Parallel Parking 101 - for Lea M

[SerendipityCrafts]

Ive just put it off for years then didnt practice my parallel parking and failed on that! :( hopefully i wont next time but knowing me i will!

Bring your car up along side of the front car you wish to park behind. Now back up until the middle of your car is in line with the back of their bumper (line it up with the part between your front and back side windows). Now pull your wheel tight (all the way, to the left in your case) and back up slowly. Once you are at a 45 degree angle (the front of your car should be either facing 10 or 2 on a clock LOL), pull your wheel (all the way, to the right in your case) in the opposite direction and slide right in. If done correctly you should be about 12" from the curb.

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/26/ParallelParkingAnimation.gif

LOL I never practiced before I went for my own test but my BF had told me how to go about it.

I have only done a better job of it one other time :) .... I just had inches to spare, trying to snag the last available spot, parallel parking on a hill, in Old Montreal, on narrow cobblestone streets, with a line up of cars waiting for me to do it so that they could pass ...... whooooo ah! I got it on the first shot. Surprised even myself.

[ladymelissa]

Cool demonstration! I can parallel park but I avoid it at all costs. I would rather find a parking garage and walk 4 blocks in the rain than parallel park! LOL

[SerendipityCrafts]

Cool demonstration! I can parallel park but I avoid it at all costs. I would rather find a parking garage and walk 4 blocks in the rain than parallel park! LOL

The window trick is what makes it easy for me.

Me? I avoid driving downtown at all costs ... can't stand it. Too busy, too many one way streets, too many people who seem to know where they are going when I don't, hard to find parking ..... argggh! I normally drive to the nearest Metro (aka Subway or Tube station) and then ride into the city.

But ....... tomorrow morning, I have to drive my kids into the city so that they can work for the day. I am psyching myself up by telling myself that it will be fine ... it's a Saturday after all! Eeeeek LOL

[ladymelissa]

Weekends are definitely better! You can do it!!!

[mariaandmanish]

The window trick is very interesting, i've never thought about it like that before. I have to parallel park all the time, living in NY it's a necessity not a choice, and I've never though about it that way!! Thanks, Elizabeth!

[Valmai]

LOL i am hopeless at it - never got taught in when i learnt to drive and then lived in a house with a drive! I moved and suddenly it was OMG how do i park lol practice has made me a little better but i avoid it if at all possible! xxx

[katieandalex]

I love parallel parking. I missed that day in drivers ed so I never learned it until I was forced to learn to park in my parking spot at my parents' house. My parents have a 2 car parking area (bumper to bumper) next to their garage. Well we had my mom's old car and my first car my dad was working on parked in the 2 spots and my parents didn't want me to park in front of the house because we have problems with theft when you park in front over night...so I had to learn how to parallel park with a 5-speed between my mom's old car and a rock wall in front of the garage door...yeah that was fun. It took a lot of practice, but now I can parallel park anywhere....Alex has no idea how to parallel park (he can if he has a huge spot!) but I can see where he learned from....when we moved to our apartment we are in now, his dad tried to parallel park his truck and it took him like 6 times to do it! I was about ready to go up to the truck and say "Daryl, do you need me to do that for you." My dad and I were just standing there laughing our asses of!

Its definitely something that takes practice, but after you know how to do it...its a breeze and you can whip right into spots. Alex always says "You can fit in that spot." And then I whip right in there and I'm like "So did you watch that...did you just see that? Aren't we in the parking spot? Yeah, I thought so." LOL!

[WhiskeyGirl]

I used to be a whiz at parallel parking with my little ford festive. (Think sardine can) but not that we have the one ton quad cab, well I think I should go and practise some before I have to parallel park in that beast! lol.

[katieandalex]

I used to be a whiz at parallel parking with my little ford festive. (Think sardine can) but not that we have the one ton quad cab, well I think I should go and practise some before I have to parallel park in that beast! lol.

haha. yeah parallel parking a Festiva would be super easy! Most spots you could probably just pull straight in! LOL! Yeah the first time I went from parallel parking a Cavalier to a Ford Taurus...I had to try a few times! LOL!

[WhiskeyGirl]

haha. yeah parallel parking a Festiva would be super easy! Most spots you could probably just pull straight in! LOL! Yeah the first time I went from parallel parking a Cavalier to a Ford Taurus...I had to try a few times! LOL!

Oh yeah for sure!! just pick the car up and put it in your pocket if you wanted to lol. One time at a party all my guy friends thought it would be halarious to PICK up my car and move it, I came along just as they were lifting the rear of the car and was like ummm what are you doing? We all had a good laugh and hten they put it down! lol

[lea m]

Bring your car up along side of the front car you wish to park behind. Now back up until the middle of your car is in line with the back of their bumper (line it up with the part between your front and back side windows). Now pull your wheel tight (all the way, to the left in your case) and back up slowly. Once you are at a 45 degree angle (the front of your car should be either facing 10 or 2 on a clock LOL), pull your wheel (all the way, to the right in your case) in the opposite direction and slide right in. If done correctly you should be about 12" from the curb.

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/26/ParallelParkingAnimation.gif

LOL I never practiced before I went for my own test but my BF had told me how to go about it.

I have only done a better job of it one other time :) .... I just had inches to spare, trying to snag the last available spot, parallel parking on a hill, in Old Montreal, on narrow cobblestone streets, with a line up of cars waiting for me to do it so that they could pass ...... whooooo ah! I got it on the first shot. Surprised even myself.

Thankyou Elizabeth!:) I know about the window thing and the 2 oclock but got it all muddled on my test! Pain of it is, when i first learned how to do it, i could do it no trouble, then 6 months later had my test and just couldnt remember lol i'll save this to favourites though so i can practise for next time!

[rainbowtreat]

I practiced this alot when I was practicing for my drivers test. Once I took the test the guy only made me do it next to one car in an alomst empty parking lot. Nothing like I would have to do on a street. But I never have done it again and I never will. I hate it.

[lea m]

I know lol i dont even know why they test you on it to be honest!! If you cant do it, then you can go and park somewhere else lol! which is probably what i will do regardless of whether i did it right on my test!! I can understand like the reverse around the corner, or the emergancy stop! you might actually NEED to do them lol!! I think if you parallel park, its a preference ha ha

[SaralovesMike]

I was never good at this one, thankfully there isn't much of a need for it unless you're in a bigger city (like Detroit.)
I can do it if I have to, I learned pretty fast after a weekend in Chicago. It just might take me longer.