Should you reverse into a parking space, or reverse out?
This relatively innocent question, posed in an article published by The New York Times in February 2026, has sparked a surprisingly passionate debate in the United States. According to the Times, an increasing number of American drivers are backing into parking spaces rather than entering nose-first.
Author Steven Kurutz hypothesised that "reversing into a space is a response to the ambient anxiety in our society ... backing in so you can quickly get out provides a sense of security". He added that the American Automobile Association even updated its guidelines in 2020 to officially urge drivers to back into parking spaces for safety reasons.
"Reversing into a space is a response to the ambient anxiety in our society."
Despite this, Kurutz said he was firmly in the anti-reversing camp. "It seems likely the practice will proliferate ... but I can't bring myself to join in, and I don't fully accept the safety argument," he wrote.
The article has received thousands of comments from NY Times readers, with each response different to the next. Some said backing in is time-consuming, while others argued it is actually a time-saver.
A handful argued that the "oversized pick-up trucks" that are increasingly prevalent on US roads are harder to park nose-first, while others cited the scourge of mass shootings in the US as the reason why they want to make a quick getaway. Plenty argued that backing into a parking space simply makes it harder to put groceries in your boot.
Kevin Flynn, owner of Melbourne-based driving school Driver Dynamics, specialises in training police and army drivers in defensive driving practices. He said there's "no excuse" for today's drivers not to reverse into a parking space.
"If you work for me and you drive [forwards] into a parking spot, it's going to be your last day. Every time we park at Driver Dynamics, we reverse it in," Flynn said.
"With reversing sensors and reversing cameras, there's no excuse for not doing it anymore."
"With reversing sensors and reversing cameras, there's no excuse for not [reversing in] anymore."
Flynn said reversing into a space forces a driver to drive past the spot and carry out a visual check to ensure it is clear of obstacles before entering. Additionally, reversing into a parking spot is preferable from a personal safety standpoint.
"If you're in a Kmart carpark late at night and you've driven your car in, it's not much of a challenge to carjack you," he explained.
In a perfect world, Flynn said drivers would ideally drive forward through one open car space and into another, so they don't have to reverse in but can still make a quick exit.
Failing that, he argued, "there's no advantage ever to driving in [to a parking space] forwards".
In 2015, the National Road Safety Partnership Program (NRSPP) published research that found that while there were arguments for and against reversing into parking spaces, reversing into a space was generally the broader automotive industry's preferred parking method.
The Institute of Advanced Motorists (IAM) said “reversing into a space meant cars were in a safer position for pulling away", while the NRSPP said industrial companies and fleet operators typically employed a policy whereby "vehicles are to be parked so that their first movement is in a forward direction" for evacuation and emergency response measures.
In this author's view, the biggest benefit to reversing into a parking space is ease – if you're anything like me, you'll find driving into a space nose-first is eminently more difficult.
Regardless of your opinion, one thing is clear: people feel strongly about the issue.
Ten years ago, American author Matthew Dicks wrote a blog post titled I spent a week backing into parking spots to see if it made any sense. Here is what I discovered. In it, he concluded, "backing into a parking spot is time-consuming and not safer".
"Over the past decade, I have received more responses to this post than any other of the more than 8200 posts. By a wide margin. People have strong opinions about parking," Dicks wrote in a Facebook post in February 2026.
"The responses are always one of two types: 'Thank you for saying what I have been thinking for years' [or] 'You're an idiot'.
"The people who call me an idiot are, of course, the dumb-dumbs who always back their cars into parking spots."
What do you think? Should it be mandatory to reverse into a parking space in Australia?
Susannah Guthrie has been a journalist for over a decade, covering everything from world news to fashion, entertainment, health and now cars. Having previously worked across titles like The New Daily, Elle, Harper's Bazaar, People Magazine and Cosmopolitan, Susannah now relishes testing family cars with the help of her husband and three-year-old son.
