Parallel parking?

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I know this sounds like a silly question, but I would really like to be getting my driver's license Just for Emergency's Sake before too incredibly long (I still probably won't actually get a car, as it's way too costly for me at the moment, and besides, I'm somewhat of an environmentalist neo-hippie ). I'm noticing that, since my psychiatrist has changed the medications I'm on, I'm doing a lot better at staying focused and not zoning out on the road, noticing things like stop lights and stop signs without having to have them pointed out to me.

But there's one thing holding me back: Parallel parking.

I am still trying to figure out how exactly to do it.

I could probably work it out quite easily if I actually had a car to park behind, but of course, they don't do that on the test where I live. Instead, they just put up a couple cones right in front of the space and a couple right in back, and expect you to calculate things from that.

Moreover, I have no idea how to tell where the back bumper of my car is-- and only the vaguest idea how to tell where the front is (the line formed by the bottom of the side mirror, from the driver's perspective, is directly in front of the car).

And of course, nearly all the instructions I've seen require knowing where the boundaries of your car in order to line things up. The problem here should be obvious.

So... anyone who had to parallel park for their driving test, who has any suggestions on *how* exactly to tell when to start turning when backing in and when to turn back? I know it sounds like such a silly question, but I have been trying to figure this out for a while, and even following the same reference points doesn't seem to get me into the space consistently for some reason...

http://www.teendriving.com/parallel.htm

...explains it pretty well...I didn't have this on my test (back when)....still not too confident in my abilities with it either...I tend to park the "yacht" (Ford f150 extended cab) somewhere easy to get in and out of....even if I have to walk a bit...lot less stressful.

OK, a few questions about how to actually pull off some of these maneuvers, based on the problems I mentioned above:


...how do you tell? I know where the 'rear bumper' of the 'other car' is (the cones!)... but I don't know how to tell where my rear tires are. It's very hard to see in the side mirror, even when I try to angle it the best I can.


This would be a lot easier if I were better at judging angles in a 3D perspective. I can do it from a top-down view, but I have no idea how to tell this from the driver's viewpoint!

I did two things to get the parallel parking sorted.

First I got an instructor to teach me in the car I'd be using to take the test.

This was very helpful because there are specific things to that car you can do to make doing the park easier. For instance, lining up bits of the car behind the space with bits of your car like the back passenger window etc.

The other thing I did was get a couple of milk crates, you know the plastic cubes with the plastic grate across the bottom, and a couple of tomato stakes or broom handles. I parked my car, which was pretty huge (though possibly not by USA standards), and I put one crate with the stake post in it up against the back outside corner, outside being the bit furtherest from the curb, and then I turned full lock until the whole nose of the car was out in the street and ready to pull away and I put the other crate against the inside front end of the car level with the rear crate - so the car park was the tightest possible size. And it turned out this is exactly the size that the test guy used (eeek). And then I practiced the S method until I could get into the park in three moves. Ie first reverse back and around the S, and then second one move forwards to straighten up and last, one move back again to centre in the park. The S bit is the trickiest.

Naturally I practiced in a dead end totally quiet street. A shopping centre car park with a reasonably long curb somewhere in non shopping hours would probably be ok too.

If I was in a reasonably busy street, I'd indicate towards the park space before I got to it. I'd stop right next to it, still indicating and then I'd drive one car length past it, staying moderately wide like half to a full metre/yard wide of the car in front of the car space and stop again still indicating and hope like mad the idiot behind me didn't drive forwards into the car park. If they did I think I'd do something nasty like let two tires down later. Nothing permanent, just inconvenient.

So assuming no idiot drives right up my bum so I can't reverse, I'd commence reversing into the car park on pretty much full lock as much as I could without hitting the car in front. Once I was about two thirds the way in (this is where being able to line up bits of the inside of your car and bits of the scenery really helps), I would turn onto the opposite lock and finish the S. If you get it right you don't hit the front car or the curb, and you end up close to and parallel to the curb, and then you can finish off with move two and three if you need.

Keep your indicator on for the entire park.

