"My husband suffers from S.D.S."

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2017 CX-5 GT
That's the only reasonable conclusion I can come to as to why people who live in the suburbs feel the need to drive around in an 18 ft long pick-up truck that barely fits in their driveway without blocking the sidewalk.

They have to park it in the driveway because their vehicle of phallic compensation won't fit in the garage since the architech of their ticky-tacky box never considered that people living on a .25 acre lot would just absolutely need a crewcab f-150 to tackle ardous tasks like taking the kids to school, getting groceries, and, well...that's pretty much it.

Makes you feel like a man, sure, but the wife can't drive this behemoth worth $hit. She's trying to park Gulliver in the land of the Lilliputian's, and when she backs this montrosity up she tends to hit things, like our parked CX-5. So now the start of my summer is driving around dealing with insurance and getting quotes.

At the risk of sounding sexist, this is the 3rd time one of our parked cars has been backed into, and every time it has been a woman being distracted by her kids. So empirically when someone backs into one of our cars, 100% of the time it's some mom with kids melting down in the back. The first time was in my STi; I had just parked and was stepping out of the car when the lady backed into me hard, destroying the rear 1/4 panel and rear passenged side door.

Her baby was crying and she was running on 0 hrs sleep and she didn't look in the rear-view before backing up and the spot I just parked in was empty when she got into the car and she just had a fight with her husband and and and and... Had I backed into the spot she would of severely injured me, if not killed me,

Christ, this (with the CX-5) was in a school parking lot. This person can't even back up this 2.5 ton vehicle without hitting other cars; what if there were kids walking behing the truck?

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Buy the vehicle you best can use for the purposes you most will need it. But then, I've never accused people of making sound choices.
 
Sounds like the root issue is driver inattentiveness. A different vehicle might have varied the outcome a little, but it sounds like your neighbor just needs to pay more attention to how large the vehicle is and what's around it.
 
A friend of mine bought a F-150 Raptor and daily drives it 2 miles to work and home. But he loves it and said its the perfect family car because of how much space it has inside for the child seats (you never have to worry about rear facing seats not fitting).
 
"My husband suffers from S.D.S."

Back in the day werent f250 crew cab dualies for commercial use? Some dumba** work colleague brought one to Germany and wondered why he got dirty looks. The thing practically takes up two spots!
 
Sounds like the root issue is driver inattentiveness. A different vehicle might have varied the outcome a little, but it sounds like your neighbor just needs to pay more attention to how large the vehicle is and what's around it.

Not my neighbour, just some lady with an inability to multitask parenting and driving. But yes, I agree, driver inattentiveness.

I'm going to disagree that the vehicle doesn't matter; backing out a crew cab F-150 in a parking lot designed for cars is not the same thing as backing out a Corolla in same said spot. If you look at how she hit our CX-5, it was a corner impact so she was in the process of turning but couldn't turn tightly enough because of the length of the truck. This is a small parking lot where there are two sets of parking spot rows across from each other.

She needed to stop while backing up, pull forward with the steering wheel cranked to one side, crank the wheel to the other side and back up again, stop, pull forward again, etc ad nauseaum. Instead, she just backed up while turning until she hit our car, with kids going ape-s*** in the back.

More importantly, look at where her bumper initiated contact with our CX-5's bumper. I'm going to generously say the top 1/4 of our bumper. The damn truck is so high off the ground (those Walmart parking lots are so treacherous and require all that ground clearance) that it basically popped over top of our bumper and smashed into the hatch.
 
I stand by what I said. Someone who is able to pay attention to what's around them, is aware of the size of the vehicle and can maneuver it properly would be able to avoid hitting your car, and would probably be able to pull out of their parking spot more efficiently. I see people with Nissan Versas backing out of their parking spots at work, and they do the exact same routine (stop while backing up, pull forward with the steering wheel cranked to one side, crank the wheel to the other side and back up again, stop, pull forward again, etc) as the lady in the truck. It's primarily a driver problem, not a truck problem. That's all I'm saying.

For the record, I don't think "parking lots designed for cars" exist. I could see where you're coming from if the truck parked in a "Small Car Only" parking spot, but again, that's due to the driver.
 
I stand by what I said. Someone who is able to pay attention to what's around them, is aware of the size of the vehicle and can maneuver it properly would be able to avoid hitting your car, and would probably be able to pull out of their parking spot more efficiently. It's primarily a driver problem, not a truck problem. That's all I'm saying.

I am perhaps misunderstanding you. If you're saying a bad driver is simply a bad driver regardless of what they're driving, then yes, I agree. And yes, a vigilant driver would avoid the collision.

I'm saying backing up an F-150 is a different proposition then backing up a Nissan Versa, and requires an additional level of driver skills and vigilance. Frazzled soccer mom is probably less prone to backing into other cars in the Versa.

Someone who is able to pay attention to what's around them

Right. But what about someone who has two kids screaming in the back and has had bad day? Are they more likely to bang into things backing up a 40ft motorhome or a Mini Cooper?

