Judging Line And Direction

[Rabbers]

After more than 18 months and 37K km it is vexing as well as a little embarrassing to find

myself sometimes needing a second attempt in order to park my 300h perfectly straight

without the assistance of the rear-view camera.

While not losing too much sleep over this, I was nevertheless relieved to learn from some

recent posts (see Parallel Parking) that others may have the same problem. Of course,

any issues involving parking are generally likelier to be the fault of the driver than the car,

but I sincerely believe this may not be entirely true in the case of the present-generation

IS, which, speaking for myself, I find demands greater care in manoeuvring than any other

car I have ever driven (excepting a Lamborghini Countach which I surprisingly managed to

leave undamaged after its owner let me take it around his private car-park for a nerve-

racking couple of minutes). This, I believe, is partly due to the relative absence of straight

vertical lines in the driver's forward vision, which makes it difficult to judge the car's centre

and therefore its width, but mostly to the design of the door-panels, which, especially when

you are aiming to park parallel to a real or imagined line, can deceive you into thinking you

have straightened the car when you might actually have been guided by the angle of the

tapered sill.

When thinking about this, it came to mind that one or two passengers have remarked, as

my wife regularly still does, that I often seem to be driving too close to the side of the road.

However, on the evidence of my habitual practice of aligning the central headrest with

the middle of my lane in the rear-view mirror, this cannot be true. So, ever mindful of the

opinions of others, I thought I would spend a day with my long-suffering wife at the wheel

and myself as a passenger, and indeed, I did get the quite strong impression that the 300h

was not keeping to its lane or was too close to the side. My knuckles were whitest in long

shallow curves when I thought, completely erroneously, that the car was going straight and

needed to be steered towards centre. Again, as in the aforementioned parking situations,

I felt that my impression was based on the tendency of the eye to follow the line of the sill

rather than automatically identify and immediately adjust to the car's real directional angle.

Before asking whether anybody else has similar issues, I should add that I drink only in

moderation, do not take hallucinatory drugs, and regularly have my eyesight tested.

[Richard1200]

After highjacking the Parrallel Parking topic I have been encouraged by the various replies and I have made my wife read them all.

It is a curious phenomenon.

Being too close to the kerb as a driver or passenger is new to me and not something we have noticed.

Many thanks to everybody for confirming I am not getting too old!!!

[rayaans]

Well it depends how much of a perfectionist you are at parking.

I tend to just go in and thats it, with minor adjustments. Dont really care if its sticking out slightly or wonky lol. Helps to put other drivers off from parking next to you too

[Steve44]

I think it is because the bottom corner of the windscreen post isn't any where near the outer extremity of the car. The bonnet curves down to the wing which curves out to the wheel arch, all of which is hidden from the drivers view. This is further enhanced on the passenger side, form the drivers position.

The wing mirror sitting on the plinth, away from the window and pillar, but not at the edge of the body enhances the effect for me.

I can align the car squarely, but have (had?) real trouble judging the distances between the car and the kerb and when squeezing between 2 other cars. More so than any other car I've had before. First car driven which has such an optical illusion!

[Rabbers]

Well it depends how much of a perfectionist you are at parking.

I tend to just go in and thats it, with minor adjustments. Dont really care if its sticking out slightly or wonky lol. Helps to put other drivers off from parking next to you too

In this time of declining standards, the wish to park "properly" is a good thing and a matter of pride. The problem is

whether it is possible to reconcile this attitude with the need to protect yourself from the increasing number of fellow

drivers who do not share it. Certainly, parking at an angle is a viable protective stratagem when spaces are unmarked

since any new neighbour will almost certainly duplicate your angle and keep an acceptable distance. To hog more

room than you are entitled to when parking in marked spaces, perhaps straddling two of them, might, apart from

other considerations, not discourage prospectively unwelcome neighbours but have the effect of inviting them to

teach you a lesson by getting stupidly close to your outer extremities thus forcing you to wriggle around when you

come to drive off. Or such has been my own experience on some of the few occasions when I have been tempted

to occupy more space than I should. All in all, I believe vertical parking to be generally a bit safer than parking

parallel to the kerb. In this latter case, apart from needing to watch out for the kerb itself, you have no control

whatsoever over who or what you may find behind and/or in front of you or how close they were to your gleaming

paintwork when they arrived.

[bluenose1940]

Just a thought from me, I am a big fan of the 'slightly off' vertical parking, not sure what they call it, I would tend to call it 'chevron parking'

Rightly or wrongly, I always get the impression that there is more room available with this type.

[rayaans]

Well it depends how much of a perfectionist you are at parking.