If you have a little car you can get into a normal car space going forwards, but this won't help you pass your test as they expect you to do the reverse thing. Also find out if they expect you to finish the park by using the park brake etc. Find this stuff out in advance because most test guys will not help you.

Don't forget to look in the rear mirrors, and indicate out of the car park when the test guy tells you to go again.

With the crate and the stakes/poles, you may need a brick or a 2 litre bottle of water (ex milk bottle?) for each crate and some string to hold the pole straight without the crate tipping over.

Keep practicing until you can get it perfect even under stress, like with someone yelling "helpful" instructions in your ear. Also time yourself. They usually have a time limit, ideally you should be able to do it within three minutes, and that's really generous. It should be less than half that.

My extended cab pickup truck is nearly impossible to park parallel. Too long. Those spots are designed for short cars.

This is going to sound really sad, but I did that... and I forgot to write down the reference points that the instructor taught, so now I've forgotten them. I guess *next* time I go to a driving instructor, I'll remember to write everything down this time...


This is where the problem lies. I could estimate this from a top-down perspective, but I have no idea how to tell when I've gone one car length forward, or when I'm a meter away from the car, from a 3-D perspective. How do I learn to do this? I've been practicing, and practicing, and practicing, and I still have no clue how to tell. I think it'd be easier just to get someone who *can* park to do it, and then get out at each step and let me sit down to record what things line up with!

Until very recently, I had only parallel parked successful ONE TIME! And it was during my driver's training. It was the first time I'd ever parallel parked and I was so nervous. The instructor was very calm (surprising for someone who makes a living riding in a car with various inexperienced teenage drivers) so he was helpful. He let me see where the cones were going to be placed and did the first parallel park. I got out to see how much room he had left between the cones. Then it was my turn. I was sure I was going to screw it up hard core, but I did it PERFECTLY. I didn't hit either cone and was exactly 6" away from the curb. I couldn't believe it.

I parallel parked again, twice in the same day, just a few weeks ago. This was almost 10 years since my last parallel parking experience. I had my friend telling me when to turn the wheel and when to stop. That helped a lot. It's harder when there are real cars that you can damage. Puts the pressure on. The cones were so much easier.

How did you judge that you were doing it the same as him? Identifying where the cones were in the various windows at each stage? And wouldn't that look different from the passenger seat than from the driver's?

It's simple enough if you have enough spatial awareness, but if you dont you will have trouble.

It's easy enough to know where the cones are, eg line up parallel and ahead of the space, reverse and when the cone appears in about the middle of the rear side window crank on full lock in the required direction. Then wait until the cone passes by your B pillar and appears roughly in the middle of the front-side window then quickly wind on full lock in the opposite direction. Ideally you will start to wind the steering wheel just before the cone hits the middle of the window though, to allow for the extra timing involved.
Basically you need to remember to work that steering wheel FAST, lots of people are just way too slow and timid on winding on the lock, you need to really crank it on as fast as possible, then hold it for about a second depending on how fast you are going then go full opposite lock as quickly as possible. I can pretty much do it perfectly just by instinct though, I never really think about it.

That's exactly where my problem lies. My spatial awareness is bad enough *outside* of the car! (Any tips for building that up, anyway? I'm serious here; I honestly have no idea.)


Thank you so much! I'm going to have to try that later this week... those are exactly the sort of instructions I was looking for. I have no problem telling when things are lined up with reference points visible inside the car— it's the front and back that I have trouble with, because those are obscured by other parts of the car.

My only other question: How do you tell when you're approximately 3 feet (or a meter) to the side of the cone? Trial and error? Maybe I can do it a bit better now that I have some semblance of depth perception... as long as I remember that it's from the side of the car, not from the side of the driver's seat, which is a mistake I've made a few times. -_-;;

Hi Codeman

Sometimes when I am parking, I get out the car and look at how much room I've got, and then when I get back in, I leave the door open, line a bit of it up with stuff on the ground and use that for my reference point to go the required distance. However, you won't be able to do that in the test. This is good for short distances up to a couple of metres/yards.

