5 ms·

Many years ago I visited Buenos Aires, Argentina. In the flat parts of the city center, people would parallel-park their cars and leave them in neutral (very fe

by litoE 5y ago

Many years ago I visited Buenos Aires, Argentina. In the flat parts of the city center, people would parallel-park their cars and leave them in neutral (very few cars had automatic transmissions) and without setting the parking brake. When you arrived and found a parking spot, there would be a man that, for some standard tip, would push all the cars in front or behind you, one at a time, until they were all bumper to bumper. This expanded the slot where you wanted to park, making your parking very easy. When you wanted to leave, he would likewise push cars in front or behind you to widen the slot where you were, making it easy for you to pull out.

paxys 5y ago
I have found that across most of the world (including expensive "first world" countries in Europe) it is perfectly normal for cars to have random dings and bumps from everyday use. I had a tour guide in Italy who "nudged" the cars on either end while getting into a parking spot and no one thought twice about it. In the US it would have caused a mini riot. Over here for some reason it is socially unacceptable to have a car in less than pristine factory condition even after months or years of use, and people will spend thousands to fix the tiniest of scratches. It's crazy just how much of the average person's paycheck goes towards just getting from one place to another.
- philjohn 5y ago
  The Grand Tour touched on this with their "french cars" episode.
- cjrp 5y ago
  > In the US it would have caused a mini riot. Is that true everywhere in the US? In NYC I saw a lot of cars with rubber bumper guards, presumably to protect against these little "nudges" when parking.
- mattlondon 5y ago
  In the UK this would be deeply frowned upon. Front + Rear dashcams would be used to claim on insurance and report a "hit and run" accident to the police. I don't put it down to people trying to "make space", more down to incompetence IMO. At least in the UK cars will generally be parked with the handbrake ("emergency brake" in the US AIUI) engaged, meaning that the back wheels will not move, so "nudging" a car will only damage it - if you are "nudging" hard enough to make the stationary wheels slide along tarmac, then that is quite some considerable force. A "little bump" can be enough to cause some expensive damage on modern cars. So if you are "nudging" another car, I'd put it down to just being a bit of a crap driver who doesn't know what they're doing as you're basically simply driving into things (deliberately or accidentally)
  - jstanley 5y ago
    > A "little bump" can be enough to cause some expensive damage on modern cars. But the point is it's only expensive because people insist on repairing minor cosmetic damage to factory condition. If people just accepted that when they leave giant objects lying around in public then they're going to get scratched occasionally, it would be cheaper and easier for everyone.
    - stank345 5y ago
      I think it depends on population density as well. I grew up in a rural area in the US and now live in Philadelphia on a tiny side street barely two cars wide. Every single car on our street has scratches/small dents on the bumper and fender from others parallel parking. If you live here you have to accept that "bumpers are for bumping"!
    - mattlondon 5y ago
