It is so hard to drive and look out for other people at the same time! Another thing that I would do is put my car in drive instead of reverse when I was backing out out of a parking space! Thank goodness I was able to slam on the breaks before I would hit the car in front of me. I began to park really far away where there were hardly any cars or park where there were 2 adjacent spots and pull through so all I had to do was drive forward. I would then be afraid that I would put my car in reverse instead of drive, but luckily I never did that! I'm glad for your sake that you live in NYC where you can walk most places.