As for going one car length forwards, usually, you have another car to line up with so you're going forward until you can look through their driver's side window approximately.

If you have to, trial and error is a good way to go. Get a friend to mark chalk on the road or use different bits of leggo or some other marker that won't blow away. Place leggo from the front of the car, evenly spaced until you can see a bit, and then you will know how far in front of your car you can see the ground. The crates and stakes are good for this too. I also use thinks like the catseye lumps marked on some of the bigger roads to find out exactly where my tyres are. This kind of thing comes with LOTS of practice.

Same around the back of the car. Line the crate up, and then back up until you're sure you're going to hit it, and then get out and look how much space you had. Do it again. Hit it. It's only a wooden pole, it's not going to do much damage as long as you go very slow.

Get your friend to move the crate around to the limits of where you can see, so you get the feel for it. And then get out and see where the crate is relative to the back of the car. You can do the crate moving but you will get a lot more exercise.

Another hint that may or may not be useful in the test is, when you're getting really close to something like a wall or another car, the way your car lights reflect on the surface becomes narrower and more focussed the closer you get. And when you get a reflection that is damn close to the size of the light, you're about to hit, in fact if you get this close your bumper or tow bar has already hit. This won't help much if you're lining up on poles which any self respecting test guy would use - he doesn't know if you can do it without hitting stuff.

If you haven't got any spacial awareness for what is going on outside the car, should you really be driving? But if you can get an idea of how big the car is, by running over a small paver or smooth rock to find the wheels, and by gently hitting your crate poles, then you will be a lot safer on the road. As a cyclist I find it extremely scary when some drivers track too close to the curb. So make sure you know where the passenger side is too.

And don't forget to pay attention to what the front of your car is doing when you back around corners. It can swing out and around and hit the car in front or next to you. And remember when you are going forwards around corners, the back wheels travel inside the front wheels, so you might miss the cyclist with the front, but hit them with the back.

You mean, while you're still in the middle of backing up into the space? Or are you only referring to the final parking job?


Yeah, this is a problem. If I actually had a car to park behind, I'd probably be able to do it far more easily-- but all they have on the driving test is a couple cones!


I'll have to see if either of my parents will do this with me. (I have to have *someone* accompanying me, as I only have my learner's permit...) Or maybe I'll be able to make some friends with cars once I get back on campus.


Hm. This *could* be very useful for when I'm going forward, trying to judge things like how close to get to the stop line... the main issue I'm having with the test is with parallel parking, judging the back of the car, and the target I'm aiming towards is not clearly visible in the mirror.


Yeah... I don't know why I hadn't thought to do something like that sooner! Even the driving instructor, when my parents hired one, didn't do anything basic and remedial like that.


How do you judge this? Is there a similar trick with Legos, or crates, or something? I guess if I remember that there is a whole extra half-car-width past the driver's seat, that might work...

Using the door and the ground as references?
- I do that any time I want to go a short specific distance. I probably wouldn't do it parallel parking, but in regular shopping car parks where I usually back into a park (I can't get out unless I back in), I get out to see how far to the next car, make a visual estimate of the distance and use that with the door and the ground markings to make the same estimate driving back. Try it.

Can you see the cone in your passenger side mirror? You ought to be able to see the cone and the back of your car in the side mirror (if you wriggle a bit) . If you can't, adjust it until you can. If you don't have a passenger side mirror, this whole thing might end up difficult.

Otherwise practice with the crate poles. And you might get a feel, if you are driving an automatic, if you learn where the front of your car is, to count how far forward you need to go. Ie put the car in drive, and take your foot off the brake, and count "1 thousand, 2 thousand, 3 thousand" then brake and see how far that got you. Do it again until you have a count that goes the right distance. Practice. Note this only works well going in a straight line but you could try it for other things. It also works for keeping a "two second" separation between you and the car ahead ie not tailgating. They pass something like a light pole, you start counting, you should get to 3 thousand (3 sylables not 3000 sylables) before you pass the same something.

Definitely practice as much as you can. Do whatever it takes. And find a road that isn't busy like a dead end street. I practiced in a dead end street, in a quiet suburb and um, mum wasn't in the car but there was no other traffic on the road. That was the point.

