Has anyone got over a fear of parking?

[Mishmashs]

Passed my test at 18, moved to a huge city and didn’t drive for 25 years. Now I need to (moved out of big city) and had 7 or 8 lessons last autumn with a great teacher. All fine and he was confident to let me finish (he asked me if I wanted to stop after lesson four but I wanted to do dual carriageways and a few other things). I actually like driving once on the move but I hate parking!

We have a Honda CRV and the first 30 min drive I did in it along a windy coast road all fine until I got to the destination, a crowded community pool carpark where the only available space was in the back corner of the carpark. just couldn’t park it , got increasingly stressed (actually got BO from sweating! And cried afterwards) and had to get out to let my husband takeover and park it, with a driver of another car waiting v patiently while all this was going on. It really knocked my confidence for six and I’ve now got it into my head I just can’t park etc etc. even just now I went out to the supermarket where there were loads of spaces and still couldn’t park in one go neatly, took about three reverses out and back again.

I find it all so off putting if I know I’ll have to park somewhere eg from Thursday need to take my daughter to a sport where the carpark is always v busy. It’s like I have a mental blank about which way to turn the wheel etc and if anyone gets stuck behind me waiting it makes it 100 times worse.

has anyone been similar and got over this? If so how? Is it just relentless practice? :( To make it worse we have a v tight driveway we have to reverse into made worse by cars parked opposite making the room v tight.

Yes practice, practice, practice. I can reverse park which I am good at. However don't have to parallel very often so am not very good at it.

Do you have parking cameras or sensors as they can make it easier.

I've been a fairly confident driver for about 30 years, but never with parking.A few years ago I got a great new job that involved driving round London and parking in customer's (notoriously tight because space at a premium) carparks.

I booked some lessons just to deal with parking and whilst I still don't love it, I have the "method" in my head and can calmly get into most spaces, even if it takes a second attempt.

I was the same, complete with lengthy hiatus between passing my test and actually driving a car. The answer is practice, I'm afraid, though you can do it gradually. I remember being gutted when the nearest supermarket revamped its car park and thereby lost about half the drive-straight-in spaces I always relied upon. And I'd often drive to a more distant car park to find a spot I could easily park in, even though I have mobility problems and that would affect the amount of walking I'd have to do.
You'll get there. The sweaty shaky parking attempts will disappear with practice.

I've been driving for 20+ years and I'm still rubbish at parking. Even my kids tell me so! I have yet to successfully park DH new car first go and he's had it for 3 months.

I would much rather reverse into a space when parking up than reverse out when leaving. I rely heavily on the parking sensors and wing mirrors to do a half decent job. I sometimes forget what way to turn the wheel to move the car the way I want.

Can you go out on a quiet day to somewhere quiet just to practice? Say a large supermarket car park. Try parking in a middle space with no nearby cars, then park with a car on one side. Also, try to practice parallel parking too.

You'll get there. It just takes time and lots of practice.

What is it that concerns you about parking ?

Can you not get aftermarket parking sensors fitted ? These are available from lots of places.

Thanks for these reassuring replies. What concerns me is cocking it up to start with and then having to take several more attempts while traffic trying to get through the carpark backs up. I shouldn’t care what they think I know! But it adds pressure. With the pressure I seem to have a mental blank about which way to turn the wheel even though I know logically if I turn the wheel left then X happens. It’s awful! And so annoying as perfectly competent at other general areas of life. I’m quite small 5’4 ish and can’t see the white lines of the space over the bonnet or out mt window once I’ve turned into the space.

When I first passed my test I would practice parallel parking on my, admittedly very quiet, road until I got it nailed. I would also go to car parks at night and practice reverse parking into spaces until I got that nailed too.

(Just don't do what my friend did and do that in what turned out to be a dogging spot - god knows what "flirting" she was doing with her car!)

I am shit at parking. It's definitely practice. I've been driving 29 something years and have finally mastered parallel parking after years of living with on street parking. I can't reverse into a space though so I drive in.

My parking has improved since getting a car that bips at me if I am too close and indicates where I am too close.

Yes practice makes perfect. I got quite good at it even in our old petrol car (once I got in a tight space and someone came over and said "do you know how close you got to the other car doing that?" I just said yes, because I did! So not me when I first passed my test).

I now have an electric car which has cameras and it makes such a difference. So easy to drive and manoeuvre and quiet which helps when you're having a panic. I still get the mind blank thing sometimes where like you I can't work out which way to turn the wheel, but now I can make a really small, slow move while watching on the camera and immediately know whether it's that way or the other way 🙂

I just know my limits. I don’t reverse park but just park forward facing and reverse out. I don’t need to parallel park so avoid that. Practice does make perfect but I’m stuck in my ways now.

When we moved into a street with on street parking, and I found myself unable to parallel park to my satisfaction, I booked myself a driving lesson which turned me into an excellent parallel parker!

