Back-in parking is a bad idea

Let me see if I have this right.

Presently, if I am going west on Main Avenue and wish to park, I signal a right turn, start my turn just as I approach the parking lane and park.

As I drive in, I can clearly see the sides of both cars on either side of my lane and watch for any car doors to open, I can look ahead and watch for any children to run out into my lane, I can look for adults stepping off the sidewalk, and I can see where the curb is.

When I go to leave, I look both ways for traffic as I get in my car, slowly back out into an opening two lanes wide and one to two blocks long, a total space of 1,000 times more than the parking space that I am leaving.

This is a good system and has been used by motorists for more than

100 years.

With back-in diagonal parking, I signal my turn, but now I must drive clear past my lane before I start to back up. The car behind will follow close and block my backing up, creating a traffic problem. Maybe other cars will drive up and have to stop.

Eventually, I am clear to start backing up, either by waving for the car behind me to pass me or by going around the block and trying to park again. Now as I start to back, I am having to use my rear-view mirror and my two side mirrors to steer away from the sides of cars parked on both sides of my lane, to watch for any car doors to open, to see any kids running into my lane, to watch for adults on the sidewalk ready to step off into my lane, and to guess where the

curb is.

If I have a bicycle, storage unit, or trailer hitch on my vehicle, this will create another hazard for those walking on the sidewalk. This is probably why most motels have signs stating "no back-in parking."

I also have a low blind spot behind me below what I can see from all my mirrors.

When I go to leave, I am headed out into traffic, but I am so frustrated with my parking experience that I will drive out fast, not looking safely for oncoming traffic. If this sounds crazy, watch cars parked at Three Wind Shopping Center and the post office when they drive out head first from a parking space.

Most local residents and tourists alike are not skilled or comfortable in backing up into confined spaces. There is not much call for this practice for most drivers.

I feel sorry for the merchants on Main Avenue. I wonder how many bicyclists will stop at the seed store and pick up a 50-pound sack of bird seed, or stop at the florist shop for a large bouquet, or stop at the fisherman's shop for a new rod and reel. I wonder how many new businesses will want to locate on Main Avenue with this parking plan in place.

There is a positive impact. The auto-repair business should pick up with all of the fender-benders and traffic fine revenues should increase with all of the accidents. In addition, the Sisters Area Chamber of Commerce, located on Main Avenue will have more tourists visiting, asking why there is "backwards" parking.

If all of this is being done for bicyclists, get them through town by widening bike lanes on Barclay Drive and directing them there with signs.

It will be just a matter of time before we will see bumper stickers stating, not "Sisters, the town of tiny lights" as it has been called, but rather "Sisters - the city of backward parking - in more ways than one."