how to parallel park in tight spaces

[JamesRF]

There is definitely an art to doing a good parallel park, even the most experienced drivers won't always get it done first time so there's no shame in having a couple of attempts.

If you want to know how it shouldn't be done, then watch this:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=acWXj-Wjmsg

[Alex_225]

JamesRF said:

There is definitely an art to doing a good parallel park, even the most experienced drivers won't always get it done first time so there's no shame in having a couple of attempts.

Exactly this! I'm fairly confident performing a parallel park, I usually put the passenger mirror down to keep and eye on the back wheel (no kerbing!).

Can depend on the car as well, chucking a little hatch back into a space is far easier than maneuvering a saloon.

I recall when I got my very first car, I decided to do a parallel park. God did I mash my wheels, thank f**k they were £15 hubcaps haha

[Bradley1500]

Crook said:

Katzenjammer said:

All very nifty but I want to see the footage of them getting out of their spaces!

Handbrake on, full lock and lots of wheelspin.

This works for getting into the space as well:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lb1awXgoyQE

[JamesRF]

Hoofy said:

Parallel parking is much like making love to a beautiful woman.

Except that one takes considerably longer to finish....

[Johnnytheboy]

JamesRF said:

There is definitely an art to doing a good parallel park, even the most experienced drivers won't always get it done first time so there's no shame in having a couple of attempts.

I used to drive a Transit in central London all week, parking in meter bays, with no power steering. SO I got quite good at parallel parking.

But my colleagues and I came to the conclusion that you have a 'parking mojo' and some days it's just not there, and you screw up every single manoeuvre.

[yellowjack]

swisstoni said:

Coming soon:
"So I was wondering how are we all getting into our cars? Foot in first or arse down first?"

See. Comments like this don't really help. It makes people reluctant to ask for advice, yet most people I see driving could benefit from quite a lot of advice.

Throughout my career I was taught that "the only stupid question is the one you didn't ask". But then lives were on the line if we didn't get our st together, not a set of alloy wheels or a life lost on your protected NCB.

Seriously. The dude comes in here, and asks a serious, sensible question, no doubt hoping to get some serious sensible advice. But the self-appointed driving God mafia can't help themselves when it comes to delivering a mocking put-down. He may well have been taught, and he may even have been tested on parallel parking, but instructors vary massively in their knowledge and ability to actually teach, and examiners won't get you do carry out the manoeuvre unless the space is quite generous and it's a relatively quiet area, so even if you are tested, it'll be easier than most "real world" single car parking spaces.

So you got any sensible advice? Can you bring your vast experience of parking like a true driving God for the last 374 years to the table?

I struggle to park sometimes. Modern cars don't help, all rounded corners and a rear end you can't see. I'm currently in a Mondeo. Not so easy to park full stop, as it won't fit into the space left by many smaller cars. Even if there's a big enough space, it's a darned sight harder to park than my first car, a Cortina, was. That was all boxy and square, and it was easy to see the corners due to the lower window/'waist' line. Modern safety features have made some things more difficult to get right. And for me, lack of practice doesn't help. I now rarely park on the street, mostly parking on my driveway at home and in car park bays when I'm out. And practice is essential to avoid skill fade.

[vanordinaire]

yellowjack said:

See. Comments like this don't really help. It makes people reluctant to ask for advice, yet most people I see driving could benefit from quite a lot of advice.

Sorry if I offended you or the OP as I was one of the first to post a negative comment. I quite often ask (and get shot down for) 'stupid' questions on here, but I genuinely don't understand how someone who has just passed their test has to ask for advice on something so basic. I passed my test 35 years ago so don't have much of a clue on current instruction/testing other than understanding that parallel parking is now included. I'm no 'driving god' but find it hard to believe that people find parallel parking difficult.
If the original post is genuine, please accept my apology OP and please listen to some of the more helpful advice given as some of it is very good.

[GeordieInExile]

JamesRF said:

Except that one takes considerably longer to finish....

Both take me about the same number of ins and outs.

[swisstoni]

yellowjack said:

swisstoni said:

Coming soon:
"So I was wondering how are we all getting into our cars? Foot in first or arse down first?"

See. Comments like this don't really help. It makes people reluctant to ask for advice, yet most people I see driving could benefit from quite a lot of advice.

Throughout my career I was taught that "the only stupid question is the one you didn't ask". But then lives were on the line if we didn't get our st together, not a set of alloy wheels or a life lost on your protected NCB.

