Parallel parking tips?

Question

I'm getting prepared to take my license test, and I'm still very iffy about parallel parking. On the first try, I did flawlessly, which surprised me. However, I'm still shakey on when to turn the wheel to actually straighten out the car in the space. I can cut the wheel full right and begin backing up, but I'm still having trouble knowing when it's time to turn it back to the left.

Any tips / tricks?

Answer 1

Use your turn signal to indicate the direction of the parking spot.

If the space is not yet vacant but the car in it is about to leave, wait behind the spot.

When the space is vacant, pull ahead of it until you have pulled up beside the car parked in front of the space. Your rear bumper should be even with that car's rear bumper with about 2 feet of road between you.

Put the car in reverse. Begin to back up slowly; as soon as the car starts moving, turn the wheel as far as it will go toward the curb.

Back slowly into the space.



When the back of your car's front door is even with the rear bumper of the car beside you, begin turning the wheel away from the curb.

Continue turning the wheel away from the curb and backing slowly into the space.

Straighten out the wheel, then pull forward or back in the space as needed to center yourself between the cars in front of and behind you. Your car should be 6 to 8 inches from the curb when you are parked.

Answer 2

Well if theres a car in front of the spot, how i do it is line my front bumper up with the front bumper of the car in front of me (keeping about 1.5 feet between me and the car) then put it in reverse and turn in at a 45 degree angle, then you should know when to straighten it out. Practice makes perfectly, it really does. By the way, i never had to parallel park on a driving test, i dont know anybody who has either. (in CA at least) Here they just make your park about a foot from a curb, and then you back up a certain distance without hitting the curb.

Answer 3

You would normally start straightening your wheel when the front seat of your car is in line with rear bumper of the car next to you.

You would then turn back left after your front right bumper has completely cleared the left rear bumper of the car next to you.

The real key: practice, practice, practice in an empty parking lot.

Answer 4

Parallel parking 101:

1. Check your rear view mirror, tap the brake lights a few times and signal right to let the vehicle behind you know you are  going to parallel park.

2. Line your vehicle up about 3 ft away from the other vehicle you wish to park behind, lining up your rear bumpers.

3. Find a 45 degree reference point across the street. Find this by pointing out across the street from the mid section of your driver's side mirror.

4.Do a 360 degree check around your vehicle as you shift to Reverse gear.

5.Begin to move back about 1/2 second, WHILE COVERING YOUR BRAKE, and then steer fully and quickly to the right AS YOU MOVE, looking mostly to the rear, and checking occasionally that the front of your vehicle is pointing at that 45 degree angle.

6.Once you are at that 45 degree angle, continue moving back slowly as you straighten your steering.(about 1-1/2 turns of the wheel to the left).

7.Back in straight until the pass. side of your front bumper is in line with the driver's side of the rear bumper ahead of you.

(check to see how far the other vehicle is from the curb, and also how wide it is compared to your vehicle, in order to adjust how much you back in straight)

Also, if you adjust your pass. side mirror so that you can just see the rear corner of your vehicle in the bottom left side of that mirror, you can then use this position of your mirror to assist you when parallel parking. When you can just see the curb edge in that right mirror, is when you can turn left again.

8. Continue to back in slowly, covering your brake, looking to the rear,as you move and steer all the way left until you see in that pass. side mirror that you are parallel to the curb. If you back in too far, your front wheels could hit the curb. If they just touch the curb (moving very slowly at this point), you can then fix it by moving back and steering about 1-1/2 turns right again to straighten the wheels. Your vehicle will then continue to move back.

9.Make sure that you can see the bottom of the tires of the vehicle ahead of you so that you and they are able to exit their parking space.

10. Practice until you are comfortable and feel confident.

If your rear wheels hit the curb as you back in, take note of how far you backed in and back in less the next time you try.

I know there is a lot of information here, but it's a complicated technique to explain. You can print it to use it for future reference. It's the method I use to teach, and uses points of reference on vehicles as well as that 45 degree reference point.

This method, along with your Instructor's method may give you a couple of different ways of doing this manoeuver.

Luck is when preparation meets opportunity, so I wish you GOOD LUCK !!!

Answer 5

Practice, practice practice. If you can get some poles to stand on the road surface to mark out the parking space it will help, and save hitting other parked cars while you practice. If you have a good instructor with a driving school car they should have poles in the car to use.