The situation when it is necessary to park the car parallel to the edge of the road is quite common. This exercise is also part of the driving school curriculum. All cadets learn to do parallel parking at the autodrome, and some take this exercise in the traffic police exam. However, only a few can easily park a car in this way.
Instructions
Step 1
By doing parallel rear parking, you can park your car as close to the curb as possible. Although at the autodrome such parking is carried out for a single engagement of reverse gear, in urban conditions it is sometimes necessary to park, periodically turning off the reverse gear and driving forward.
Step 2
If you have already graduated from a driving school, but have not mastered this type of parking well, inflate and tie balloons around the perimeter of your car. If you hit another car or any obstacle (a pole, for example), you will not harm the cars and have time to press the brake. With the use of balloons, you will very soon remember the dimensions of your car. It is better to drive a car decorated with balls than to pay for the repair of your own and someone else's car.
Step 3
Here you have chosen a place for your parking. Most often, the free space between two parked cars is used for parallel parking. If we are talking about parking in a city on a two-way street, this will be the right side of the road. In the case when you decide to leave the car on a one-way or somewhere in the yard, you can also stand on the left at the side of the road. Below is the procedure for the more common case - parking on the right.
Step 4
To get started, drive a little further than the chosen place, trying to move as close as possible to the car on the right. You must stop next to the back car so that the parking space is behind you.
Step 5
Now switch to reverse and twist the steering wheel all the way to the right. Before driving, make sure that no one is going around behind you. As you drive backward, the front of the car will protrude further into the roadway. Continue backward until the hood of the car behind you is fully visible in your left mirror.
Step 6
As soon as you see the car from behind in the left mirror, turn the steering wheel to the left so that the wheels are straight. The number of turns of the steering wheel for this depends on the make of your car. To know exactly if the wheels are straight, you can simply start moving carefully. If the car continues to turn, then you have not turned the steering wheel.
Step 7
For a novice driver, it is better to remember how many turns of the steering wheel must be made in order to turn the wheels of the car from the extreme (right or left) to the straight position. Over time, you will stop counting, your hands will remember the movement by themselves. How far back you drive right in this step determines how close to the curb you end up with. Moving back now, pay attention to the car ahead. Apply the brake when the left rear corner of the car in front of you lines up with the right front corner of your car.
Step 8
Slow down and turn the steering wheel to the left. This is necessary to drive into a parking space in front of your car. When starting to move carefully, be careful not to hit the car either in front or behind you. Stop driving when your vehicle is parallel to the curb.
Step 9
If you feel that there is not enough space behind you, stop. Then engage first gear and drive slightly forward. While doing this exercise at the circuit, you are prohibited from disengaging reverse gear. But in a city, the parking space can be very small and you have to drive forward to fit the car on it. You can turn the wheels straight ahead to prevent the car from sliding off the curb when driving forward. In this case, turning on then the reverse gear and starting the movement, do not forget to return the steering wheel to the extreme left position.
Step 10
This completes the parallel parking. But if necessary, you can drive a little straight in order to increase the distance to the car behind you. But remember that if the wheels of your car are pointing to the left, it will be easier for you to exit the parking lot. When you finish parking, look out the right window or get out of the car to make sure the car is parked close to the edge of the road.
