Parking Tips?

angeldelight

Ok so yes I'm a girl, girls can't park blah de blah, but any tips on how to improve?

My parallel parking is generally spot on if I can drive into the space, reversing into it... not so great!

As for parking in a car park, I can do it if I park in a space with gap on either side, never chanced parking next to a car, but I still ahve to reverse and adjust. No matter what I do I don't seem to be able to judge it better. In general my perception of spaces, gaps etc. is quite good so it's kind of frustrating. I do it slowly, using the clutch for control but still end up wonky. I know it will probably improve with time, as I've only been driving for around 3 weeks or so but I'm going into town on my own tomorrow and am unlikely to find my kinda space! I'll probably mess it up tomorrow but any pointers for the future would be much appreciated

smemon

for the first while try and get somewhere nice and quiet to park.. no point in parking in between 2 cars if there's a few empty spaces just further down..

in other words, don't put yourself under unnecessary pressure..

if you have to park between two cars, be sure to reverse in as it's less hassle..

here's the way i do things (see attach)

basically, drive past the space and turn away from it. Reverse back slowly and watch out your rear right side window in this case. Get as close as possible to the parked car in your rear right side window, then lock the wheel and you can't go wrong..

Just straighten up then as much as you want. Hope that helps.. you'll find reversing into a spot is much handier (and safer) than driving in..

angeldelight

Thanks for going to the hassle of drawing a picture!!

Actually it hadn't occurred to me that reversing in would be easier, thanks for that!

J_R

Hi,

You are under the illusion that when turning, the back wheels of a car follow the front wheels. They take a short cut. So to end up with the back wheels in the center of the lane the front wheels must take a longer path. Simply take a wider swing into the bay.

Here is a video tutorial on bay parking :-Bay Parking.

Best to reverse into the lane.

Get a deserted car park. Drive past your bay. Stop. Lower your side mirrors. Look back through your back side window. Get a reference point using one of the lane markings, that is, see where one of the white lines bisects something in your car. The very bottom left corner for example. (If necessary put a few matchstick in the windows. !!)

You need not use the lanes you intend to park between as a reference point, some cars have sode windows with very high sills and you can not see the lines of your selected lane. Use any lane markings - the ones in the lane just opposite will do fine.

Reverse, putting hard left (or right) turn on the wheel. Watch all around, keep an eye on your white line in the side window - watch for the white line to appear in the side mirror.

See where you end up. If dead center, fine, if not, try again using a different reference point.

Ensure you start same distance out from the bay each time. And have a companion - to watch out for traffic -pedestrians

Hagar

Get yourself a few big cardboard boxes, the size of a washing machine if you can and take them to a deserted car park some evening. Set them up as if they were two cars parked and practice parking between them to build up your confidence without the danger of doing damage. As a previous poster said reversing in is much easier. Don't forget to use your outside mirrors, make sure that they are properly adjusted.