Driving: Reverse Parking

[Ozanj]

I am an anxious driver but it got a lot worse when I got my new car, and where I really struggle is reverse bay parking. In a nice spacious supermarket bay I’m fine and can use the 3 line rule I learned from my instructor back in the day, but where I really struggle is our busy local town centre where the bays are narrow & there’s so much traffic that 9 / 10 times I lose my space if I try and do the manoevre how I’ve been taught. The 45 degree / angle method rarely works but I’m not sure that I’m doing it properly.

Does anyone have some kind of magic bullet way that I can reverse park as neatly as other drivers seem to do it? Or should I just accept that I need to avoid this carpark

Line the back of your car with the next bay and put on full lock as you reverse in.

But this is your silver bullet

LOWER YOUR MIRRORS SO YOU CAN SEE THE LINES OF THE BAYS.

When you look over your shoulder you look so much closer to the car next to you than you are.

Just drive nose in and reverse out, much easier

@BackforGood

I passed my test in 1981, have driven forwards into parking spaces thousands of times, and have never once found it difficult to reverse out again because someone has parked opposite.

It isn't so much the parking opposite as people parking either side of you. If you are reversing out, depending on height of cars it can be impossible to see the road you are reversing out on to / what traffic (including pedestrians) is traveling along that road

Unless they'd completely blocked me in and driving out forwards would have been impossible as well ..... most people find driving forwards in a tricky or tight space easier than reversing though, hence it making much more sense to reverse in when it is quiet.

In that case, and with all due respect, most people aren't good enough drivers and need to practice more.

Rubbish, I can park nose forward and reverse out with absolutely zero issues at all

@HalzTangz

Just drive nose in and reverse out, much easier

No it isn't.

I can reverse park into a bay. But like many posters it’s incredibly rare that I do, for I drive a big ass estate car that fills a parking space front to back and the only place I park with bays is a supermarket…and I need to be able to open my boot which would be impossible if I reversed in.

Reversing out is dangerous hence a lot of businesses have a "reverse in" policy

I really struggle to drive into a space. I make a right pigs ear of it. Its a lot easier to reverse in.

Always reverse into a space, someone can park behind you making it harder to get out, they can obscure your view and it makes it easier to get back out if you are driving out rather than reversing.

My driving instructor told me that 18yrs ago and both my kids have been told the same by their driving instructors over the last 2 years.

I was never taught how to do it but it's basically this (which I assume is the 45° thing). Pull up past the space towards whatever is opposite it and then reverse in. I don't always get the positioning right but it's easy enough to correct by going forward and then back again without losing your space.

It's easier to reverse once you get used to it. Practise like mad in quiet times and use mirrors

I usually drive front in and reverse out. Tend to go in at 45 degrees beyond the space, reverse back to straighten up, then go straight in.

For those who have suggested getting auto parking cars, don’t bother. We have it on our BMW and it’s a waste of space - very picky about which space it fancies when you cruise around the car park, and you have to prowl around very slowly for it to be activated. Most useless technology ever.

Buy some parking sensors. They're fairly cheap and can attach to most cars.

I wonder if you could speak to a driving instructor for a top up lesson sort of thing? I had a top up lesson with mine for motorways about a year after I passed my test to build my confidence, but I knew him well, not sure if other instructors would do it?

It's all very well saying reverse in, but if it is a supermarket car park and your boot is up against a wall, it isn't all that easy to unload a trolleyful of shopping into it.

Driving in forwards or backwards makes no difference to me, I find them both easy, but it is the logistics of boot access that I'm aware of. I also have a hobby that has a good deal of large, heavy and cumbersome equipment, too large to take out of the boot and squeeze inbetween your car and the one next to it.

@SoupDragon
A parking diagram! That's what this thread was missing!