Q: Wendell Holtzclaw of Riverside asked why so many drivers nowadays are backing into parking spots. “Is there not a law that tells us vehicles are to go into the parking spot front first?” he asked.

A: There is no such law – at least in the California Vehicle Code – that makes it illegal to back into a parking space. However, private property owners as well as cities or counties can enact such restrictions against back-in parking at certain locations as long as they post the restriction with clearly visible signs. Sometimes, cities or private property owners will ban back-in parking on certain streets or in a parking garage, for example, due to the way parking spaces are striped or because visibility is poor.

It is true that many drivers prefer reversing into parking spaces. It’s likely due to several factors. We think one is the proliferation of back-up cameras in vehicles that make it much easier to back into a parking space. Having a back-up camera with boundary lines guiding drivers makes backing in easier. And, some vehicles also have systems that will warn the driver if they are about to hit something if the car goes outside the safety lines shown on the camera.

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Drivers also say they like to back-in so they can get out easier or faster when leaving. Perhaps they think they can make a faster or safer exit from a particular space where there’s a lot of passing traffic. This seems to be especially true for parking at large events like concerts when everyone is leaving at the same time. In any case, if it’s legal for drivers to back in, other drivers just have to go with the flow (pun intended).

Inland Empire transportation news

Thanks to new funding allocation from the California Transportation Commission, several infrastructure improvements are coming to the Inland Empire. The commission last month allocated $1.1 billion for projects to repair and improve California’s transportation infrastructure. This includes $323 million from the federal Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act of 2021 and over $115 million from Senate Bill 1, the Road Repair and Accountability Act of 2017.