The lights thing, I mainly use this to stop me from backing into the garage wall. It's possibly not the best indicator to use when trying your parallel park. Do pay attention to how your brake lights look against the crate though. If they start getting really red and focussed, you've gotten too close. Get out and look. It's like a couple of inches.

If you haven't done it yet, definitely practice finding you wheels, hitting the curb is not ideal because you can put the wheels out of alignment but if you go really slowly it's better than nothing. Definitely get yourself some smooth road lumps and practice deliberately running them over. Lock up any toddlers or pets before hand. Go real slow.

If you're out on a main road with divided lanes and those catseye lines, then practice hitting the lines gently to find out where your wheels are. Make sure you do it when there isn't much traffic. Signal lane changes if you like, just change really slowly. You can do this at the speed limit, these things are designed to be run over.

Judging where the passenger side is about practice - again you can use your paver or whatever or just make your best guess and then get out and check it. It shouldn't really matter if you're going very slowly. You not only have to miss the curb, the cyclist, but also the parked cars or trucks. So you need to know where that side of the car is. You can also get some feedback by how freaked your passenger (parent) is. If they're getting really anxious, you're too close. Get them to give you feedback on distances. Stop and check. Until you can do it reliably. Ie your guesses correspond with your distance when you stop and check.

I can see the cone in the passenger side mirror quite easily; however, I simply cannot figure out how to adjust the mirror so I can actually identify where the back is. (I've tried this in both a Camry and a Taurus, if this helps at all.)


If you're talking about doing that when parking, that also requires making sure you go exactly the same speed each time; otherwise, counting the time in seconds to a particular static point is useless. But I'll agree, the three-second rule *is* useful when you're keeping up with a moving car, and I use it regularly.


Hm. I guess what I could also do is just set up a cone or a pole or something right alongside the car, so I can see what it looks like...

codeman

adjusting passenger side mirror? Ok it might help if you have some object you can see in it. To adjust it to view things closer to the back of the car and perhaps slightly including the car, you would adjust it so it points more inwards, ie the angle the mirror makes with the car in the horizontal plane is more acute, ie pull the outside of the mirror towards you (or get someone else to do it. Do this in tiny increments so you can check how the view changes.

If you lean forward in your seat while looking in the mirror, that will mimic the same thing. So if you get the mirror pointing so it covers just next to the back of your car, ie the next lane over, and you lean forward while still looking into it, you should be able to see the back of your car. Experiment. This should be one of the ways you annoy your parents or anyone else who uses the car. Each person should have slightly different mirror and seat settings, based on their own height and shape. Another thing you can do is change the radio station

Now to see the actual road, you tilt the mirror down a little in the vertical plane, ie push the bottom of it back so the top tilts forward or rotate the whole deal slightly in the vertical. If you have an electric adjustible mirror, you'd be playing with the up/down arrows, where as previously you would have been playing with the left right arrows.

Ideally you sit in the drivers seat in a comfortable driving position and get someone else to adjust from the passenger seat to your instructions. Unless you have one of those electric thingies.

As for the counting to see how far you go forwards from stop, I'm assuming if you have an automatic and you let your foot off the brake it accellerates from stop at the same rate every time on level ground. It's unlikely they'll make you do the parallel park on a slope. Anyway maybe you should try it before you discard it. Do it three times and see if the distance is near enough the same. You don't have to be accurate to the nearest inch, only to about the nearest half a yard.

The whole deal is a little trickier if you have a manual and you have to work the clutch to make the car go, but if you're getting it pretty much the same and nice and smoothly each time, then counting may work here too. I can't tell from here, how co-ordinated you are.

I've actually used the counting method to navigate underwater, you count each kick. And you'd think this would be horribly inaccurate, but if there's no major current, it actually works really well.

Oh, the horror!! ! I was able to parallel park for my driving exam, but now I can't do it. I get scared. However, I AM confident of my three-point-turns....

Even if they turn out to be ten-point turns in a confined space.