Just need to vent...

I like the pull through too, but a lot of lots have angled parking and one way aisles

 

Maybe where you live

Was rare growing up, unless driver were in heavy machinery like a dump truck or sanitation vehicle, where mirrors and slow pace kept them in the black -- that's acceptable. Not in a f***ing Altima

 

Parking, can see the need, esp for larger vehicles. Used to be a driver for a tour company -- if you trigger on me doing this, then a one-fingered reaction is warranted

Pulling into a car park in your compact, then crossing the dividing line causing oncoming to dynamite the brakes like it's your right, get your shite together -- and get some insurance whilst you're at it

 

Talking about turn radius, I tried to accommodate people following hoping to go the same turn direction as me, & not cut us off by trying to slip alongside of us & towing the 5th wheel trailer - we ended up smooshing against one of those steel & concrete filled yellow poles at a gas station pulling into get a refill in the pickup. So yeah, from now on? Count on anything longer than one vehicle to take a super wide opposite turn before the main turn starts? You can count on it.



the cost for the expense of making that way too narrow a turn was in the 4 figures for fifth wheel sheet metal repair
.

 

IYKYK

 

Turned into a filling station pulling GF's sailboat, and to avoid any fancy maneuvering, pulled alongside a pump with my filler door on the far side. The hose will reach just fine, done it a gazillion times.

But this time, the attendant comes running out of the booth to explain to me what side my filler door is on. He won't stop. No, you pull on wrong side. Fill on that side. Pull to pump that side.

It seems easier not to stand there trying to argue with him, kind of exasperating, so ok, we'll just pull over to that other island there.

Crunch. Concrete bollard.

That was a pricey fiberglass repair.

 

My dad gave me $5 Sears coupons to fill the tank when I was 15.5 years old. I think he wanted to be sure I filled the tank and did not waste $ on other "things." In those days, the station attendant did the "clean the windows, check the oil and fill the gas" routine.

 

One modern tech add-on not needed 40y driving I'd actually found useful, was indeed the backup camera.

Doesn't replace just turning your melon around and looking out the rear glass (ime people managed just fine 40y and arguably 100, doing just this... maybe a bit slower in larger vehicles, or w\ lazier drivers). But at a glance, the fisheye lens can look around corners and see oncoming, your own wetware lenses won't see until you're feet more into the road. Useful, and defo worth it. All the rest of the crutches? Lower the price of my 5G $3K -- don't need them when I know I'm paying attention / doing due diligence

As before rode single-track more than drove, a large chunk of my life -- there's no lane-keep-assist or pedestrian-braking tech for motorcycle commuters (hell, we just got ABS and airbags as std for sports-/touring motos, not going to be on affordable bikes for a while, if ever -- esp sportsbikes). If you can't invest the effort to pay attention and not end up in a ditch on a moto... serves you right, your biffed call. But in a 3K - 6K-lb steel cage... gonna pull more innocents into your stupidity -- thus tech to baby them even further, that's the solution

So along with cues the screen gives me, also make the effort to use mirrors just as much -- so I'm not having to borrow someone's older car, f***ing lost. The camera, is supposed to supplement your diligence, not replace it. What you do daily, is what you'll get used to

 

I would second that and go so far as to say that statement applies to all driver safety features (even so-called self-driving features)

 

There's almost zero visibility out the back end of many cars nowadays.

 

I don't buy the refrain "I am a great driver." First its rarely true and second the vast majority need help.

Blindspot monitoring with turn signals helps on 75mph freeways with Nascar style drafting the normal. Some are really stupid Prius drivers.

Lane keep Toyota style is worth the effort as is cross traffic detection as you pull out of a parking spot surrounded by Dodge Rams and Tundras. Eyes have no chance.

Approaching too fast with an audible warning has woken quite a few zoned out drivers before the pre collision slams.

TPMS saves lives for those who actual use their 2010 Prius. The black tape guys are risking others as well.

 

I treat them like chopsticks or frame safeties.

I know how to use them.
Many times I WILL use them if they're available - but unlike 99% of my fellow Americans I actually know how to adjust my side mirrors to reduce blind spots. (I do not need my mirrors to remind me what color my car is....)
I still jab at the camera button occasionally if I'm in a hurry and I'm not 100% sure that I raised the tailgate - so it IS useful for that.

 

Had to look this up...If You Know You Know, but I don't know.

 

I pull our 24-foot trailer with my Tundra and have 3 cameras mounted on the trailer....one on the rear/top and one on each side, near the front (above the storage doors)

So I have vision on whoever is behind me and beside me at all times.....very handy when traffic is busy. They are, also, handy when I'm backup into camping spots.

I got pretty good backing up a trailer when I had to with our military M9 6x6 and MEP4 generator. (I was a communications jammer during exercises.....mostly in the ranges in Las Vegas and for 5-years up in Alaska.) And, yes, it IS possible to get the 6x6 stuck....I ran mine into a ditch after we got 3-feet of snow in Alaska and it took a BIG truck to come pull me out! Fun times!!

(Why does the picture show when I preview but not when it posts? Annoying!)

https://cdn10.picryl.com/photo/1997/02/11/a-m-939a2-5-ton-truck-armed-with-a-m-2-50-calibar-medium-machine-gun-towing-dd8dbb-1024.jpg

 

When I traded in my poopie-suits and sneakers in the USN for combat boots and woodland cammies I was assigned to a Naval Coastal Warfare unit and we camped out.
A LOT!
That's the "Expeditionary" part of the EXW warfare designation.

Part of all that was bringing along everything we might need....and a WHOLE BUNCH of stuff that we would NEVER need.
This meant - and still means towing stuff with Deuces, 6x6 trucks and HMMWVs.
Back when I did it we were still using left over Veet-Nam gear with power steering by Armstrong.
People who could not back their tows very well were regarded unaffectionately as "rhinos"
Contrary to popular belief, Rhinoceroses can and DO back up - though it’s not NEARLY as common for them as forward movement - because they suck at it.

Truth be told, I was only moderately competent at backing so as is often the case with things like this.....I got promoted!
I never dinged a tow - but I still have PTSD for nearly taking out some Korean Nationals who were encroaching on a roadway we were traveling on.

Can neither confirm nor deny......

 

Yeah I'm always very careful when turning with the trailer.....left turns into traffic is the worst and when it looks "iffy" I'll just go straight and find a safer place to head left....not worth hitting someone with the trailer.

For refueling, truck stops are the only place I'll go....I learned that early-on when I pulled into a tiny gas station up in the mountains and was able to fill up but not able to navigate through them and make a sharp left, to get out, so I ended up backing all the way out of it...lesson learned!!

 

I believe it's 'shift'+'windows'+'s'