      I did not mean minor cosmetic things. I mean broken lights, broken parking sensors, broken washer jets, damaged number plates etc. Modern bumpers are designed to prevent injuries to pedestrians - it may "look fine" from the outside but internal mounting brackets etc may be bent out of alignment or otherwise damaged. These are all expensive to put right.
  - n4r9 5y ago
    It's not normal in the UK to ever touch another car with your own. However I have heard that it happens in some towns/cities on the continent. I'm guessing they park on flat roads and leave the handbrake off. No idea how a car is supposed to escape if it's wedged between two others though. As for dashcams, don't these normally switch off while the car is parked?
    - mattlondon 5y ago
      Most dash cams have a "parking mode" that records a clip if someone hits your car while it is parked.
- throwaway0a5e 5y ago
  Depends on the income level of the locality. Where most of HN lives, yeah people go crazy over that crap. Detroit PD would do their best not to laugh at you if you tried to get them to file a police report for a hit and run if "parking bump" was the nature of the hit. And insurance would probably try and stonewall you either way.
DocTomoe 5y ago
That sounds like the French system, only they push the other car forward with their car instead of requiring some random car pusher guy. And somehow that is legal (?) Just over the border in Germany there's a good chance of getting beaten to death if you attempt something like that. Cars are holy here.
- 4wsn 5y ago
  This is one of my favorite things about living in Germany. I bought my current car in 2018; it doesn't have a single scratch. Back home I'd be lucky to go six months without some careless idiot damaging it.
  - Cockbrand 5y ago
    It's in fact one of my least favorite things about living in Germany (not the pristine-ness, but the holiness GP mentioned). Cars are absolutely holy, many drivers absolutely freak out when you dare touching their car or take up precious road space with your unworthy bicycle. Traffic rules for cars are often mere recommendations, and breaking them goes unsanctioned. Prioritizing motorized traffic is a borderline religion (e.g. the eternal discussion about a speed limit on the Autobahn), and other means of traffic are only very slowly awakening. What a waste of space, resources and quality of life.
    - kwhitefoot 5y ago
      Which part of Germany do you live in? It's really not a homogeneous place.
      - Cockbrand 5y ago
        I'm in the north, but I've been to lots of places in all parts of Germany. In this aspect, the country seems fairly homogenous to me.
    - egeozcan 5y ago
      People also don't hesitate to honk if you are driving with a bike, or even a car slowly. It has a fine of 10 Euros, so nobody cares (even the Police themselves) if you call the police for abusive honking. Last week we were driving 43km/s on a road with 50km/s limit. The driver behind us drove 10cm away from our bumper for like 5 minutes, and even though our indicator was on he didn't calculate we will slow down even further to turn right, and made an emergency brake then honked like 10 seconds as he/she was driving away as fast as that car could. To be fair, it's not remotely as bad as back in Istanbul (what a mess there!), but I expected more from Germany, a country in which people normally love sticking to the rules. Sometimes I watch this channel to see I'm not the only regular victim of traffic abuse: https://www.youtube.com/c/EureVideosFahrn%C3%BCnftig https://www.youtube.com/c/EureVideosFahrn%C3%BCnftig In a weird way, it calms me down to see others also having similar problems. Edit: Just opened the latest video and here's another one - https://youtu.be/8mUi2uOzXvs?t=543 https://youtu.be/8mUi2uOzXvs?t=543

