Owners of vintage sports cars can reduce the chance of parking lot accidents by exercising common sense when parking their classic ride around larger cars, pickup trucks and sports utility vehicles. This classic 1970s era MG Midget sports car is dwarfed by two of the #3 ranked best selling passenger vehicles in the US. The Ram 3500 pickup on the right is about 20′ long, while the MG is about 11.5′ long.
Insurance companies could see a reduction of claims for property damage and bodily injury if more small car enthusiasts would safely park BUTT OUT. That’s when you don’t pull all the way into a parking spot.
In the photo above, you can see that the front bumpers of all three vehicles are close to the curb. Common sense dictates that the smaller MG should be parked away from the curb — a good 6′ further out — to avoid blindly backing into approaching vehicles or pedestrians and to prevent another car from attempting to enter what looks like an open space.
Regardless of the order in which the car and trucks arrived, all three drivers above need a refresher course in parking etiquette, especially the SUV drivers whose tires have encroached over the twin line space dividers. Most likely this photo is from a parking area restricted to common cars.
The Mini driver evidently understood the BUTT OUT concept, but why on earth would either small car driver in these situations have ended up between two behemoth vehicles? The only reasonable excuse is that the Mini and Midget arrived first when there were smaller or no vehicles parked nearby.
Avoid parking on passenger side of a truck
Heads-up truck drivers are extra careful of the blind spot alongside the truck’s passenger door. It’s a blind spot. Here’s what a contributor to The MG Experience, an online forum (with more than 2 million posts), recently posted in a thread about BUTT OUT parking:
I won’t park on a passenger side of a truck especially if the driver’s side of the truck is facing the building it’s parked in front of. A lone driver may never know your car is there. You can’t put faith in review side mirrors or someone’s ability to use them.
When can small car owners ignore the BUTT OUT rule?
If you park with like kind, you’ll be in safe company. If one of these cars at a car club gathering were to leave, it’s not likely that a truck or SUV driver with any shred of parking etiquette would interrupt this homogeneous line of classic British cars. Likewise, any small car driver — vintage or modern — should have the common sense not to park hidden among larger vehicles.