I was primarily making the point (since I know where this person lives having their driver's license and insurance info) that this family most likely has a crewcab F-150 as their only vehicle (again, insurance info) because of vanity. Whereas a CUV/minivan would be a much better fit for their daily needs, they likely got a truck because daddy won't be caught dead in a minivan.

For the record, I don't think "parking lots designed for cars" exist. I could see where you're coming from if the truck parked in a "Small Car Only" parking spot, but again, that's due to the driver.

https://www.freep.com/story/opinion...18/01/13/parking-spaces-too-small/1021382001/

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Specs on a crewcab F-150

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That works out to 19.3 ft, or 5.6 meters, not including the rear bumper for whatever reason. I'm assuming marketing, because driving around in a 20ft long truck to run errands is a bit gauche. But yes, you're correct so let me rephrase; "Parking lots not designed for 20 foot long trucks. "
 
I*ve just got back from Florida and one of the things that really gets to me are the odd individuals that park across the sidewalk even when the car could be accommodated. It*s a complete disregard.
 
I live in Florida and I completely agree. I have no idea why everybody here parks across the sidewalk. I also have no idea why people park in the middle of our street instead of their 6 car driveways, but that*s another tangent.

Florida is full of these giant trucks. I call them people*s Florida trucks, but I snorted out loud reading the SDS thread title.
 
My neighbor has a relative that must think that parking on grass preserves his tires or something. He parks his car in between our houses or on the swale, but never on the street.
 
Haha lots of those round here..gotta look purposeful/badass yet you likely can't even negotiate the damn thing safely much less actually ever need a truck..that's what we call ladida trucks. Also annoying as hell- almost but not quite always women who feel the need to ride my ass @80-mph not km/h (and I'm talking like a carlength or so while looking down at an iphone half the time) typically in a 5k lb SUV..when 3 lanes are pretty packed up and I'm safely following 5-7 or so lengths behind person in front of me..sorry for the rant and the CX-5..but thanks for that enabling post!..in other news mine just rolled over 100k today- still pretty damn tight!
 
Didn't know what "SDS" was but when I sounded that out in my head.. it definitely was not family friendly (inout)
 
I am perhaps misunderstanding you. If you're saying a bad driver is simply a bad driver regardless of what they're driving, then yes, I agree. And yes, a vigilant driver would avoid the collision.

Yes, that's all I'm saying. And distractions in the car (kids, bad day), should not affect your driving so much that you back into things you normally wouldn't. Again, this falls back on the driver and a lack of attentiveness. I only make this point because it sounded like you guys were demonizing the size of the truck instead of the driver.

Also, you might be right about their family situation, but I wouldn't assume the truck is solely for posturing. Maybe they need it for work or something? Who knows. I've dealt with my fair share of obnoxious, lifted, full-size diesel trucks in Alberta, so I understand the frustration, haha.

Oh and that was some interesting info about the parking.. I noticed that it said "standard DOT recommended depth," meaning it will vary from place to place. I wonder why there isn't a specific regulation depth? If there was, we might see truck dimensions altered for the standardized spots, instead of relying on 360 cams and parking sensors.
 
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Didn't know what "SDS" was but when I sounded that out in my head.. it definitely was not family friendly (inout)

Haha I wasn't sure at first either but urban dictionary confirmed..I guess w/my history and esp latest purchase one could deduce I suffer from L.D.S(guitar)
Just sayin
 
If a person (man or woman, it doesn't matter) gets THAT frazzled by having the kids in the car then that person should NOT be driving! If they can't even control their kids while driving at low speeds in the parking lots how in the hell are they going to control them while out on the highway in a place where one mistake may cost someone their life?

And as for someone owning a BFT when you feel that they don't need a big truck? Who are you to say? I own a BFT myself. Chevy 2500HD, diesel, crew cab w/ 8' bed. That's a BIG truck. Do I need a truck that big? Most times no but when I tow my 4 ton 5th wheel I sure as hell need it. It's not my daily driver but I do take it out once in a while when I'm not towing just to make sure it's running well.

Do I have trouble parking it? Nope. I always park in the outskirts of the parking lots, aka BFE, and I never have an issue.

Common sense, can you dig it?
 
If a person (man or woman, it doesn't matter) gets THAT frazzled by having the kids in the car then that person should NOT be driving! If they can't even control their kids while driving at low speeds in the parking lots how in the hell are they going to control them while out on the highway in a place where one mistake may cost someone their life?

And as for someone owning a BFT when you feel that they don't need a big truck? Who are you to say? I own a BFT myself. Chevy 2500HD, diesel, crew cab w/ 8' bed. That's a BIG truck. Do I need a truck that big? Most times no but when I tow my 4 ton 5th wheel I sure as hell need it. It's not my daily driver but I do take it out once in a while when I'm not towing just to make sure it's running well.

Do I have trouble parking it? Nope. I always park in the outskirts of the parking lots, aka BFE, and I never have an issue.

Common sense, can you dig it?

Damn right!!

Common sense, imagine that...
 
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