Not so smart
Wow.
Jennifer sent along this photo, which was taken yesterday in Washington Park. This would be a comically bad parking job just about anywhere, but near the always parking-deficient Center Square it might have caused an angry mob.
As Jennifer wrote in the email's subject line: "Smart Car, Stupid Driver."
Our first thought on seeing the photo was: "You could probably park another Smart Car in the space between the car and the curb." Not content to just speculate, we attempted to test this guess using the photo. The result is after the jump.
By the way: a Smart Car is a little more than five feet wide.
(Thanks, Jennifer)
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Comments
True, could have been a lazy driver, but if they were parallel parking another important factor to consider is the distance of the car IN FRONT of the 'smart car' from the curb. This'll also influence the distance of the 'smart car' from said curb.
... said James at 42 on Sep 29, 2009 at 12:42 PM | link
I watched someone with a smart car try to park in a two car long spot once and fail miserably. There was probably room for about 6 or 7 of them and this driver was unable to fit even one!
Don't people learn to park cars anymore? Isn't that still required to get a license?
... said BobF on Sep 29, 2009 at 12:47 PM | link
http://www.youparklikeanasshole.com/
I am always tempted to use this site! I have, however, politely asked people to "try again" after they've parked poorly (taking up extra spaces) on my street.
... said Center Square on Sep 29, 2009 at 1:00 PM | link
better question: why isn't there a parking ticket on the windshield?
... said ethan on Sep 29, 2009 at 1:02 PM | link
He or she would've done better to just pull head-on into the curb. (I actually saw that a couple of times in Europe.)
... said Mark on Sep 29, 2009 at 1:10 PM | link
My first thought was that they parked that way to avoid a snow bank. But then I remembered its only September.
... said abby on Sep 29, 2009 at 1:45 PM | link
I thought one of the benefits of the Smart car was that you could park it perpendicular to the curb, and still fit in a parking spot.
... said Jessica R on Sep 29, 2009 at 2:25 PM | link
Dude was parked there for a while - anyone notice that there had been at least one rainfall since his parking stint (the area under his car is dry)?
Oh, what I wouldn't give to park a Buick in front of him, an Oldsmobile behind him, and a Plymouth Dart in the "double parking" section. He wouldn't be able to get out of that spot without four big burly dudes lifting the car up and carrying it onto the grass like centurions carrying Caesar.
... said Chuck Miller on Sep 29, 2009 at 2:26 PM | link
The solution is obvious...just pick it up and move it closer to the curb.
... said Bob B on Sep 29, 2009 at 3:35 PM | link
You could probably park another Smart Car in the space between the car and the curb
Ha, that's what someone said on my boyfriend's Facebook page when he posted them the other day. :)
Oh, and Mark? I've seen people park like that here, in Albany! You don't need to go all the way to Europe to see wtf driving!
... said irisira on Sep 30, 2009 at 5:56 AM | link
@BobF - technically, yes, however depending on where you learn (and who the test examiner is) depends on how strict this is. In my hometown, for example, there are rarely two cars to park between on the "course," so you have to parallel park behind one car. Of course, compounding this problem - you can't exactly practice this skill, either, if you can't even find a car to park in between for the road test. Most of the test examiners are sympathetic to this, and don't mark off too much for egregious offenses such as this.*
I didn't really learn to parallel park until college, when my building's "parking lot" (i.e., muddy patch of land) was two blocks away, and every house on the block was crammed with 5-10 college kids, all with their own cars. Most of my friends lived on similar streets.
*This is, of course, aside from hitting the curb. Park like this? No problem, you have a license! But hit the curb? Forget it, automatic failure. This is something I've NEVER understood, and often in tight parking spots I will DELIBERATELY hit the curb, so I can better judge how much room I have to park. But, whatever ...
... said irisira on Sep 30, 2009 at 8:15 AM | link
I have a theory that about 70% of Albany drivers can only see 50ft in front of them, and that's why they make such terrible decisions regarding when to pull out into oncoming lanes of traffic.
... said himynameispaul on Oct 2, 2009 at 11:39 AM | link
Wow. I know I usually won't pull all the way into an angled parking spot just to make sure people can see my car's bottom and won't try to pull into the space and smash into me, but this is ridiculous!
... said Rachel Nabors on Oct 2, 2009 at 5:12 PM | link
While this is a really bad parking job, I see things similar to this every day in the center square area. I think people get these tiny cars because they know they can't park, but still can't park at all once they get one.
... said Luke on Oct 3, 2009 at 9:40 AM | link
I think all Center Square residents should start a new tradion and submit photos of all the dumb parking jobs to AOA or FB. Maybe we can shame each other into parking nicely.
... said Madeline on Oct 5, 2009 at 10:06 AM | link