Yes, I know, they’re lovely photos of scenic Main Street Sand Lake, but that’s not important right now. What is important in the photos is that the vehicles are parked in the traditional angle style.
Yea, I know what you’re saying: so what? Well, what IF these cars had backed into the parking spaces instead of pulling in forward like we normally do? Can you picture it? No? Oh, go ahead and try again, I'll wait........ Have you got it now? Well, with the cars backed in you’ve got what they call Reverse Angle Parking. Hey, I just heard the term myself a couple of weeks ago and did some learn'n up about it. Seems that exiting from a parking spot by pulling forward leads to far fewer crashes than backing out into traffic as we traditionally do. Go figure. It’s really very much like parallel parking but easier since you don’t have to judge the location of that car bumper behind you by whacking it.
What does seem to be a bit daunting, though, is how you instruct drivers to back in to parking spots on a main street when the spots are configured opposite from what the drivers are used to. Well, there are cities large and small using just this system in the US and around the world, and they have developed signage to help drivers navigate properly. Go ahead, Google it and you’ll see. Some even make the parking free for a while to sweeten the deal. Seems to work well, but I probably wouldn't recommend introducing main street drivers to a new roundabout and reverse angle parking during the same summer.
I did my research on Reverse Angle Parking after being asked by a west Michigan Police Chief if I knew of any nearby Michigan communities using it. Their town is considering making this change on their own Main Street and it would appear that they are not alone. Now, some folks that I asked told me that the even safer route was to build off-street parking out back, but that the Main Street businesses aren’t as happy with that idea.
So, there’s your new crash reduction strategy for the week. OK, more Dangerous Human Tricks photos to appear here later this week.
I like the idea, but the idea of change like this will make peoples' heads explode. Plus, our drivers can't even follow current laws must less put in some revolutionary change like Reverse Angle Parking.
ReplyDeleteMaybe the way to introduce the change is to approach the chamber of commerce of some small town in Michigan and get them to take the lead. I would think the first town in our state to do this would get some publicity out of it.