Curb Hog of the Week
Dear Prius-Driving Lady,
I’m fairly certain you’re not from around the neighborhood. There are three blocks dedicated to residents holding a zone G pass (and are two hours for everybody else). These blocks must accommodate all of the residents of two multi-story apartment buildings. As such, we park courteously by freeing up as much curb space as we possibly can.
The fact that it took you an entire two minutes to parallel park your Prius in all that available space was my first clue you weren’t from around here. I know this, because I was circling the block for a half-hour, looking for a spot to park in so I could enter my apartment. I saw you parking, circled the block, and by the time I came around, you still hadn’t figured out how to parallel park that tiny car you’re driving.
The fact that you wasted so much curb space was my second clue. Had you pulled up close to the car in front of you, perhaps another car could have parked behind you – maybe even me!
Instead, you decided to take up space enough for two. For that, you get the “Curb Hog of the Week Award”.
That’s a shame on so many levels … not just rude on behalf that Prius driver, but also indicative of really poor parking skills. We have a Prius and it’s about the most simple-to-park car I’ve ever driven. If it’s like most of the option-groups that Toyota has sold in Oregon, it also has a backup-cam, which allows you to safely get within a couple of inches of an obstacle, if necessary, while backing into a space.
Absolutely.
And lest anybody think I’m dogging on Prius or Prius owners – I’m not. I think they’re snazzy little cars.
I’m solely dogging on rude parkers.
That’s definitely a pet peeve of mine as well. Still, I find it hard to believe that you could have managed to fit into the space if she had pulled up more. Do you drive one of those tiny three-wheeled cars?
I don’t have any sympathy for people who complain about lack of parking.
Get a bicycle.
I took the picture from an angle. Had I taken it straight on, you’d see how much space there was between the Prius and the 4-Runner in front of it. I’m pretty sure I could’ve fit. And if not me, certainly someone with a smaller car.
Yes, Qwendolyn. Because I can easily ride a bicycle to Vancouver, WA to clean out a storage unit I had rented to store some excess stuff I had during my stint in Law School (in Salem, OR – also a fairly difficult bike commute from Portland). I could also, very easily, take a huge box of books, a microwave oven, and three large stereo components, load them on my bike, and then peddle them over to the Goodwill drop-off.
Simple, right?
No way another car would’ve fit. No way.
Jack – I can parallel park into a space 2 inches longer than my car – if that Prius would have puled up to the bumped of the car in front, I could totally fit mine behind it.
I see this all the time and it drives me crazy!
I could have parked my jeep TJ in that space. Actually, that jeep RUINED my parallel parking skills ’cause it was so damn easy to park.
/me looking forward to a SmartCar that is so short can just back it in.
I don’t have to parallel park often, which is good. I suck at it. I admit it. However I have never thought of it as rude. Way back when I was learning to drive you were suppose to center your car in the spot, thus leaving room for people to get in and out of spots around you. I know this because I actually lost points on my driving test for failing to center (though not for taking 10min to get into the spot). Also I would be concerned about getting out if someone cornered me in. How hard was it for me to get into a space that big- not gonna be able to get out if I only have 2 inches when I return to my car. Think about why someone might have done something before you throw your fit. I doubt she saw you and thought ‘hmm, I don’t think I’ll let this guy park today’
tenstringesquire: News flash: the world does not exist for you alone. People hog spaces. People can’t park. So what?
Please try to post something interesting next time.
“Roxie” Nice try, but you’re busted again.
“Roxie” is yet another iteration of the MB comment spammer. Read more about it here: http://tinyurl.com/33g32m
First off, yes, it must sucks if you live in a high density urban neighborhood and own a car without a dedicated parking space.
That said, the street is public domain and is not “owned” by the neighborhood residents. You have no right to bitch about it, and to post this car on the internet is sophomoric. She is under no obligation to you and your “outing” of her is myopic and petty. If you are unhappy with urban driving and parking rent a parking space.
Second, the above poster is correct. Technically and legally one is supposed to leave some room so people can navigate in and out easily.
Third, she may not be a parallel parking genius but I would rather not personally have another dinged bumper due to the “wedge effect” found with just inches to spare when drivers decide the French technique of “the closer the better”. That especially blows when one drives a manual transmission and is bad for the cars parked and the cars pulling out.
Geez, get a clue. You live in a dense urban environment where people from other places have as much right to park as you do and as long as they are within legal limits there really is no problem here.
I’m sorry but it’s hard to have sympathy for such a petty and unfounded gripe.
But what if it’s the rule, and not the exception? See, I try to park every single workday in the same kind of zone. Invariably, I find a parking spot – or what *could* have been a parking spot – if only the drivers before me had parked with a little more care.
I have the same situation at home – I have on street parking, with a space for two cars situated right in front of my house (bordered on either end by a driveway, so there’s plenty of room to manuever out when the time comes.) Yet I came home three days in a row last week to find a single car perfectly centered in that space. Since the rest of the street is packed with parked cars, um – it’s just plain and simple cluelessness/lack of consideration for others to repeat this trick three times in a row.
On day three, I left a note on the windshield. It was a nice note, of course – but it made the point.
And no, I don’t expect to be able to park in front of my house. But I’d also like it if I could at least park on the same block from time to time…!
Am I the only one who doesn’t think two cars could realistically fit into that spot?