I tend to just go in and thats it, with minor adjustments. Dont really care if its sticking out slightly or wonky lol. Helps to put other drivers off from parking next to you too

In this time of declining standards, the wish to park "properly" is a good thing and a matter of pride. The problem is

whether it is possible to reconcile this attitude with the need to protect yourself from the increasing number of fellow

drivers who do not share it. Certainly, parking at an angle is a viable protective stratagem when spaces are unmarked

since any new neighbour will almost certainly duplicate your angle and keep an acceptable distance. To hog more

room than you are entitled to when parking in marked spaces, perhaps straddling two of them, might, apart from

other considerations, not discourage prospectively unwelcome neighbours but have the effect of inviting them to

teach you a lesson by getting stupidly close to your outer extremities thus forcing you to wriggle around when you

come to drive off. Or such has been my own experience on some of the few occasions when I have been tempted

to occupy more space than I should. All in all, I believe vertical parking to be generally a bit safer than parking

parallel to the kerb. In this latter case, apart from needing to watch out for the kerb itself, you have no control

whatsoever over who or what you may find behind and/or in front of you or how close they were to your gleaming

paintwork when they arrived.

Nobody said anything about straddling lines?

Im just saying - what is the need for parking perfectly straight in a parking space?

[valanade]

On my last car a Toyota GT86 which ahd an eqaully curvaous front end Toyota appear to have considered this problem and provided an unobtrusive raised centre marker on the top of the dashboard close to the windscreen (red ringed in attached picture).

Shame they didn't think to carry it over to the IS ??

[Rabbers]

Well it depends how much of a perfectionist you are at parking.

I tend to just go in and thats it, with minor adjustments. Dont really care if its sticking out slightly or wonky lol. Helps to put other drivers off from parking next to you too

In this time of declining standards, the wish to park "properly" is a good thing and a matter of pride. The problem is

whether it is possible to reconcile this attitude with the need to protect yourself from the increasing number of fellow

drivers who do not share it. Certainly, parking at an angle is a viable protective stratagem when spaces are unmarked

since any new neighbour will almost certainly duplicate your angle and keep an acceptable distance. To hog more

room than you are entitled to when parking in marked spaces, perhaps straddling two of them, might, apart from

other considerations, not discourage prospectively unwelcome neighbours but have the effect of inviting them to

teach you a lesson by getting stupidly close to your outer extremities thus forcing you to wriggle around when you

come to drive off. Or such has been my own experience on some of the few occasions when I have been tempted

to occupy more space than I should. All in all, I believe vertical parking to be generally a bit safer than parking

parallel to the kerb. In this latter case, apart from needing to watch out for the kerb itself, you have no control

whatsoever over who or what you may find behind and/or in front of you or how close they were to your gleaming

paintwork when they arrived.

Nobody said anything about straddling lines?

I did, having noticed that a lot of people do, and, to my shame, have occasionally done myself.

Im just saying - what is the need for parking perfectly straight in a parking space?

The main point about parking straight is that it reflects a desire for tidiness and orderliness that I personally consider

praiseworthy, not least because fewer and fewer people appear to share it. Also, car-parks and parking areas have

parallel lines painted on the ground not only so that you should stay within them but also so they can help you to

position the car straight.

[Rabbers]

On my last car a Toyota GT86 which ahd an eqaully curvaous front end Toyota appear to have considered this problem and provided an unobtrusive raised centre marker on the top of the dashboard close to the windscreen (red ringed in attached picture).

Shame they didn't think to carry it over to the IS ??

Adrian: In actual fact the central of my three dashboard speakers has a slightly raised fin-like fold presumably

designed to indicate the centre of the bonnet, but whether it is present only in models with ML audio I don't know.

[DJP]

Mine is slightly raised too. Not sure I could ever visualise using it though.

Sent from my Iphone using Lexus OC

[rayaans]

Well it depends how much of a perfectionist you are at parking.

I tend to just go in and thats it, with minor adjustments. Dont really care if its sticking out slightly or wonky lol. Helps to put other drivers off from parking next to you too

In this time of declining standards, the wish to park "properly" is a good thing and a matter of pride. The problem is

whether it is possible to reconcile this attitude with the need to protect yourself from the increasing number of fellow

drivers who do not share it. Certainly, parking at an angle is a viable protective stratagem when spaces are unmarked

since any new neighbour will almost certainly duplicate your angle and keep an acceptable distance. To hog more

room than you are entitled to when parking in marked spaces, perhaps straddling two of them, might, apart from

other considerations, not discourage prospectively unwelcome neighbours but have the effect of inviting them to

teach you a lesson by getting stupidly close to your outer extremities thus forcing you to wriggle around when you

come to drive off. Or such has been my own experience on some of the few occasions when I have been tempted

to occupy more space than I should. All in all, I believe vertical parking to be generally a bit safer than parking

parallel to the kerb. In this latter case, apart from needing to watch out for the kerb itself, you have no control

whatsoever over who or what you may find behind and/or in front of you or how close they were to your gleaming

paintwork when they arrived.

