Is It Illegal To Pull Through An Empty Parking Space In New Jersey?

We argue about the do's and don'ts of driving a lot in New Jersey.

Do use your blinker. Don't drive 25 mph in the left lane. Do go approximately 10 mph over the speed limit because who goes the speed limit? Don't trail my butt!

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Well this one is not up to us. It is up to the law.

I recently stumbled upon this blog on WCYY.com which discussed a very interesting topic: Is it illegal to pull through an empty parking space while in a parking lot in Maine?

Huh.....

So it got me thinking....is pulling through a parking spot illegal in New Jersey?

I am starting to sweat because if it is illegal, that would mean I have broken the law many times.

So long story short....technically no, it is not illegal.

The reason I say "technically" is because there is no official rule saying that you can't do it.

But then I found this article back from 2019 which includes opinions from experts who, believe it or not, supports the idea of drivers pulling through an empty spot in front of you.

Here is what Tristan Dickson of Young Drivers of Canada had to say:

“Ultimately, our main objective is to avoid backing out when leaving a parking stall,” he says. “If it’s safe to do so, based on the discretion of the driver and the stall is big enough, then absolutely pull in.”

Here is what Steven Wallace of Wallace Driving School had to say:

“I always pull-through,” says Wallace. “You always try to avoid reversing when you’re exiting a parking stall. Thirty per cent of the crashes happen in parking lots or confined spaces and often the reverse gear is the culprit.”

There was one expert who did make a good point against pulling through an empty spot in front of you and her name is Lindsay Wilkins of ICBC.

“Pulling through to another parking spot increases your risk of crashing so it should be avoided,” says Wilkins. “As a driver, you don’t know if another driver is also aiming to park in the same spot."

So is it against the law to pull through? No. But it is a risk since other drivers may not be expecting it.

There were a lot of sources for this article to ensure that I was giving you accurate information: Source 1, Source 2 and Source 3.

So after reading arguments from both sides, are you for or against other drivers pulling through a parking space? Do you do it? Will you still do it?

SO MANY QUESTIONS!!

You know what to do with your thoughts and opinions on this: Nicole.Murray@townsquaremedia.com. Please also email me if I missed something regarding this topic!

While you figure that out, let's make sure you still don't have any of these recalls in your bathroom: