in france and mostly paris, cars park bumper to bumper when parallel parked, people would shove parked cars with their bumpers to make space to park and to get out.
how would american and canadian car culture change if this practice became acceptable overnight? would it mean less people would be motivated to buy nice cars because they can get damaged? would more people install things like bumper protectors and bash bars to give their car an edge? would people start driving even bigger and tougher truck/suv’s, or smaller and cheaper cars? would it mean the cost of the car hobby would go up, since you had to spend more money and effort to be more protective of your enthusiast car? would the public respect that we enthusiasts want to keep our cars nice and free from damage?
and finally, in this new world, what type of car would you be daily driving and would you be modifying it to suit these new circumstances?
My most infuriating experience was years back in Austin, TX in which I got out of my friends vehicle and watched a woman hit his bumper, then the bumper of the car behind her, and then his bumper again, before settling into her spot while parallel parking.
She kept talking to me like I was a child when I asked her what she thought she was doing and that we were standing here watching the whole thing, “wHaT iS ThE ThiNG On The FROnT Of The VEHicLE Caallleeed? YES ITS A BUMP-ER, a BUMP-ER, for BUMP-ing.”