Please help me, i need advice about parallel parking!?

Fred F

Practice, practice, practice.
No one can possibly teach you on here.
And any advice (other than to practice)would be useless without seeing how you actually do it now.

-gemma-1990-

the only advice i can give is get out there and practise.
of course take someone with you LOL

Eternal Empire

http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=REpXf0cmJ64

Empeedee

Be careful following some of the advice given here as many are confusing parallel parking with bay parking.

Have a look at this and hope it helps
http://www.2pass.co.uk/parallel.htm

Britbloke

Here's a link to a free video I made as part of a lesson on parallel parking to help people like yourself - you'll need to scroll to the bottom of the page to find the video. Hope it helps and good luck!

http://www.drivinghelp.com/parallel_parking_the_manoeuvre/

UCANTCME

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.

Swany

I've been driving for 30 years and I still have a problem with it. Sorry, that won't help you much will it? Having surveyed all my girl friends it seems that many of us "experienced" drivers do have a problem with it and would rather look for a larger space than try to park in a bay. We have also passed our tests. When I took lessons it wasn't part of the test so it wasn't taught. The only advice I can give is, take your time and tell your instructor you need to practise more on this part until you gain confidence. Best of luck - you can do it.

old know all

Because a car steers only with the front wheels, it behaves differently going backwards than it does going forwards. Parallel parking is easy once you've learned to steer going backwards - and totally illogical until you have.

Go and find an empty car park (early in the morning is best) and practice driving backwards and steering at the same time.

House

as long as it's not terrible, the examiner wont mark you down

Lula

I used to have the same problem and then I happened to go with another instructor just for one lesson because I was taking a test in another town. He taught me the 1-2-1 method.

This is how it works: You get yourself level with the car. If it is facing forward, back up until you see the end of the car in the back passenger window then turn the wheel one full turn left. If the car is facing forward, back up until your back wheel is level with their front wheel.

Then back up until the angle between your car and the kerb you are approaching is 45 degrees. That's half a right angle. You may find it easier to think of the car as heading at 2 o'clock. I've even heard it described as "the size of a wedge of cheese". That's the trickiest bit, i find thinking of it as half a right angle is best for me. Once you hit this angle, turn the wheel one full turn right.

Then back up slowly until the door handle on the back passenger door is over the kerb, that is, the kerb and door handle are level (if you were to put a ruler or stick between them). Once you reach this point, turn the wheel another full turn right.

Then you keep backing up until the car straightens, and you can measure how straight it is by whether your seating position is opposite the driver seat (if it's facing forward) or the passenger seat (if it's facing backward). At this point turn the wheel one full turn left (it is probably best to do this while you have your foot on the brake else you may turn the car too far to the left). That straightens out the wheel and hey presto you are parallel parked! You may need to back up a little depending on how tight the space is.

Sometimes it can go wrong if you overshoot the 45 degree angle. It is easily rectifiable by going forward and straightening out, but that's something you'll need to learn yourself.

An important thing to remember is to do all the observations. I find the best way is to brake just before each wheel turn and make sure I look all around - mirrors, blind spot, foward, behind etc.

This method worked so well for me I showed it to my normal instructor. He was so impressed with it he's now started using it for all his students! I only wish I could get in a car with you to show you as it's much easier that way than trying to write it all out! If I can clarify anything, just ask. Have fun trying it out!

redlady

If your using a qualified Instructor he will know were your failings are,so maybe your not as bad as you think!
But as your paying.you should ask him to do a full hr on the parking,
Good luck,

Henry Hedgehog

The others are right, but here's another idea: get hold of a little model vehicle that has proper front wheel steering controlled by a steering wheel. Practise parallel-parking it on a table-top until you get a feel for the process.

If it's any consolation, I still find parallel-parking difficult, particularly in an unfamiliar vehicle, and I've been driving for over 40 years!

perdexlao

I find if you drive your car half way past the second car {usually just behind your driving position) & turn full lock until your car is about two feet from the curb then full other lock on the steering wheel. I hope you can understand my explanation Good luck with your driving test

Babe

I can't drive yet.... I saw my dad teach my mum!! but I don't think that will help much sorry!!

driver_uk

handbrake it in, you will impress the examiner no end (maybe)?

Han

Pull up one car length past the space you're gonna park in. Turn the steering whell full lock to the right, start reversing back into the space, then half a turn to the left once you start moving into the space.

Make your instructor do one lesson where all you do is parallel parking! You just have to get past your test, I have never done parallel parking again (the way you're supposed to), since I took my test.

Good luck.

Enter Your Message or Comment

User Name:
User Email:
Post a comment: