I can't parallel park - has anyone taught themselves?

[AnaChocolatte]

I passed my test in 2001 - I've avoided parallel parking every since but it is such a hindrance.

I couldn't park my car outside my house tonight as the space wasn't easy enough for me to make it in - the space was big enough for a van..

Anyone found a way to learn easily without employing a driving instructor?

To people saying you have to turn the wheel more than you think: you have to lock your wheel. Literally turn it to the max. If you're not doing that, it will never work.

lljkk

Dry steering is when you steer without moving. You're not meant to do it (I was told you'd fail your test) but it does make life easier in tight spots!

I line up my wing mirror with the other car (or line up the backs of the cars) full turn left, reverse until I'm at the right angle (I think about when the wing mirror is level with the back of the other car), full turn right (back to wheels straight), reverse until the front clears the back of the other car, full turn right, reverse until in the space, full turn left to straighten the wheels.

I used to be awesome at it but I'm out of practice, and my current car is a weird shape where I can't tell where the corners are, so I'm not as good these days.

Also, you need to adjust for different turning circles (DH just said he does full lock rather than one turn, but honestly he's shit at reversing so idk), and car lengths. Practice is the best teacher.

Yep, reference points are how I learned.
When your front wheels are lined up with the other car's front wheels, begin turning. When your front wheels are lined up with the other car's back wheels, turn the other way.
Does that make sense? Hard to describe succinctly!

When I learned to drive we weren't taught to parallel park. I went for years and years not even trying to do it. It was not until a boyfriend explained it as he was doing and I tried it once then sort of got the hang of it but I'm still not brilliant. I don't use reference points or anything. It's all just guesswork.

Thank you all for the tips. Much appreciated. I will begin practising tomorrow!

I remember my driving instructor drawing dots on the mirrors with felt tips but it never made any sense. The diagrams are v helpful thanks - I can see at least what I am meant to be attempting.

Oh to be able to be cool enough to do it in one manoeuvre Breevandercamp!

Practise, practise, practise. I had an instructor who taught me the formula of where your wing mirror needs to be etc, which got me through the test. Then not long after passing my test, I got a job where I had to parallel park every morning. I quickly mastered it properly so it's just been natural to me ever since.

I can either do it first time or not at all.

I'd say I'm pretty good in that I can do it first time about 3/4 of the time but sometimes I just seem to hit a mental block and cant do it no matter how many times I go forward and back haha

I admire everyone on here who says they can do it! I don’t even dare try anymore and I’ve been driving for years and have never lived anywhere with a drive!

It is one of my only 'talents' and something I LOVE doing. No idea why! Practise op, it'll come to you.

Passed my test in 1983 and don't remember if we were taught to park back then but it was something we just did right from the start when we started driving.

I do recall having to pull up outside a nightclub when I was around 19 and the only space was tiny but there were loads of people outside and no way was I going to be seen struggling to get into the space and be ridiculed.

Confidence is key when driving. As soon as you falter it makes it so much harder. Find a quiet business park and practice there.

You can do it if you set your mind to it.

I hate parallel parking. My car is long and has a cycle rack on the back that sticks out. I can drive into a big space and the straighten up. I also can't reverse into bays. I think I could do it in a smaller car.
I am excellent at getting through small gaps. I know how wide the car is, just not how long!

I got a one-off driving lesson years ago (many years after passing my test) and that was all I needed. Money well spent.

Line your wing mirror up with the car in front. Turn the wheel all the way in the direction you want to go. Slowly reverse untill u see the other cars number plate then turn the steering wheel the opposite way untill you are level and parked. Hope that helps.

The Institute of Advanced Motorists do a very good 1-2-1 tuition course on how to park properly. You get 90 minutes of tuition for £49, well worth it.

See, I can parallel park but I was never taught to reverse into a bay. There was no opportunity to do it on any of the routes from my test centre so none of the local instructors bother teaching it.

There is a little row of spaces behind my flat so I should really go out and practice when it's quiet

There are good video's on YouTube.
Drive past the space so your level with car with n front of the space you want to use.
Hard lock, till your at 45' to that car , then straighten up as you carry on backing in ..
Works every time.

I like this example... m.imgur.com/gallery/2g5Bzi9

I can do this really well all of a sudden it "clicked" I have tried and tried to write it down but it doesn't make sense - but practice reversing into a parking bay one with nothing either side. Get used to how big your car is and what the turning circle is

I'm really good at reverse bay parking but just can't get the hang of parallel parking. Once saw someone do some fancy manoeuvre (handbrake turn maybe?) into a parallel parking space.

I once caused a traffic jam down a one way street trying to park, I have no idea how i managed to get into a weird situation where I couldnt move my car either way as I would have hit one of the cars, the guy behind me got out and asked me if i wanted him to park for me... he did

I was driving for years before I attempted to parallel park. Even then I was able slightly back up onto kerb and correct it if needed. I was forced to perfect it when I moved to this house as the only parking for my car is about 1.5 x the length of the car and up against a rugged stone wall. I had to call Dent Masters out after one of my early attempts and I have never attempted the offside 

@isabellerossignol explains it well

Well I failed my test on this a couple of weeks ago so this thread is making me feel better! It just so unnatural to me!

Feel free to judge me for this but I practiced in video games. I lived in a very busy area in my 20s so I'm great at it now but it took me a few tries to pass my test and I was very nervous of parallel parking at the time. I loaded up GTA and practiced in that. It actually worked surprisingly well for being able to see all the angles third-person.