Yes I can really resonate. I hate parking. I’ve had a few dents (thankfully never on another car) and it’s really knocked my confidence.

We now have a bigger car but I find it a bit easier as it’s has sensors all round and the camera. i still hate it and will park as far as away as needed for an ‘easy’ space.

I also live somewhere with on street parking and too my shame my husband will sometimes have to park it for me. My brain just cannot compute parallel parking.

The vast majority of cars are designed around the body of a 5'9" male. This is also the 'standard' crash test dummy used for the last 50 years.

I used to get really frustrated with parking and how bloody difficult it was. It's only difficult because I can't easily see to judge the dimensions of the vehicle from the driving position. Mirrors only do so much.

I used to get worried. So I'd drive to a supermarket on an evening when it was quiet and I'd practice then. I always reverse in how. I can't drive in.

I’ve been driving for years and still sometimes have to wiggle backwards and forwards, and again, and again to get square in a spot. It’s not a competition. As long as you get in the spot on the end it doesn’t matter. You’ve a big car l, it will be tricky at times. Reversing in is better but then you can’t get I got the boot with shopping. As long as you’re not crashing it doesn’t matter.

I pretty much hate driving and parking.

I learned late (I was in three serious car accidents as the passenger when young) and i have never had much confidence.

I am only 5ft and I think this is a lot of it. I can’t see over the bonnet to judge where I’m at, but I agree I could improve if I practiced more.

I drive a very small 3 door SUV because a small car is easier to park. We are rural and have single high hedged roads all around. I like the higher height of the car to see more of the road. I currently have sensors on the rear of my car and that helps a lot.

I cannot parallel park. But I was once test driving a car with a rear view camera. I attempted to parallel park and did it perfectly first time!

I’d say you have the wrong car, but realise it may be impossible to do anything about it. When I bought my little car second hand I had the rear sensors fitted.

v interesting re cars designed for a particular height male! This is exactly what I was trying to describe to my husband when parking earlier, once I have turned into a space (no cars on either side) I can no longer see the white lines in front of the bonnet without opening the door! So I can’t see whether I am correct as I go in and end up wonky.

I will practice again and again. It’s relieving to hear others don’t like it too. The car has sensors and beeps away at me! I think I would be suited to a smaller car but can’t do much about that.

Does your seat have a height adjustment? I'm 5'3 and always jack the seat up as far as it will go.
I think I'm pretty good at parking and nearly always reverse in, but often do a little manoeuvring to straighten up - I don't think there's anything wrong with that, so try to not let that part stress you out.

I’m useless. Completely useless. I find with parallel parking if I don’t get it right first time it’s not happening. I can’t reverse into a space (scared!) and will leap at the chance to drive forward into a space through a space so the effect is the same as if I reversed in - hope that makes a modicum of sense. This is after 34 years behind the wheel. 😱

I was going to say do you have good seat yo as high as it goes too. I detest parallel parking. Usually give it a few goes, getting increasingly more stressed out that I'm getting it wrong before thinking f this and driving off to find somewhere else to park. I also can't get my head around which way to turn

I sat in my car in the carpark for a good ten minutes today trying to figure out where to move my car to (I had parked by the recycling bins but wanted to move the car to a normal parking space for while I was in the shop because it was not a good space to leave the car, too much slush all around, I'd never get the trolley to the car) that would be the easiest spot to park in and still be good for leaving the carpark too (i.e. a drive through spot, with the car ending up facing towards the exit so I don't have to do a really tight u-turn to get get out of the carpark)

I hate parking. Hate driving really. I can't wait until the snow and slush has all gone and I can just bike everywhere instead.

I find reverse parking so much easier than trying to drive forwards into a space (I actually really struggle with that unless it's directly in front of me!) It is just practice, practice, practice.

I never have to parallel park and would be absolutely shocking at that if I needed to do it because I simply don't have the practice. Try going to a supermarket car park when it's quiet and just practicing parking again and again.

I’m a driving instructor and your post has reminded me about a chat with a learner recently. She was gutted because she’d been taken on a practice drive with parents who’d taken her to a busy car park to practice parking. Because it was a pressurised environment she’d failed to park and her Mum had to take over. A lady had stopped to watch her, it was humiliating.

This student is one of my best, she’s fab. It was the situation. We went to a quiet car park and she nailed it. This is your homework, visit the quietest car park you know (message your instructor, they will tell you) and practice repeatedly. You’ll be able to do it.

Driving is very much influenced by our emotions, the more pressure we have, the more we fail unless we’re super confident. Gain that confidence in a non pressurised environment and you’ll be fine. Take your time too and use clutch control to literally creep along to do the manoeuvre.

As others have said practice, lots of it. I luckily perfected reverse parking which I always do as rubbish at going in forwards, but wherever possible I try to drive through a space to park. I also hate an audience, I become awful if people are watching. Good luck. PS. After 20 years of driving I periodically have bad days where I can't park well.