by litoE 5y ago

paxys 5y ago

I have found that across most of the world (including expensive "first world" countries in Europe) it is perfectly normal for cars to have random dings and bumps from everyday use. I had a tour guide in Italy who "nudged" the cars on either end while getting into a parking spot and no one thought twice about it. In the US it would have caused a mini riot. Over here for some reason it is socially unacceptable to have a car in less than pristine factory condition even after months or years of use, and people will spend thousands to fix the tiniest of scratches. It's crazy just how much of the average person's paycheck goes towards just getting from one place to another.

philjohn 5y ago
The Grand Tour touched on this with their "french cars" episode.
cjrp 5y ago
> In the US it would have caused a mini riot. Is that true everywhere in the US? In NYC I saw a lot of cars with rubber bumper guards, presumably to protect against these little "nudges" when parking.
mattlondon 5y ago
In the UK this would be deeply frowned upon. Front + Rear dashcams would be used to claim on insurance and report a "hit and run" accident to the police. I don't put it down to people trying to "make space", more down to incompetence IMO. At least in the UK cars will generally be parked with the handbrake ("emergency brake" in the US AIUI) engaged, meaning that the back wheels will not move, so "nudging" a car will only damage it - if you are "nudging" hard enough to make the stationary wheels slide along tarmac, then that is quite some considerable force. A "little bump" can be enough to cause some expensive damage on modern cars. So if you are "nudging" another car, I'd put it down to just being a bit of a crap driver who doesn't know what they're doing as you're basically simply driving into things (deliberately or accidentally)
- jstanley 5y ago
  > A "little bump" can be enough to cause some expensive damage on modern cars. But the point is it's only expensive because people insist on repairing minor cosmetic damage to factory condition. If people just accepted that when they leave giant objects lying around in public then they're going to get scratched occasionally, it would be cheaper and easier for everyone.
  - stank345 5y ago
    I think it depends on population density as well. I grew up in a rural area in the US and now live in Philadelphia on a tiny side street barely two cars wide. Every single car on our street has scratches/small dents on the bumper and fender from others parallel parking. If you live here you have to accept that "bumpers are for bumping"!
  - mattlondon 5y ago
    I did not mean minor cosmetic things. I mean broken lights, broken parking sensors, broken washer jets, damaged number plates etc. Modern bumpers are designed to prevent injuries to pedestrians - it may "look fine" from the outside but internal mounting brackets etc may be bent out of alignment or otherwise damaged. These are all expensive to put right.
- n4r9 5y ago
  It's not normal in the UK to ever touch another car with your own. However I have heard that it happens in some towns/cities on the continent. I'm guessing they park on flat roads and leave the handbrake off. No idea how a car is supposed to escape if it's wedged between two others though. As for dashcams, don't these normally switch off while the car is parked?
  - mattlondon 5y ago
    Most dash cams have a "parking mode" that records a clip if someone hits your car while it is parked.
throwaway0a5e 5y ago
Depends on the income level of the locality. Where most of HN lives, yeah people go crazy over that crap. Detroit PD would do their best not to laugh at you if you tried to get them to file a police report for a hit and run if "parking bump" was the nature of the hit. And insurance would probably try and stonewall you either way.

DocTomoe 5y ago

That sounds like the French system, only they push the other car forward with their car instead of requiring some random car pusher guy. And somehow that is legal (?) Just over the border in Germany there's a good chance of getting beaten to death if you attempt something like that. Cars are holy here.

4wsn 5y ago
This is one of my favorite things about living in Germany. I bought my current car in 2018; it doesn't have a single scratch. Back home I'd be lucky to go six months without some careless idiot damaging it.
- Cockbrand 5y ago
  It's in fact one of my least favorite things about living in Germany (not the pristine-ness, but the holiness GP mentioned). Cars are absolutely holy, many drivers absolutely freak out when you dare touching their car or take up precious road space with your unworthy bicycle. Traffic rules for cars are often mere recommendations, and breaking them goes unsanctioned. Prioritizing motorized traffic is a borderline religion (e.g. the eternal discussion about a speed limit on the Autobahn), and other means of traffic are only very slowly awakening. What a waste of space, resources and quality of life.
  - kwhitefoot 5y ago
    Which part of Germany do you live in? It's really not a homogeneous place.
    - Cockbrand 5y ago
      I'm in the north, but I've been to lots of places in all parts of Germany. In this aspect, the country seems fairly homogenous to me.
  - egeozcan 5y ago
    People also don't hesitate to honk if you are driving with a bike, or even a car slowly. It has a fine of 10 Euros, so nobody cares (even the Police themselves) if you call the police for abusive honking. Last week we were driving 43km/s on a road with 50km/s limit. The driver behind us drove 10cm away from our bumper for like 5 minutes, and even though our indicator was on he didn't calculate we will slow down even further to turn right, and made an emergency brake then honked like 10 seconds as he/she was driving away as fast as that car could. To be fair, it's not remotely as bad as back in Istanbul (what a mess there!), but I expected more from Germany, a country in which people normally love sticking to the rules. Sometimes I watch this channel to see I'm not the only regular victim of traffic abuse: https://www.youtube.com/c/EureVideosFahrn%C3%BCnftig https://www.youtube.com/c/EureVideosFahrn%C3%BCnftig In a weird way, it calms me down to see others also having similar problems. Edit: Just opened the latest video and here's another one - https://youtu.be/8mUi2uOzXvs?t=543 https://youtu.be/8mUi2uOzXvs?t=543