As a traffic consultant, I felt it was important to express an opinion about removing parallel parking on the Maryland Motor Vehicle Administration drivers test ("Goodbye, parallel parking," May 21).
We do not live in a society that is only filled with garages and parking lots. In fact, just the opposite. We will see more young people move into, or grow up in, urban areas over the next 30 to 40 years. Urban living has already made resurgence in the last five to 10 years. In fact, Baltimore has great plans to encourage more young people to move into or back to the city. Roughly 50 percent to 60 percent of them will have an automobile. Where will they park? Some will park in garages, but many will still need to parallel park on the street. New drivers going forward will not have that necessary parking skill. The best way to combat that missing skill would be to encourage what is known as "back-in angle parking." Today, in many parking lots and garages, and on many streets around the country (some already in Baltimore), "back-in angle parking" has become the favorite way to park your automobile.
Why is this? "Back-in angle parking" is safer, easier, faster, and more efficient. It can partially replace the skill that will be lost by not being able to efficiently parallel park an automobile. It is fairly easy because it is only one of multiple movements that would be necessary for parallel parking. Then, when children exit the car, doors are open and it prohibits them from dashing into the street. It also allows, when leaving the space, to more easily see oncoming vehicles and bicycles because the driver is not backing out into traffic. He or she pulls out straight with great sight distance which means fewer chances for any accidents.
Now that we lost a rite of passage, maybe it's time to think about a new standard for parking on the street and in parking lots.
Wes Guckert, White Marsh