Parallell Parking
malspie
Posts: 768 Forum Member
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Has anyone out there got any tips for parallell parking? I have been driving for the past 18 years and consider myself to be an average but careful driver, but just cannot get my head around this parallell parking lark! I have practised but am very aware of the "tut tut, women drivers!" brigade, so just give up. I drive quite a small car, a VW polo with power assisted steering. Any advice gratefully received.
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Anyway, a hint my instructor gave me is have a sticker on the middle bottom of your rear window. When the middle of that sticker goes over the curb in your rear view mirror then turn the wheel the other way. It always worked for me.
Yes you'll do it as part of your lessons, possibly on your test, but instructors or examiner will probably pick somewhere where the gaps large and there's little chance of clouting another car.
My instructor had bits of tape in the back window, 3 across the window IIRC.
IIRC there was something about turning in, winding onto full lock, once you're parallel with the back of the car you're trying to park behind.
An instructor might turn up and help you out, I can't.
I can parallel park Vans and large cars easier than the small car I've got now, bulbous ar$e/boot puts my eye off.
What if there's no tree available, will waiting until the alarm goes off in the car behind, then stopping do?
Absolutely and don't forget that backing up into a cyclist is always a perfectly good option.
Find somewhere quiet to practice, a dead end street for example. You only need one other parked vehicle to practice with to park behind - in fact it is best to start with nothing behind where you are going to park as that way you can practice getting the angles correct before worrying about how much room you have behind and it is easy to adjust your technique for the space once you can turn in perfectly.
It is just one of these things that you get used to once you have done it a few times. I got used to doing it in my instructor's car enough to get by on the test, but I have to admit I'm still not brilliant at doing it in my car as I hardly ever park in on-street spaces.
But... I've had to get good at parallel parking in the truck at work as some of the places I deliver to leave no other choice and I now don't find it much bother to get into ridiculously tight gaps.
Getting a 34' lorry into a barely 40' gap here is fun when the roadway is only one lane wide. There is a reason why the signs say the road is "unsuitable for coaches".:p
i get very flustered though if there is another car stopping and waiting for me to do it so it get past... worried i am going to mess up and make a fool of myself... i think it's called performance anxiety
I just do it on my own estimates and it tends to work fine.
Recently went from a Corsa to a Laguna so it took a while to adjust to finding parking spaces for that. A lot of the time, the gap actually looks smaller inside the car. Many times I have parked up somewhere else then wondered why the hell I missed a spot closer to the house!
It was only put into the driving test less than 20 years ago so the OP may not have had to have done it for their test. I passed my test in 1988 and I didn't have to park or do a theory test.
seemples
you do not have to 'pass' either of your two manouvers on the driving test.
I failed both manouvers (got a minor for both), but still passed the test.
You will only actually fail the overall test if you bugger up the manouvers so much that you cause other people problems
This assumes both cars are of similar size. If you are driving something somewhat smaller than the other (like a Corsa compared with a 4WD), you will need to start a bit further back - if larger then a bit further forward.
Another unrelated tip relates to the three point turn. Always turn the wheel to the opposite lock just before you stop on each phase of the exercise.
and if that still doesn't work, book a couple of lessons with an instructor and get them to help you.
With 18 years behind the wheel, you really should be able to parallel park.:(
You must be inconveniencing other drivers a lot.
Same here. I can do it perfectly well on my own.
But if anyone is in the car with me (especially hubby giving "advice" :mad:) or if there is anyone in another car waiting I just go to pieces.
Agreed. Same goes for the FM that has been driving for 15 years.
If you are careful you can get through a lifetime of driving without the need to parallel park, or do a 3 point turn, or reverse round a corner or even an Emergency Stop.
My mate's dopey wife always plans her route so she doesn't need to do a right hand turns at junctions .....she hates them
^^ This is pretty much the technique I use. The key is to be quite heavy on the steering - when I see people mess up parallel parking, it is usually because they are turning too gradually and entering the space at too shallow an angle - for a tight space, you need to be using full lock on both turns.
The important parts are:
1) Start close to the car in front, with about 6 inches separating tips of wing mirrors.
2) When the back of your car is about 1 foot beyond the back of the adjacent car, check the road in front and behind then start to put on the turn, keep increasing the turn as you reverse until the rear wheel is about 2 feet from the kerb and stop and evaluate.
3) Now look forwards to the end of your bonnet. Start turning the opposite way as fast as you can whilst starting to slowly reverse again, so that your bonnet comes as close as possible to the rear corner of the car in front, checking behind you as you go. Use the car in front as you marker for how close to the kerb you are going to end up.
4) If you hit the kerb, or are too far out, it is usually easier to go back out and start again, adjusting your entry position, than it is to try and correct whilst in the gap.
I have to do this everytime I get home, and I usually get into gaps with about 2" at the front and rear.
My final piece of advice is this:
Next time you buy a car, look for one with reverse parking sensors - they do actually make the job significantly easier because you can concentrate more on the front of you car and the angles without having to worry about the back bumper.
Even better, my brother got a Jaguar XF a few months ago, and when you reverse in that, it shows you the view at the back of the car on the screen, recognises if there is a car & kerb, overlays the edges of these and then draws two curved yellow lines with two cross-hair markers - all you have to do is keep the markers on the yellow lines, and your in perfect position!