Hi Linda, I know that one of the big PrincipalContractors has introduced this accross nearly all of their sites, a have others. I have not come accross any problems with it, although I was always taught to reverse park any how and have taught my offspring the same. When manouvering into the car parking space you have greater manouverability with the steering wheels to the rear of the direction of travel - hence the reason industrial forklifts tend to have rear whel steer. If drivers struggle to reverse (or go forward) getting them over the pyscological hurdle will be the hardest part. Regards Clive

Why not get the staff to drive Kia's they have the sensors fiited to permit auto parking. Other cars may have the same facility - frightening.

Be very aware that blue badge parking has to have scope for exemption. If not the process becomes discriminatory Bob

Glad I don't work at your place. I will happily drive around for 15-20 minutes until I find a space I can pull forward into. I will not reverse park.

You see people reverse parking at supermarkets etc. They then discover that the storage space in most vehicles is at the rear and as they are parked close to a vehicle behind them have great difficulty loading or unloading the vehicle. The spaces need to be redesigned to allow reverse parking and unloading if we wish to change the way we drive and park.

+1 with damelcfc. I would never consider reversing into a parking space. Reverse parking rules are a pointless over-reaction.

I first came across this rule years ago in the Middle East, for an organisation where there were a lot of company cars. At that time the justification was to prevent minor damage due to low speed 'bumps', with the justification that when arriving at a parking space the driver is more aware of any other traffic in the area - and it seemed to work in respect of the resulting insurance repairs! So the justification isn't only about pedestrians. I agree with the points made re supermarket parking and so myself usualy park forward in these.

I don't know why they shouldn't be on the road, it would worry me more if they had difficulty driving forward, not very often you need to reverse.

Try reverse parking with Hand controls and you will soon learn how difficult it is. Bob

I too always reverse park, even in supermarket car parks. It is a habit that was drilled into me when I was in the RAF.

Is this really a prudent use of all our time discussing? Probably not. Will I still give my thoughts? yeap! Someone mentioned if reverse parking significantly recues risk, I would suggest it most probably does not, but would depend on how many cars and what your incident rate is! I would image the vast majority of UK company car parks have a relatively (or very) low incident of dings, let alone any harm being causes to a pedestrian, so the risk reduction is clearly not going to be significant in these examples. Re the query about research / evidence, I haven’t got any, but if you apply common sense then the average person should be able to deduce that the risk of you hitting another pedestrian or vehicle is reduce if you reverse park (whether the risk was anything other than negligible in the first instance is irrelevant). Just think: - if you revers park you turn up at the parking space and know what is behind you and you look left / right into the parking space and know what is (or hopefully is not) there. You complete your manoeuvre with no surprises, as you had clear sight of the area in which your car is moving (this does assume a level of competence for the driver to not hit anything stationary). When you come to leave, you again have a clear view of the road you are entering, so all good there. - If you park nose in then again the parking element is fine (you can see where you're going) (although it is harder to park nose in due to steering being at the front). However when you come to leave you need to reverse into the traffic route where your view will be obstructed or reduced, this is the risk that reverse parking eliminates. I don't think you need any scientific evidence for everyone to agree the above, it’s fairly obvious! Should you worry about all the office politics and fall out for making such a system mandatory? I'd suggest resources could be spent more wisely!

There is a difference between "company car parks" on company premises that have better controls and "public car parks" (various types, including bays adjacent to roads carrying vehicular traffic) I presume the original question was with reference to company car parks. On our site, we encourage reverse parking, but it is not a rule as we feel that the incident data for our site does not justify making it mandatory. I very much doubt that there have been peer reviewed studies on the this topic, although there is information highlighting the advantages of reverse parking. Ultimately, on a private company car park, an employer who owns/controls it can pretty much apply any such rules, although better ones will consult before implementing it. If there is no or ineffective consultation, the employer could end up in the news--see below. http://www.dailymail.co....-want-yellow-carded.html

Bob, I can't deny reverse parking is good practice from a pedestrian perspective. I wonder if any supermarkets have enforced or encouraged the practice where there is far greater vehicle/pedestrian interface issues? I suspect not.

Colin, They may say that but I am not aware of any COMAH site (or other hazardous industry) that relies on site occupants using their car in an emergency. It would be carnage.

Run or walk. It would be a lot quicker than trying to get 1000+ cars through the gatehouse at the same time.

My understanding is that this concept was first introduced by the military. Reverse into space in peace. Drive out in an emergency.

Maybe the employer should encourage a cycling or car share scheme. Both are better environmentally and at least your passenger can act as Banksman when required to reverse park or exit the site etc.

Hi All On the project reverse parking is one of the five golden rules that the client has in place which I don't see a problem with as it works well in all car parking facilities.

Linda. As some have correctly pointed out the theory of safety when reverse parking comes from the fact that you will take a good look into a slot prior to reversing in. Also, one point not raised is that staff tend to arrive at work in dribs and drabs. Some places I know have enforced the reversing into slots to avoid the SLIGHTLY HIGHER risk during the mad-rush at 5pm. That can be when everyone and his dog is rushing to get off the industrial estate. Especially to beat the queue at the traffic lights. This is also done at a time when the driver is in the most ergonomic position, i.e. facing the way that they are going. Remember an accident is an unintentional loss. That does include collision damage to other cars etc, not just running over people. These sort of incidents can go unreported as staff could settle via their own insurance. Does it save petrol/Derv? Yes I believe so, but not a vast amount. The theory is that the most un-economical gear in your car is reverse. The most un-economical time is when your engine is cold and on full choke. Reversing out of a slot puts the two together at the same time. That is not good and wastes fuel. The best thing is to reverse when the engine is running warm and at its most efficient. Then, when the engine is cold you drive straight out of a parking slot, as the revs go through 1200(ish) the auto choke is not needed and cuts out. Thus using less fuel in the fuel air ratio. Simples…… There are good reasons for it, few excuses for not doing it. True, every workplace is different and some may have valid reasons for not doing it. Those who work in the docks etc should not reverse park at the quay side. Social workers however can be at risk from violence during home visits and should always reverse park for quick departures. Shopping as an issue is totally irrelevant, I never reverse park then as I also often load onto the back seat and my hinges are on the leading edge. Unless of course the carpark has a path that runs between the slots. In that case I just reverse over/into the bollards. It fascinates me how so called elf n safety people, who make a living giving advice, can be so negative and demand written proof, when all that is needed is a bit of COMMON SENCE. I would focus on winning the hearts and minds of your staff first. Give them good reasons for introducing the reverse parking rule. Talk to the staff, put the reasons forward and use the carrot first, then introduce the stick at a later date. Crack on and good luck with that good idea. And I would paint the bollards a bright colour.

Bob Where the project and car parking facilities probably differ from the normal. The project located in a Forrest on a mountain 6 miles away from a main road. The car park is mainly for 4x4's due to the access route and has a pedestrian walkway at the perimeter of the car park so when people exit there vehicles they do not walk across the car park area but use the pedestrian route that is marked with directional signage and has access points for entry. This is a client stipulation which is communicated in the induction process to all new site operatives however there is occasions where I have to apply common sense for new visitors and remind people if they forget. As management we should be leading by example.