I recently had the opportunity to spend some time in Costa Rica. It is a beautiful country filled with national parks and reserves. While enjoying activities, I also observed processes and noted the way certain things are done in comparison to the United States. (It can be difficult to convince my process-oriented brain that we are supposed to be on vacation!)
One process that caught my attention was that of reverse parking. I’m sure we are all familiar with the idea of backing into a parking spot, but most of us opt to pull forward into a spot and back out upon leaving. Sure, it takes a little longer, but we do it this way because it’s our routine or habit. This brings me to Costa Rica, a country with over a dozen volcanoes, six of which have been active during the last century, along with ten significant earthquakes in that same time frame. A quick evacuation process is a good idea!
I am not suggesting that we all begin to reverse park in places like shopping centers, where our arrivals and departures are staggered. But consider the time savings if we all reverse parked for a festival, ball game, or concert, where we all depart at once, creating stress-inducing gridlock. Not to mention the safety issues related to backing up, sometimes in the dark, in a parking lot full of pedestrians still making their way to their vehicles. As you leave an event wouldn’t you rather be parked like the vehicles in this picture?
If we were ever to give this a try, I would propose doing so in parking lots that are dedicated to event parking, and always utilize reverse parking in those lots. There are usually parking attendants present, and many vehicles are equipped with new technology such as parking guidance systems and back-up cameras. There may initially be some 7-point turns and frustration, but you have to start a process before you can improve on it, right? Let’s start some reverse parking trials, and see how it goes. What do you think?
