it gets very, very full on workdays. It also connects to the medical complex, so in addition to university employees and students, there are a lot of patients who park there, at least during the day.  Evenings, it's pretty empty except when there's a game at the sports center. 
 
I have to say that the behemoth SUVs, pickup trucks, etc., are the worst offenders on the line-crossing, but I've seen sedans straddling the lines, too -- often almost sideways, looking like they were parked by inebriated students.
 
We have an option here to pay a premium to reserve a specific space M-F 8-6, but I don't want to shell out the additional bucks; the parking costs enough as it is.  My strategy is to arrive early in the morning, and I usually have no trouble finding a space.  But if I have to go off campus during the day for a meeting and then come back, it's dicey until after 5 p.m.

The best solution that I have ever seen for the white line "problem" is used at one of the shopping centers here in Peoria.  They have the normal white line at about 7 feet, and then about 2 feet away they have a second white line (which is, of course, the starting white line for the next parking place) connected to the first in a U-shape at the open end of the parking slot.  With this setup, people seem to be able to park pretty straight in the space, with almost no one ever crossing over the line more than an inch.

This year, with all the major storms that have moved from the southwest to the Northeast, I got the best possible insurance against any real 'snow-issues' here in our So Indiana location.... I bought a snowblower, and not just some little city-boy blower, I got a 32 inch 14 horsepower Mutha that will blow snow off my 150 ft driveway into the next county. (It so happens that the next county begins directly across my street!!).  Our only test this season has been a wimpy 4 inch dusting in Novemeber. Since then all the storms have passed us by on the north or south.
  I was going to haul it up to my kids in Wisconsin, but that seemed like a dumb thing to do for an old guy...so it sits, like a firetruck, facing out in the garage, awaiting it's call to serve!
 
"Lines? I don' need no steekin' white lines !"

I have no problem with cars taking up two spots, as long as they are parked far away from the front, in an area where there are few other cars. But I often see cars parked in two spots practically in front of the store.
 
My local Costco has a "hidden" parking area, not too bad a walk from the front, but where there are usually several open spots. I always make a beeline for that, since I don't have to maneuver around other cars trying to get spots.

I am never over the line 

When I see people who can't park between the lines, I say "Drunk again?!!!"

I have a very special name for people tha t  park over the line  or take up two parkoing spaces.  The name is not pretty but  it sure applies to these arrogant self-centered  people.