Speaker 1: Welcome to brain Stuff production of iHeart Radio. Hi brain Stuff.
Speaker 1: Lorn vog obam here with a classic episode from our
Speaker 1: former host, Christian Sagar. Driving and parking are activities that
Speaker 1: bring out opinions in many people. But does science have
Speaker 1: anything to say about the best practices for parking? Christian
Speaker 1: has the answer, Hey, brain Stuff, Christian Sagar here. Whether
Speaker 1: it's cooking an egg, skinning a cat, or building an
Speaker 1: underground bunker to prepare for end times, there is usually
Speaker 1: more than one way to do most things. When it
Speaker 1: comes to driving a car. For example, motorists tend to
Speaker 1: have some wildly varying ideas about how to best get
Speaker 1: from point A to point B. That's not to mention
Speaker 1: timeless driving debates over how to occupy the far left
Speaker 1: lane on a highway, when to turn on your lights,
Speaker 1: or if you should pull over for a funeral procession.
Speaker 1: Then there's the question of what to do when you
Speaker 1: want to stop driving and leave your car somewhere. Many
Speaker 1: motorists are united in their strict aversion to parallel parking,
Speaker 1: but how to navigate other spots is still a source
Speaker 1: of some debate. Is it better to turn headfirst into
Speaker 1: a parking space, or to take the time to park
Speaker 1: backed in facing out, in what some refer to as
Speaker 1: battle parking. Buckle up for the answer. For both safety
Speaker 1: and efficiency purposes, the experts say it is usually best
Speaker 1: to back into a parking space. That's because having a
Speaker 1: wide field of vision is more important when you're pulling
Speaker 1: out of a parking space than it is when you're
Speaker 1: pulling in. Katherine Peterman, an architect who has helped design
Speaker 1: parking lots across the United States, told us that when
Speaker 1: you back in, it's into a defined space where people
Speaker 1: aren't likely to be, but when you pull out of
Speaker 1: a parking space, you're pulling into traffic and possibly into pedestrians. Sure,
Speaker 1: technological advances like rear side cameras in those sensors that
Speaker 1: make beeping noises when you get too close to a
Speaker 1: person or another car, they can help make backing out easier,
Speaker 1: but the effect those cameras have had on reducing accidents
Speaker 1: has been gradual at best. Peterman and Vanessa Soulsby, a
Speaker 1: spokesperson for the International Parking Institute, say that it's because
Speaker 1: backing out is still not as easy as driving out
Speaker 1: head first, and both acknowledge that backing into a parking
Speaker 1: space is often easier said than done. New or inexperienced
Speaker 1: drivers may feel uncomfortable trying to negotiate a prime space backwards.
Speaker 1: The rest of us may simply feel pressure or you know,
Speaker 1: hear the shrieking horns from traffic as it piles up
Speaker 1: during the process. As backing in can take a few
Speaker 1: more seconds than pulling in front fender first. That's why
Speaker 1: Peterman recommends that drivers look for spots where the space
Speaker 1: in front of you is also open so you can
Speaker 1: pull through. But convincing folks to back that thing up
Speaker 1: is going to take some time. That's especially true as smartphones,
Speaker 1: smart dashboards, and other technological advances within cars compete for
Speaker 1: driver's time and attention, and while the experts may say
Speaker 1: it's the way to go, not everyone is so quick
Speaker 1: to adopt the practice. Today's episode was written by Chris
Speaker 1: Opper and produced by Dylan Fagan and Tyler Clang. For
Speaker 1: more and listen lots of other topics, visit how stuff
Speaker 1: works dot com. Brain Stuff is production of iHeart Radio.
Speaker 1: For more podcasts my heart Radio, visit the iHeart Radio app,
Speaker 1: Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.