Why can't they do it..? I live at the end of a single track road with passing places. There's a stream on one side and a high bank on the other with regular passing places on both sides. The other day I met a woman halfway along this road and one of us had to back up. She was closer to a passing place than I was so she undertook the reversing. Fair enough. I'm on the stream side, she's on the bank side. She's driving a 4X4 SUV, similar to mine, so elevated seating position, big mirrors, good visibility and no long boot sticking out the back. All she had to do was drive backwards in a straight line for 15 yards then left hand down a bit and swing into a passing space on her side. It took her four attempts. First she shot off to the opposite side of the road and nearly went in the stream. So she straightened up and had another go. Then she hit the bank a good five yards before the passing space. Next she got a bit closer to the space but drove one rear wheel up the bank leaving the car at a crazy angle and still stuck out into the road. Finally she located the passing space and came to a stop half in and half out of it and gave up with a shrug. I managed to squeeze past by driving on the stream bank. This happens frequently. And its always women who struggle with the reversing. Why? I don't understand. What is so difficult about driving backwards using your mirrors? Reversing a trailer on the mirrors is a bit tricky but steering a square car with a wheel at each corner backwards using the mirrors for guidance is scarcely more difficult than driving forwards looking through the windscreen. Why do the ladies make such a meal of it? It's a mystery..
My take.............Men have egos and so like to get it right (and most of them can't) and women... the car is just a A to B handbag and nothing more
My wife refuses to reverse park. She’ll not park if it looks to difficult and just drive around. Her spatial awareness is concerning, as is her lack of concentration. She always drives so far left, that she leaves practically no room between herself and parked cars. She hit a parked car the other day and snapped the wheel link arm. Another claim on her policy. Her mum is a shocking driver. Who has no spatial awareness and, when manoeuvring, admits to having no idea which way her wheels are pointing as she can’t see them (you can see the steering wheel though ). 5 wing mirrors in a year. That’s how many the mother in law has been through.
It all about make up mirrors. They are mostly magnified so when they look into a different one; like on a car, they can't judge. If a bloke can't reverse he would have been -secretly? - using a makeup mirror at home to put his guyliner on.
I admit, I'm quite good at it but it's not ego, it comes from years driving vans which have no side or rear windows and no rear view mirror. You have to use the door mirrors. Occasionally I get smart-arse looks - usually from women - when I reverse into a space in a car park, rather than drive in. My reasoning is, you should never reverse into a flow of traffic, so reverse into a parking space and drive out. Also in supermarkets there's too many people wandering about in the roadways to risk reversing out. I don't want to be picking a toddler out of my tyre treads.
My mate says his wife must be brilliant at reversing. Whenever he thinks they have agreement to do something he likes, he finds she can back out of anything.
Never in my life have I pulled forward into a parking space in a car park, if you drive in forwards and the cars either side are too close its very difficult to swing the front end when reversing out. Many years of driving articulated lorry with refrigerated trailers have taught me a lot, try reversing one of them into a tight entrance on the blind side.
I don’t have any problems reversing anywhere Why is it men always expect a woman to reverse when it’s a tight passing place and keep driving at you when your reversing that pisses me off I can parallel park too Comes from a time of van driving I use my mirrors regularly
the same sort of reasoning is applied at most large industrial facilities. you will usually see a "reverse park only" signs everywhere so people don't run the hordes over as they run to their cars like escaping convicts. My partner always moans when I reverse park at supermarkets saying it is more difficult to get at the boot, but I'd rather struggle to get to the boot than get clipped while reversing or take out a pedestrian. I can't call anybody out for reversing, though. a year or so ago while reversing out of my driveway I noticed some kids rushng along the pavement that I was partially blocking, so in a hurry to get out I didn't check properly behind me, rushed out and ploughed into a neighbour's car - poor obs, and my insurance has taken a hit for it. I always reverse in to the driveway now.
aye, odd init? i have lost count of the amount of times i have asked the wife to reverse on to "this". she just cant/wont do it.
I always reverse into a parking space and it really annoys me when people have to reverse onto a main road Reverse you stupid idiots into your drive then you can see when you want to leave!!!
Its all down to how our brains work .... No roasting here as its a scientific fact. Women don't have the same spacial awareness as men ... This is the No.1 skill you need for reversing.
And yet I can stare in cupboards and fridge for ages not seeing whats right in front of me and the wife just spots it straight away.
I'd never expect a woman to do the reversing as a mater of course. It comes down to who is nearest the passing space, unless the nearest person has other traffic behind them. I think reverse parking using mirrors should be part of the driving test. In fact, isn't it illegal to reverse onto a public highway? Got a feeling it is. Came across a traffic jam on a road once where an elderly woman in a Mercedes estate car had met a school bus and she steadfastly refused to reverse 30 yards into someone's driveway. I don't think she could reverse at all. She just sat there dumbly for about ten minutes giving palm up gestures and refusing to budge. In the end it was me, the bus and a couple of other cars which had arrived by then who had to back up. Refusing to reverse should be an offence. Being incapable of it should disqualify you from holding a driving license. Its a crucial skill.
My Mrs is absolutely shite at reversing. And it's not helped by my stifled giggling when she tries it. She explodes at me with really loud swear words- which makes it all really hilarious!! But no, generally speaking women are not comfortable reversing. They fucking hate changing their line too. Almost every close shave I have whilst out cycling involves a female driver. When I used to road ride (on fast bikes) as soon as I spotted a Dorris I'd get heightened alert claxon sound in my head. They don't like giving way either, even when it makes things easier for them. Get em off the roads and back in the kitchen I say....
That's because a womans brain is configured to colour bias and ours aren't. They pick things out of a drawer much better than us coz their colour detectors are always switched on... when I ask my Mrs what car it was she'll say 'a red one' Where as I'll note the make and model and not pay much attention to the colour. Unless it's an acid green GT2RS.
its all down to brain structure init. http://news-releases.uiowa.edu/2008/december/121708spatial-skill.html
