Compact spots- why do huge cars park in them?

I try to be courteous and not park my E55 in a compact spot but quite often I find that lots have 10 compact spots for every fullsizew and I just say screw it.

 

They're usually empty and located fairly conveniently. So it boils down to laziness.

 

Then you see the soccer mom with her Hummer that has to let the kids out before she pulls into the spot, leaving about 6 inches between her and the car to her right. She did'nt buy it and could care less about the other driver's car or door dings on her leased truck. "It's just a car" as the chick answer always goes! These are the same women you see on their cell phones with a Starbucks mochafrapawhatever in the other hand doing 90 down the freeway putting on their makeup while steering with their knee and are oblivious to the flashing red lights behind them!

 

....those soccer Mom's... they'll get you everytime.
-Colin

 

There was a small strip mall near where I used to work. 4-5 restaurants, 7-11, very busy at lunchtime. ALL the spots were lined for compact cars. Don't know what they were think'n, lot's of cars/trucks using 1.5 spaces each! Probably trying to bypass some ordinance requiring so many spots per restaurant or something like that.

 

I assume most people don't care or aren't thinking about it. No need to get upset, if you don't want dings, park far away from the bulk of the parked cars.

 

This seems to always be a problem.

Even worse, the amount of space to back-up a car in between rows of parking spots seems to be getting smaller too. On one vacation trip we rented a Ford Excursion (instead of a minivan) for the 4WD capability in snow-covered mountain passes. Big mistake. That giant SUV was very tight in most parking lots, both from a width point of view and it was too long for the space between the parking rows.

Also, new construction seems to be allowing fewer parking spaces per 1000 sq ft of building space. Historically, for office space, most counties require 4 or more parking spaces per 1000 sq ft. I've heard now they allow 3.5 to 3.75 spaces per 1000. It is getting too common now to drive around a new building's parking lot and not find any open spaces during the busy hours.

What makes the tight parking even worse is it seems the average person doesn't care about causing door dings any more. What I need is a portable air bubble to put over my car when I park next to these people.

 

Are these spots marked for compact cars or are they just smaller? I don't think I've ever seen a compact spot here. I'll have to pay more attention to see if there are smaller and larger spaces.

 

+ 100

For awhile I had a permit space and was shocked at the number of people who would rest their door against my vehicle as they were preparing to exit their auto. Most of them were 40+ yo men which seemed really strange; I figured most people in this range, like myself, wouldn't be so rude.

 

Around in my parts virtually all spots are compact. Whether it is labeled or not, they are very narrow and shallow. In an era of too many SUVs, compact spaces should be less. Also, in the Sacramento area parking lots are way too small. The lanes are very narrow and forces most cars to 3-point park into a basic slanted or straight parking space. I have been in several parking lots where my Toyota Tacoma sits on both lines to the left and right of my car. I always straighten out and make sure I am well within my spot, but the parking fullsize spaces are getting smaller. All in an effort to be able to fit more cars into a parking lot for the businesses.

 

In 'merca, common sense died years ago. The word, if you will, is DUMB!

 

Piscatorial friend. A Tacoma is not a large vehicle and you are doing nothing wrong. I refer you to the first scene in "Forrest Gump" as to the line painters mentality. They were obviously taught math by unionized teachers. Not your fault.

 

Except, of course, if you ding them. Then, self-righteous indignation, not worthy of their ignorance, steps in.