I can't park

[Jocasta2018]

I'm not entirely sure if this is in the correct section but I hope it gets some attention. I'm using the App so hopefully the voting won't come on.
I can't park. Not 'oh I'm crap at parking ha ha' but I can't park. When I did my test 30 years ago at 17, I had to learn how to reverse around a corner as part of the test and that was it. I passed first time and my lessons ended. It didn't even occur to anyone that I should learn how to park.
I lived rurally, people had big drives, there were fewer cars on the road. It was was easy to drive into a space as cars were smaller & spaces were bigger.
6 months after my test, I moved to London. I was there for 12 years and didn't need to drive once! Illness then meant I surrendered my licence to the DVLA due to certain medications. I now have my licence back and am driving again but I'm finding it difficult.
I don't drink so am often the designated driver. When we get to a place, I'll swap with friends who then park the car. If I'm on my own, I admit that I've driven up to a place and left if I can't find a space I can get into.
My friends thinks it's hilarious. Some of them learnt to drive a few years after me when you had to park as part of the test and refuse to believe that I only had to reverse around a corner. Others can't believe I learnt to drive but didn't learn how to park.
It's now a big deal. I'm 48 and I'm not even sure I'm of an age when I can learn it even with lessons. After all, you can't teach an old dog new tricks. I've tried YouTube videos but I find them really confusing.
Has anyone reached this age and learnt how to park?
I'm sorry to burble on but I had to get someone to park last night and it was as embarrassing as usual.

gets cars with a camera

learn to park - its not that hard. In fact if you want to understand the mechanics of it get a toy car and work out the dynamics with where the power is coming from.

I bet you tube has something on how to do it - they have everything else

As to being 48 and learning that is a mindset thing - nothing to do with age

Honestly, I think there is a difference between the sexes about parking, but it's not about skill.

I have eventually learned to parallel park after moving to a terraced street where I have to practice it daily. I didn't learn for a long time because I was concerned about either causing a hold up for anyone else, or for any (men) seeing me attempt it and reinforcing the stereotype of women can't park.

I realised when my male friends passed their tests they'd give it a go and if anyone beeped them they wouldnt give a shit. Not that they'd go straight for a busy street but they weren't concerned if someone drove up behind them and had to wait, whereas I would give up and drive off, in my socially conditioned people pleaser way!

I wonder if it’s a gender difference Threeflyingducks. As in-it’s not to do with our biology but due to women being conditioned not to cause a scene etc?

However it could be due to testosterone making men happier to take risks and more aggressive? Which would obv contradict that!

My friend is a police officer and it’s well known that females fail the response driving course more often. We were wondering if this was down to lack of testosterone or whether they were conditioned to take fewer risks or if there was a bias.

£20-25 an hour in an instructors car, find one with the same make/model or at least a similar size if possible. 2 or 3 lessons will probably do it?

Have a parking lesson! Honestly it's so worth £25. I passed my test and realised I could only reverse park and not go nose in An hour later I was fine.

4 step diagonal parking

Diagonal parallel parking is so easy. I took lessons and passed test first time age 48.

I wasn’t taught diagonal parking I learnt by myself.

I had the lesson in my own car.

I did my test in 2012 and parking wasn't mandatory even then. Tester chose which maneuver it was one of three parallel park, reverse around corner and I've forgotten the last. I actually parked my test parallel parking and now am a rubbish parker as I live rurally and can drive into spaces. Also had a nissan navara (van sized) as first car which would be much trickier to park than my instructors dinkier car.

If I was to move to a city I'd get an instructor to do a couple hours parking practice with me which is what I'd recommend you do too.

A few years ago they introduced a policy at work where everyone had to reverse park in the car parks . I was in a total panic as I'd never had this in my lessons and had never reversed Parked into a space . After a few frustrating attempts I'm now better at reverse parking than going in forward and had a panic the other week as I realised I couldn't get in going forward anymore!
Anyway . Book a lesson to concentrate on parking only . I've known ppl who hadn't driven for years to book some refresher lessons

Just look on YouTube, OP - there are hundreds of helpful videos.

I taught myself the idea of parallel reverse parking using Dinky cars. It wasn't part of the test back in the 1970s and I knew I would have to do it after I had passed, so I got to grips with the theory of it by getting three toy cars (postcards or tins of soup would do the same job but toy cars made it seem more real) and putting two of them against a skirting-board with a gap between them, then taking the third one and moving it into that gap as if I were parking it. After a while I had worked out roughly what the angles needed to be, and roughly where the "car" I was "driving" needed to be in relation to the parked "cars" I was "parking" between, and then I went out and practised and practised and practised reversing into a parking space with only a car in front of it so there was lots of room behind me until I felt confident about that. Then I started on getting into a space about twice as long as my car, over and over again, and after that one which was one-and-a-half times its length.

Honestly, practice does make it first possible and then easy. The real problem was finding spaces that were the right size for my practising!

Good luck. You can do it, you really can, and you will.

Ring an instructor, tell him/her the issue and take a few lessons!

It really is just practice I promise you!

the whole ‘line up your wing mirror with their hub cap, turn the wheel thrice whiddershins’ thing never really took for me and although I could do it it was a struggle.

This made me laugh because no matter how many times people explain it to me it sounds like this ^ and makes NO SENSE AT ALL to me. I can actually parallel park (but I hate it and avoid it) but any explanation goes in one ear and out the other. I cannot picture it at all. I just have to practice - I can now do a tricky reverse onto my drive really well but it only clicked after about two months of sweating to do it every day.

@womaninatightspot the 3rd was turn in the road. I passed my test even though I hit the kerb doing it. I'd have failed me

Yes. Book lessons!

That's unusual. I took my test in 1987 and learnt how to park, as well as reversing round corners. I would suggest speaking to a Driving School for specifically parking lessons, or a trusted friend who could go through it with you.

Just look on YouTube, OP - there are hundreds of helpful videos.

From the very first post: I've tried YouTube videos but I find them really confusing.

Thanks for all the messages - not so many thanks to the sarky ones but mardy cows are to be found on most threads.
It's VERY reassuring to know that not everybody is a Perfect Parker and it's a necessary hassle for lots of you.
Out of the 30 years since my test, I've only driven for about 2 of them. Living in London meant I never drove then illness meant I didn't drive for over 16 years. I've only just bought my first car!
I'm just concerned that learning a new skill behind the wheel could be difficult after so long. After all it's highly likely that I wouldn't just damage my own car but someone else's if I cock it up.
Again thank you for all the encouragement, it's been very much appreciated. I'm scouting around for recommended instructors & hopefully will find someone that will teach me properly.
And I'm going to tell my friends they can get an f-ing taxi the next time they take the piss.

Its practise. My friends awesome at parking. So encouraged me to go to industrial estate with dh and practise.

I'm a bit like you - never needed to drive much since passing my test, then couldn't drive for some years, now doing it again but with a 7-seater in London.

I've got pretty good at parallel parking from practising a lot - started by checking kids into adventure playground and spent an hour parking all round the local housing estate.

Still haven't managed to reverse into a parking space, partly because lots of them really are too small for the car. Multi-storey car parks scare me (I wasn't a fan even in a Corsa) but maybe some day I'll have an hour to try when it's not too crowded. There aren't any near me though.