>Whew, I almost scrunched my bus.
>
>Whilst backing out of a parking place at a crowded parking lot 
>yesterday, a truck & my bus had a meeting of bumpers.

In the early 1990s I attended a high performance driving school at a local
race track.  The very first thing we were taught was not braking, cornering
or skid control but parking!

The bottom line is that in 95% of cases it is easier to back from traffic in
to a quiet parking stall rather than back from a quiet parking stall in to
traffic.  This caused a light to come on and I have practised this ever
since.  In a Vanagon this is especially helpful since it is bigger and has
poorer rearward/side vision.

It still amazes me how so few people clue in to this concept.  My favourite
are the people who live on very busy streets who always try to back out in
rush hour traffic.

Kelly Bauman
Delta, BC
91 Westy