Reverse Parallel Parking
Reverse Parallel Parking
As your skills and experience grows you will find your methods may adapt to suit the circumstances at the time.
The method shown here is a very simple method that is easily achievable for the driving test based on the space provided to carry it out within.
If you have good clutch control, a good understanding of what is happening with the vehicle when you turn the steering wheel, have good all round observation skills, then this manoeuvre is as simple as bay parking, pulling up alongside a kerb, moving off, or pretty much anything else to do with driving.
It is what it is, and just takes practice to perfect it just like everything else with driving.
Possibly, the majority of drivers currently on the UK roads never had to learn this particular manoeuvre. It was something self taught, as was bay parking once a learner had taken their test. If it was that hard, people wouldn't be doing it today and would have found something easier to do instead.
Ok that may not be the case for everyone, and some may drive around the block to find a big gap to drive into instead, but on the whole, people have overcome their worries about it and possibly do this every day of the week
One of the biggest reason why learners "don't like this" is because of stories they hear from their friends or family.
They then get themselves all worked up prior to ever having tried it out, and then are full of mixed emotions by the time they get to try it.
If you have a good instructor, they will be able to judge your abilities and would not let you try this until they felt confident that you were more than capable of understanding what is required and were capable of achieving it.
Sadly, there is possibly a very large percentage of driving instructors who were also never taught how to do this properly, but now have to teach you how to do it.
Driving instructors have to know how to carry out every manoeuvre perfectly for the Instructors driving test, and although they may be able to do it themselves, teaching someone how to do it is a totally different ball game.
For those of you that use the internet, you'll probably have found that there are endless methods of how to do this and this is a good thing!
Because everyone is individual, and what works for one, definitely won't work for someone else.
Therefore, the only information I will give on this is, what you are trying to achieve?
And what that is, is literally pulling up alongside a car that is already parked, that has a gap behind it with sufficient space for your car to fit into that gap and you are trying to place your car within that gap without hitting anything, mounting the kerb, or being a long way away from the kerb by the time you have finished.
All different methods to carry this out are dealt with on a person to person basis, so find a method that works for you.
The biggest tips for effective results are :-
LACK OF SPEED :
UNDERSTANDING WHAT EFFECT YOUR STEERING IS MAKING ON THE CAR :
WHERE YOUR CAR IS AT ALL TIMES IN THE ROAD DURING THE MANOEUVRE :
KNOWING WHAT EVERYONE, ESPECIALLY OTHER VEHICLES ARE DOING
AND CARRYING OUT EFFECTIVE OBSERVATIONS THROUGHOUT.
1. Ensure having seen your spot to park in, that you carry out the MSPSGL routine.
2. Giving enough notice to other road users, make your intentions clear. GIVE A SIGNAL!
3. Slow the car so that other road users understand that you want to Parallel park and stop early if necessary (before your target vehicle position 3) so that vehicles following you do not get so close that you cannot reverse. Give them chance to pass you, and then continue with the manoeuvre.
4. Place the car into revers gear. This will turn on your reversing lights, and linked with your left signal indicator it is pretty much a universal sign to other road users that you are about to parallel park.
5. Place full lock on your steering towards the kerb (as that is the direction you want the car to go)
6. When safe to do so, start reversing ensuring effective observations are being carried out ALL THE TIME, and until such a time as the front of your car is pointing at about 45degrees from your start position alongside your target vehicle. DO NOT LET THE CAR GO FURTHER THAN 45Degrees!
7. Once at 45degrees straighten your steering. (approximately one and a quarter turns of your steering wheel)
8. There are various methods for this next bit, so find one that suit you!
9. You can wait until the front wing has cleared the rear of the target vehicle, and you'll then turn your steering to the right to swing the front of the car in towards the kerb, ensuring that the rear wheel does not hit the kerb.
9a. Or , if you look in your left door mirror you should be able to see the kerb edge, and also a section of the roads tarmac. Driving instructors call this the "Triangle or Pizza Slice, Slice of Cake" it doesn't really matter what it's called it's whether you can see it or not.
10. While the steering is straight and you are reversing towards the kerb from your 45degree position, once the triangle disappears, that is the point in which you place full lock on your steering to the right. Again you should also check that the rear passenger side tyre is not going to touch the kerb.
11. If it looks like the rear tyre will touch the kerb, then put the car into 1st gear and drive forward and straighten the car.
The core principle will be the same as for real life. The only exception is that a driving examiner will ask you to pull in alongside the kerb first.
They will explain that they want you to carry out a reverse parallel park pulling up alongside the vehicle in front of you.
So you start in position 5, then move to position 2 when the say carry on when you are ready.
YOU MUST ENSURE a full observational check is carried out before moving off.
Also be very aware of vehicles that may be coming from behind you.
Placing on a signal when vehicles are coming from behind may cause one of them to be considerate and let you out thinking that you want to drive on, but all you want to do is pull up alongside your target vehicle. This may cause confusion to them and also put you under additional stress feeling that you must move off because they have stopped.
So ensure there is adequate gap between following vehicles before you proceed to move off.
If everything goes pear shaped during the manoeuvre, just pause for a few seconds,consider whether you can rectify the situation, and if not, and when it is safe , just start again by re-pulling up alongside your target vehicle and start the routine again.
