I’m an admin on a local carspotting Facebook page, which means I’m constantly getting sent pictures of fancy cars in my area -and as you may have seen, taking some of my own. On Saturday, I found a neat grey 2002 Dodge Viper RT/10 double-parked outside a Twin Peaks.
Later that day, I had two more people submit pictures of the same Viper, at two different locations, still double parked:
We pretty much always call people out for parking like this, especially for the habitual offenders (believe me, there are several cars known to the group which always park like this. Inevitably, there will always be a few people who will pipe up with “If I owned a car that nice I’d double park too! Can’t have door dings!” Often, they (or even the owner of the car) will accuse those who complain about the parking of being “haters”, “losers”,”poor” and other creative insults usually reserved for use by the president.
If you are genuinely that worried about getting a door ding, park further away.
Sometimes, people will point out that the double parked car is parked far away, so it isn’t really hurting anything. Although this may be true, if the car is already parked far away, that should pretty much eliminate the chance of door dings. Furthermore, any double parked car, especially a flashy one, regardless of how far away it is, is more likely to attract petty people who will deliberately screw with the car. If you are truly worried about your car and not just trying to show off like a douche, park your car as far away as possible in a single space. If that’s not possible, just park in a single space in the safest place you can. People may be careless ordinarily, but they’re more likely to retaliate against a double-parked car, especially in a crowded lot.
Parking normally puts you at a risk of door dings. Parking in two spaces risks having your car vandalized, ticketed, towed, booted, or internet-shamed. Parking far away, while still only using one space, poses the fewest risks. It’s that simple.