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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

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Original poster

AIBU to be scared of parallel parking

75 replies

IDoDaChaCha · 08/10/2017 20:54

Heeeeeeeeeeelp! Moving to a terraced house and can't parallel park... Pathetic I know. How do you do it? I was taught the 'triangle trick' method but can't remember anything after; position car parallel a car doors width from car you want to park behind, align your wing mirror with its front door handle, turn wheel fully hard right, moving back very slowly you see a triangle appear in your mirror... And my mind is a complete blank after that!! Just been out in the car trying to practice and got it wrong half as many times as I got it right.... Seriously need a step by step technique.

OP posts:

Whitecurrants · 08/10/2017 23:32

Just book a lesson. One hour and you’ll be much happier.

allegretto · 08/10/2017 23:38

The easiest way to learn to parallel park is to live somewhere where you have to do it!

Dontfuckingsaycheese · 08/10/2017 23:42

I'm a whizz at parallel parking. Think Smithy in the Confused adverts 😉 But I have been driving for 26 years and have never dared drive on a motorway. Horses for courses 🐴 🐴

DontLetMeBeMisunderstood · 08/10/2017 23:47

What allegretto said - if it comes to a choice between park in a tight spot near your home or park in the next street you'll keep trying until you become an expert!

SilverySurfer · 09/10/2017 00:16

AllPizzasGreatAndSmall
Well when I took my test it wasn't a required manoeuvre!

Probably because the examiner can choose one manoeuvre from 3: reversing around a corner
turning in the road
reverse parking, either on road or into a parking bay

Even if it wasn't part of the test surely when learning, everyone is taught how to park.

It's terrifying to think of so many people on the road and they can't even park. I would be too embarrassed if couldn't park and get a couple of extra lessons.

BriechonCheese · 09/10/2017 00:23

I dip the passenger door mirror before I start and ever since I learnt that it has been a saviour!
Then I pull up to the car in front of where I want to park, so my wing mirror is at the end of the car (as you already do). Half a turn left, then go into reverse. I then go back slowly until the handle of the passenger door sits on the kerb. Then full lock right and swing the car in. Straighten up.

safariboot · 09/10/2017 00:25

"vehicles if not controlled properly can kill so if you can’t park"

Being unable to parallel park in a tight space isn't a safety issue. You just move on and look for a larger space.

Apileofballyhoo · 09/10/2017 00:38

I aim for the headlights of the car behind. I read it somewhere years ago and even though it makes no sense really, I can now park in tiny spaces. All that pulling up parallel and reversing back till one third this and triangle that never made one bit of difference to me. But you do need to know exactly how much space there is between your back window/where you can safely see and the end of your car.

PassiveAgressiveQueen · 09/10/2017 11:08

safariboot exactly it haS nothing to do with safety.

parking camera interestingly since i got the parking camera on this car i need it less, as it has taught me the gaps. I was over cautious before and would leave a 60cm gap between me and the car behind and think we were almost touching, but it has taught me where the places are on my car (those things the driving instructor says about turn off full lock when the passenger door is level with the boot of the parked car stuff) i was just too scared to learn on my own. So maybe just get someone to stand on the side of the road to let you know when you are 10cm from the car behind so you leArn what it looks like.

heron98 · 09/10/2017 11:20

I live on a terrace street and just park the car wherever there is a big space - even if that's not even on my street. I just cannot parallel park and don't want to run the risk of clipping my neighbours' cars.

lynmilne65 · 09/10/2017 15:25

sonjadog · 09/10/2017 15:31

It really is a matter of practice. I used to be great at parallel parking, then I moved to the countryside where I never need to, and now I am really rubbish when in a car without parking sensor. My parking sensor is probably the thing I love most about my new car.

SarahJayne38 · 09/10/2017 16:04

I parallel park everyday due to where we live. The secret is to look at the bottom centre of the rear windscreen, as you turn in keep looking at that central point and steer the car to the kerb then start turning the wheel in.

Firesuit · 09/10/2017 16:08

I’m amazed anyone can be a driver for so long and not be required to parallel park ever?!

Do you all live in rural wastelands or something?

Quite the opposite. I live in London but am lucky enough to have a garage. I almost never travel to somewhere where there isn't a car park, as the odds are I would end up driving around looking for a space, before giving up and driving back home.

