parallel parking

Me too, had a licence for 10 years and reverse parked about twice since passing my test!

Probably not what you want to hear, but,, practice!

Practice and make sure the other driver is'nt around !!!

The thing that nobody ever told me when I was learning was that reverse parallel parking is exactly the reverse of what you do when you're pulling out of a parking space at the kerb. I found parking a lot easier once I'd realised this -- I know it seems obvious, but I admit it took me a while to catch on to it.

James

Thanks James I will think about that when I do my practising as hirsty suggests.

practice, and 'the other car is further away than it looks'.

But how do you practice? Listen for creaking noises?

Obtain several plastic cones, a quick Google reveals:-

My instructor got me to try it by pulling up alongside isolated single cars and reversing into position behind them: that way you can practice the steering without at first having the additional worry of bashing into the rearmost vehicle.

Bert

My car has nice alloys; one reason that I refrain from parallel parking. There is nothing worse than scruffy alloys IMO. When I park by a steep curb, I usually begin by steering into the curb at angle to check the curb; then I know exactly where I am, so that I can complete the exercise with more confidence.

Go over to your local industrial estate and practice reversing in between the trucks, skips etc till you get it right. Now that the evenings are nice and light it's perfect, and you should have the place mostly to yourself except for the occasional learner bunny hopping around the place. When my daughters passed their tests I made them do this and now they do it like they were born to it. I also banned them from parking in the space next to the garage unless they reversed in. It worked. They cursed me at the time mind.

Steve

Reverse parking is a very useful skill to master. Because of the steering geometry on a vehicle you will be able to park in a space that would simply be impossible to drive forwards into! If you get it wrong pull right out of the space and start again from scratch. Just keep practicing. :-)

Practice reverse parking behind a car on it's own. Once you've parked get out and see how much space you've taken up.

One thing you need to get out of your mind after passing your test is that, if you get it wrong and end up at slightly the wrong angle, nobody is going to mark you down or fail you, just try it again.

Thanks to all who replied.I must do the practicing as it is a good skill to have.

Tab

Micky Taker ( snipped-for-privacy@blueyonder.co.uk) gurgled happily, sounding much like they were saying :

That'll be why it's part of the driving test, then?

Mark Hewitt ( snipped-for-privacy@markhewittDotCoDotUk.spammers.will.die) gurgled happily, sounding much like they were saying :

Please tell me you're not serious...?

The message from "Tab" contains these words:

Thank you for asking. It's nice to find someone who's actually interested in being better at controlling their car and in taking the advice offered. Refreshing!

The message from Adrian contains these words:

I hardly ever need to do it round here in Telford. In Hounslow I had to do it several times a day - here I can go several months without having to.

i have forgotten how to do it officially - now i just 'sense' it - as someone mentioned your car is usually further away than it looks, many times i have squeezed into a space or moved because i thought i would hit another car only to find there was loads of space.