Nobody said anything about straddling lines?

I did, having noticed that a lot of people do, and, to my shame, have occasionally done myself.

Im just saying - what is the need for parking perfectly straight in a parking space?

The main point about parking straight is that it reflects a desire for tidiness and orderliness that I personally consider

praiseworthy, not least because fewer and fewer people appear to share it. Also, car-parks and parking areas have

parallel lines painted on the ground not only so that you should stay within them but also so they can help you to

position the car straight.

But does it really matter if you park straight or not as long as you're in the lines?

[Rabbers]

Well it depends how much of a perfectionist you are at parking.

I tend to just go in and thats it, with minor adjustments. Dont really care if its sticking out slightly or wonky lol. Helps to put other drivers off from parking next to you too

In this time of declining standards, the wish to park "properly" is a good thing and a matter of pride. The problem is

whether it is possible to reconcile this attitude with the need to protect yourself from the increasing number of fellow

drivers who do not share it. Certainly, parking at an angle is a viable protective stratagem when spaces are unmarked

since any new neighbour will almost certainly duplicate your angle and keep an acceptable distance. To hog more

room than you are entitled to when parking in marked spaces, perhaps straddling two of them, might, apart from

other considerations, not discourage prospectively unwelcome neighbours but have the effect of inviting them to

teach you a lesson by getting stupidly close to your outer extremities thus forcing you to wriggle around when you

come to drive off. Or such has been my own experience on some of the few occasions when I have been tempted

to occupy more space than I should. All in all, I believe vertical parking to be generally a bit safer than parking

parallel to the kerb. In this latter case, apart from needing to watch out for the kerb itself, you have no control

whatsoever over who or what you may find behind and/or in front of you or how close they were to your gleaming

paintwork when they arrived.

Nobody said anything about straddling lines?

I did, having noticed that a lot of people do, and, to my shame, have occasionally done myself.

Im just saying - what is the need for parking perfectly straight in a parking space?

The main point about parking straight is that it reflects a desire for tidiness and orderliness that I personally consider

praiseworthy, not least because fewer and fewer people appear to share it. Also, car-parks and parking areas have

parallel lines painted on the ground not only so that you should stay within them but also so they can help you to

position the car straight.

But does it really matter if you park straight or not as long as you're in the lines?

Literally speaking, of course not. Nothing bad is likely to happen if you don't. Still, some would argue that

a conscious and habitual unwillingness to park straight when you are formally encouraged to do so by the

presence of parallel lines may be symptomatic of a mild form of sociopathy.

[rayaans]

But others may argue that consistently trying to park parallel to the lines is OCD for which the first line of treatment should be antidepressants such as Prozac (fluoxetine)

[C Mclean]

But others may argue that consistently trying to park parallel to the lines is OCD for which the first line of treatment should be antidepressants such as Prozac (fluoxetine)

I prefer Citalopram ??.

[Richard1200]

Omg. I take responsibility for starting all this off. I now need a dictionary and a Psychiatrist to understand all the replys, oh and maybe a mathematician to understand the angles theory.

At least my wife now accepts it's maybe the car and not me why I am always at a slight angle.

[Rabbers]

But others may argue that consistently trying to park parallel to the lines is OCD for which the first line of treatment should be antidepressants such as Prozac (fluoxetine)

I prefer Citalopram ??.

So do I ....Before :megaangry: and After

[PaulWhitt20]

Interesting.

Sitting in my CT I can't even see the bonnet

Sent from my Iphone using Lexus OC

[rayaans]

But others may argue that consistently trying to park parallel to the lines is OCD for which the first line of treatment should be antidepressants such as Prozac (fluoxetine)

I prefer Citalopram ??.

Won't last as long in the system due to short half life. 36 hours only in citalopram, fluoxetine is 4-5 days. Citalopram has faster onset though

[Rabbers]

Omg. I take responsibility for starting all this off. I now need a dictionary and a Psychiatrist to understand all the replys, oh and maybe a mathematician to understand the angles theory.

At least my wife now accepts it's maybe the car and not me why I am always at a slight angle.

Richard: You are absolutely right. This topic, like many car-related ones, is of the sort that often falls prey to

eristic argument, the wish to have the last word being its own reward even at the risk of inconclusiveness and

probable OT deviation. This, in some cultures, is part of a long and noble debating tradition and has been

described by the philosopher/economist Amartya Sen in his The Argumentative Indian, 2005. Less nobly, its

supreme exponent in car-related debate is (or was) Clarkson when closing his dialogues with Hammond & May.