Parking Smoothly: Mastering Reverse and Parallel Maneuvers

Reversing and parallel parking can be very daunting for new drivers, as it involves reversing, steering, and judging distances all at once. Start on a quiet road and look for a gap between two vehicles that is at least two car-lengths long, plus a few feet. Move up level with the vehicle at the front of the gap so that your rear bumpers are level, leaving a half-metre gap between your vehicles. Select reverse gear, check around you and look over your shoulder to the rear and start reversing. As you reverse, turn the steering-wheel full lock towards the kerb. As you do so, your vehicle will turn outwards at the front as it swings backwards into the gap. When you see the kerb at 45 degrees in the rear seat side-window, stop turning the wheel and reverse back straight. This should align your vehicle correctly with the gap without the wheels touching the kerb.

It is easy to turn the wheel for too long after your 45 degree point, which makes the back of the vehicle turn in towards the kerb. You then have to move forward to correct this error, and usually end up at an angle in the gap. So try to commit to your reversal. When you reach your 45 degree point, turn the wheel back to the straight ahead position and reverse back until your vehicle is parallel with the kerb. If you feel that the vehicle is at an angle part of the way through the manoeuvre, stop, engage first gear and move forward to the front of the gap. Then reverse back in again. It may take a few attempts of going back and forward before you park correctly. Use your reference points and this will gradually become more accurate each time you try it.

Reversing into a parking bay is a similar exercise, except that you approach the bay from directly in front. Stop when your front bumper is level with the front of the bay. Engage reverse gear, reverse back and turn the wheel towards the bay. Use your wing mirrors to judge your distance on either side. When your vehicle is central in the bay, turn the wheels back to the straight ahead position and reverse back until you are parked correctly in the bay. It is easy to over-steer when reversing into a bay and swing the front of the vehicle out too far round. Then you spend the rest of the manoeuvre adjusting backwards and forwards until you finally park. Take it slowly and make gradual turns on the wheel until your vehicle gradually moves round into the bay. If the vehicle swings out too far on one side as you reverse in, stop and engage first gear. Move slowly forward to adjust your position and then reverse back into the bay again. As you practice this, your body will gradually learn how far to turn the wheel for how much swing round of your vehicle.

It is a good idea to dedicate a whole practice session to reversing and parking, as you need to concentrate solely on the exercise and not have to contend with other traffic, pedestrians, etc. Spend the first 15 minutes practising parallel parking on the same gap in the road. It is better to repeat the same exercise on the same gap so that you can get used to judging the distances involved. Concentrate on different things with each reversing exercise. On the first one, for example, just concentrate on getting your reversing swing round at the right angle. Then forget about that and concentrate just on judging when to turn your wheels back to the straight ahead position. Finally, concentrate on getting the correct distance from the kerb at the end of the exercise. After 15 minutes, take a short break to rest your neck from looking in the mirrors.

Then spend 15 minutes practising reversing into parking bays. Again, concentrate on different things with each reversing exercise. First concentrate on judging the correct distance from either side of the bay in your wing mirrors. Then concentrate on the amount of turn to use as you reverse in. Finally, concentrate on how much to correct your swing once you are in the bay. Finally, spend a couple of minutes practising full reversing and parking exercises on both gap-in-the-road and bay parking. With each one, think about which reference points you found most useful as you reversed round. Start with just a 40-minute session on this.

As you get used to reversing and the reference points, you can gradually increase the length of the practice session. To start with you are better to keep the sessions short so that you don’t get bored or frustrated. With regular practice, reversing and parking will become very methodical and matter-of-fact. You will also get used to making small turns on the wheel and your vehicle will not surprise you as it swings round. You will also become very practiced at using your mirrors and judging distances. As you progress, you will be able to judge distances when parking on narrower gaps, for example, or when you are reversing on a busy road.