However, it seems to me there are three options. First, either it is a genuine mistake, or it is an intentional lie. If it is a lie, I can see two possible reasons, either to deter copycats, or to cover for the police's mistakes that day.
With that in mind, I can sketch the possible reasons for making such a mistake, or for inventing such a lie. Simply the placement of their cars is often cited for why it is thought they would shoot from them, and maybe that was enough to fool investigators. I find this hard to believe, but it's possible.
Probably the best reason for why investigators may have been mistaken are the two separate, different timelines Dylan wrote for that day. One of these was on his own paper, and another was in Eric's planner. The former says "Go to outside hill, wait. When first bombs go off, attack", and the latter says "wait near cars, gear up HAHAHA".
Perhaps for some reason they trusted the latter over the former and assumed it meant shooting from the cars, though it doesn't say that, only 'gearing up'. The one in Eric's planner is a bit more specific on the pre-massacre activities, starting with waking up, and it being in Eric's planner may have made them think it was more accurate, being a joint effort of the two perpetrators rather than Dylan writing alone, or whatever. However, on this point they obviously followed the "go to outside hill" directions. Also, the former says the first bomb goes off at 11:17 and the latter say 11:16, and perhaps because of Eric's notes on the library, 11:17 seems to be accepted. So, they don't simply follow the timeline in Eric's planner for everything.
Also and most importantly these guidelines were obviously very rough. For instance Dylan says place the bombs at 11:09, obviously meaning "before 11:10", when as I recall fourth period let out; and to set the car bombs for 11:18, obviously meaning "after the cafeteria bombs", not literally one minute after.
For inventing a lie, there is the possible reason of dissuading copycats. I certainly hope this is the reason, as it's the most justifiable. For fear of copycats having a similarly intricate plan, lie to make Eric and Dylans plan quite silly, so that copycats will only have a silly plan to use.
The other reason I see for inventing a lie is I admit not the most robust theory, but I feel like either this or Dylan's notes are ultimately the reason. One big weakness of the "plan B" theory is it implies Eric and Dylan had no plan if people ran in a direction other than into the parking lot. I think they were very aware of the ability for people to turn around, and that's why they were on the stairs, and ultimately why Rachel and Richard were the first people shot, to have access to the west entrance to cut off those who turned around. Who made the students turn and run that way? Dave Sanders, and JeffCo took hours to get to him, letting him die. Why is he considered a martyr? Mostly because he told students to turn around.
I don't wish to completely trivialize Dave's martyr status. He almost certainly saved lives that day. However, he also almost certainly saved fewer lives than most think by telling people to turn around, if Eric and Dylan always expected people to turn around. If that's the case, then Neil Gardner possibly saved more lives by stalling their entering the west entrance in his shootout with Eric than Dave did.
And of course, they didn't shoot from the parking lot, so I'm not sure how that helps Dave's martyr status. At the same time, it obscures that they always knew they would turn around, and that does help Dave's martyr status.
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