Being able to make a journey away from home and rely on being able to park on the street is something that works better in less crowded parts of the country.

(Obviously many London drivers do park on the streets near their home, in residents/reserved spaces, so do get experience at that end of their journey.)

ShiftyMcGifty · 09/10/2017 16:11

Agree, book a lesson but ask if you could be taught to park using your own car. I remember I was able to do parallel park perfectly with the "trick" when in my instructor's car but it never worked with my car. I do know how to parallel park but not with the "trick"

EBearhug · 09/10/2017 16:17

Anyone who passed their testhe before me in the 1990s didn't have to learn parallel parking, because it only became part of the test on the next working day after I passed (which was my 4th attempt and just before Easter, I think. 'Twas a long time ago...)

My sister rarely parallel parks. She's got a whole yard to park in at home, and proper parking places at work, supermarket and sports centre, which covers most of her journeys.

I now live in a terrace, and I can assure you that you will improve, because you will get lots of practice. However, if you are still worried, I'd go for a refresher lesson to focus on it.

IsThisAJoke · 09/10/2017 17:10

Learn to drive

Moanyoldcow · 09/10/2017 17:44

I'm sure others have said it but it's just practise and being ballsy.

Don't worry about your audience (easier said than done I know).

Just keep trying. I was so lucky I wasn't asked to do it in my test - it was my only weak spot.

I now work somewhere that the only spaces are parallel and sometimes very tight. After 2 years I reckon I can get into any space you throw at me but the first 3 months was hell.

You kind of need to 'feel' the space and not be scared.

Oblomov17 · 09/10/2017 17:51

I struggle with parallel parking and I’ve never seen any of those these 3 part videos where you look in rear window, mirror etc.

Will check them all out.

Member171204 · 09/10/2017 17:54

Practice. Practice. Practice.

Don't be embarrassed if you abort halfway thru and start over, again and again.

First concentrate on the angles to get into park/close to the kerb; then tackle distance from other cars.

It can be useful to practice in front of a shining reflection, like a shop front with large windows.

Remember, if you can drive out of the park you can reverse into it. It's pretty much the same manoeuvres just in reverse.

Just do it!!!!

Rudedog · 09/10/2017 18:00

I can't parallel park because I don't have to (I learned for the test, never got to do it, never have) even DH who was an expert isn't very good anymore because he never does it

So glad I got 3 point turn on my test, I do it quite often as well

Now reversing around a corner - that I cannot do

Fruitcocktail6 · 09/10/2017 19:20

I was great at it in my lessons, then I passed and didn't drive for two years as we lived in London and did need too. I've now had a car 6 months and not parallel parked once, luckily we have a big drive. I actually avoid driving to places if they don't have a car park

Hebenon · 09/10/2017 22:40

Despite being absolutely top notch at parallel parking, I really hate parking in a bay eg in supermarket car park or multi-storey Has anyone any top tips for that? I've never yet hit anything but I still hope fervently for two spaces next to each other and feel stressed about the whole business. It wasn't covered in my driving lessons at all.

amoundernessway · 10/10/2017 14:19

I passed my test about 3 months ago and, up until last week, hadn't needed to parallel park at all - was either parking in bays, or on bits of road where there was a space big enough to just drive into. Not for fear of parallel parking either - just hasn't been necessary! So I can see why some people might be forget how to do it.

OP, the trick is to remember that a) you know how to move a car, and b) you can go as slow as you want. The rest is just getting used to it - you don't need to know a specific 'method' if you don't want, just angle the car in, reverse very slowly, and make adjustments as and when you need to. Don't be scared to pull back forward and try again etc - you'll soon find a way that works for you!

Bicarb · 10/10/2017 15:29

I had a car in London about 10 years ago and was a reverse parking whizz - I had a big car and I used to squeeze it into tiny spaces, we're talking 5cm at either end!

Then I moved out and had a parking space and never had to park like that. When I moved back into London I didn't need a car so didn't drive for 5 years. Now I'm driving again and the first few weeks of parallel parking were horrible - unused skills degrade over time, no matter how well you're taught! After a year or so (and the help of a reversing camera) I'm back to where I was and getting into spaces I never would have considered when I got my car.

Be patient with yourself, some practice and you'll wonder how you ever found it difficult!

I definitely echo getting some lessons if you think they'd be worthwhile. Having a professional explain the mechanics to you and then giving you advice can be really helpful.

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