Seriously. The dude comes in here, and asks a serious, sensible question, no doubt hoping to get some serious sensible advice. But the self-appointed driving God mafia can't help themselves when it comes to delivering a mocking put-down. He may well have been taught, and he may even have been tested on parallel parking, but instructors vary massively in their knowledge and ability to actually teach, and examiners won't get you do carry out the manoeuvre unless the space is quite generous and it's a relatively quiet area, so even if you are tested, it'll be easier than most "real world" single car parking spaces.

So you got any sensible advice? Can you bring your vast experience of parking like a true driving God for the last 374 years to the table?

I struggle to park sometimes. Modern cars don't help, all rounded corners and a rear end you can't see. I'm currently in a Mondeo. Not so easy to park full stop, as it won't fit into the space left by many smaller cars. Even if there's a big enough space, it's a darned sight harder to park than my first car, a Cortina, was. That was all boxy and square, and it was easy to see the corners due to the lower window/'waist' line. Modern safety features have made some things more difficult to get right. And for me, lack of practice doesn't help. I now rarely park on the street, mostly parking on my driveway at home and in car park bays when I'm out. And practice is essential to avoid skill fade.

I suppose my resolve was already drained by someone asking how many revs do people pull away with earlier this week. Follow that with someone asking how to park and even the calmest member might be inclined to 'go postal'.

[406highlander]

vanordinaire said:

I genuinely don't understand how someone who has just passed their test has to ask for advice on something so basic.

I passed my test in 2007

I was told that my test could involve either a parallel park, or a bay park. I practised for both, obviously, but the parallel park never happened on my test; the test centre I took the test at had a bay car park and I was expected to reverse into that at the conclusion of my test route, and it was that park that I was graded on.

When people go out on their driving test, they have not learned to drive by that point, they have learned to pass a test. I was not a confident driver after I passed, and honestly would have been better off with a PassPlus type course.

Except that I was 27 when I passed, and PassPlus courses are aimed at those between 17 and 25. I would have had no reduction in my insurance policy if I did take one. And PassPlus courses test you with motorway driving, and there are no motorways around Aberdeen (the closest is the M90 between Perth and North Queensferry, and is more than 60 miles away).

My parents never finished learning to drive, and my elder brother hadn't passed his test by that point. My wife has health issues (balance issues, dizziness, motion sickness, migraines) and so she has no drivers' license. So there was nobody to coach me post-test. No experienced (or even qualified) driver to sit in the passenger seat for the first few weeks after I got my first car. So I just had to get on with it and get over my confidence issues myself.

It's a daunting thing (they put *ME* in charge of one of these, *UNSUPERVISED*???), and I totally understand why so many people have accidents. And I respect that this person understands the need for self-improvement, and find it a totally appropriate forum to ask on - this place is full of driving enthusiasts, some of whom teach others how to drive, some of whom drive professionally (either commercially or as emergency services drivers), and some of whom race cars (again, either professionally or as a hobby). There are loads of experienced drivers here, at least some of whom are willing to share their experiences and insight.

My advice to the OP is to take a PassPlus type advanced driving course. If you're under 25, then it's possible your insurance company will lower your premiums as a result of passing one of these courses. The guy who mentioned getting some traffic cones and reverse-parking between them is also on to a winner. Practise, practise, practise. It's the only way you'll get over the confidence issues, I guarantee it.

[406highlander]

swisstoni said:

I suppose my resolve was already drained by someone asking how many revs do people pull away with earlier this week

To be fair, I was taught to drive in a turbodiesel-powered 2006 Mini One 1.4 3-door (around 88 hp and 200 ft/lbs torque), and the first car I bought after passing was a petrol-powered 1996 Renault Clio 1.2 5-door (around 55 HP and basically no torque at all). The difference between the two engines would have had me asking questions like that...

... if the Clio actually had a rev counter, instead of a damned clock

Again, with nobody to turn to to ask such questions, I just had to get on with it. Stalled it maybe twice when pulling away and not putting enough revs down, but very quickly learned when to shift gears based on the engine note (easily audible on the Clio ...)

[swisstoni]

I had a 1966 mini 850. It had a speedo. That's it.

[PorkInsider]

swisstoni said:

I had a 1966 mini 850. It had a speedo. That's it.

Things moved on massively over the following decade.

I had a '78 mini 1000 and I'm sure it had an oil pressure gauge.

Granted, it told you bugger all as it just hovered around the bottom of the scale (I wonder why...)

[wst]

406highlander said:

(they put *ME* in charge of one of these, *UNSUPERVISED*???)

Oh I remember the drive home with my first car. Accelerating down the sliproad onto the A421, giggling at how ridiculous this was. My Dad had turned towards the town centre to avoid us crossing paths on my first drive, and I had turned left to take the dual carriageway instead. 6 years on I still wonder how the hell they deemed me suitable to get behind a wheel solo!