To ask how to get better at parking?

[Facilitatingdarkness]

I passed my driving test a couple of years ago and only just bought a car this summer.

I learned in a swish modern car with rear and front video cameras. Instructor taught me how to park using the cameras (eg. "turn wheel when you see green line" etc). You guessed it... I couldn't afford my own swish car with cameras. I'm shit at parking as a result. I'm annoyed that my instructor taught me in a way that wouldn't be useful once I'd changed vehicles!

Please, can I have some tips on how not to be so abysmal at parking?

Practise is the only way.

@DeepaBeesKit

Practise is the only way.

I'm trying! I just find it so hard to know how to straighten up and I'm so terrified of hitting a car next to me.

You’re not unreasonable but I’ve been driving for years and parking in an awkward spot still makes me tense up and I end up going backwards and forwards in the same spot and getting more and more stressed. This is despite having rear cameras (a requirement I made when we bought our car).

Practice makes perfect - go to big supermarket car parks and practice. Also, consider booking a lesson with a different driving instructor. I know you've passed now but they will be happy to give you an hours intensive on parking!!!

book another driving lesson (with a different instructor), explain exactly what you need, and only take a lesson that is happy to teach you just that.

I stopped having a car for about twelve years when I moved to central London - when I got a car again, I had a refresher driving lesson (scary country roads!!) and thought it was money well spent.

@peterpomegranate Thanks for your insight - it's nice to know I'm not alone!

About 25 years after passing my test I got a job that involved a lot of driving in London, which was fine, except it meant on street parking or maneuvering in customers' very tight carparks. Londoners can turn the tiniest space into a parking space!

Anyway I booked a couple of driving lessons specifically for this (parking wasn't in the test when I took it) and all of a sudden I "got it".

Practice practice practice. Drive to a shopping centre after they've closed (big supermarket after 4pm on a Sunday is good) and practice putting it in the bays over and over. Once you've cracked that, go and practice in a car park with cars and just take it slow, start off in spaces with just one car on one side so you've got the empty space beside you in case you over-swing, then work up your parking in between two cars.

Oh - and I learnt to drive 20 years ago (bloody hell!!) and I now have a swish car with cameras and wing mirrors that dip to monitor the pavement and I switch them all off as I get so confused trying to use them that I curbed the wheel for the first time ever!!! So hats off to you for being able to use the gadgets.

Practice makes perfect. Go to a car park when it’s quiet and practice.

I was rubbish at “parallel parking” until I bought a house on a busy street with no off-street parking. I had to get good, and fast!

I could have written this. Recently had to get a car without a camera and i learned in a car with a camera. I also bought cars with camera afterwards. But now I struggle to park. Dh can use mirrors fine. So he’s been helping and taking me out to practice.

@linerforlife @thinwomansbrain Great ideas here - thank you. I like the thought of an intensive hour on parking!

I'm pretty confident in all areas of driving, but the parking really lets me down!

Park as far away as possible where there is more space, people tend to crowd round where they want to be, if you don't mind walking there's space further away.

A couple of lessons will be cheaper than an insurance claim for bashing someone's car!

I agree about practice (start in an empty part of a car park) but also understand you need some guidance. If possible, I would try and get some extra lessons (I know it’s hard to get an instructor at the moment), if you go down that route make it clear that that’s what you’re asking for, instructors often get called for these reasons (I used to be an instructor and these were my favourite bookings). There should be some videos on YouTube for help (please make sure you look at professional ones). Don’t keep telling yourself you’re going to hit another car as you’ll accidentally talk yourself in to it, instead break the manoeuvre down in to pieces, it’s hard to explain in words as each parking situation offers up different solutions.

I think extra lessons solely devoted to parking sound like a good idea. I passed my test 20 years ago, bit was rubbish at parking, I’m still not that great! When I learnt all those years ago the local council ran a course on parking which was held at the top of a multi storey car park. It was quite fun and I passed, which was more than one woman who was on her 5th try.

I’m sure you will get there in the end.

The first time I tried to parallel park after my test, it was on a side of the road that had no pavement - just a solid stone wall. Of course, my instructor's advice used the pavement as a guide...

Book a lesson in your own car, specifically to look at parallel parking and anything else that's a bit different in your own. Your original instructor may not be the best person - if they always teach it using the cameras, they may be less good at teaching it without.

@Phoenix76 - interesting to know that driving instructors like the more specific requests. My mum was worrying about driving in a new area when they moved, and I suggested that she book a lesson with a local instructor, who would probably know all the difficult junctions and have lots of tips.

@linerforlife

Oh - and I learnt to drive 20 years ago (bloody hell!!) and I now have a swish car with cameras and wing mirrors that dip to monitor the pavement and I switch them all off as I get so confused trying to use them that I curbed the wheel for the first time ever!!! So hats off to you for being able to use the gadgets.

I also absolutely hate gadgets and cannot drive with a bloody sat nav going. I need to "read the road".

MIL had parking sensors in her old car that beeped like crazy when there was enough room to park a bloody bus in behind her. She hated the damn things and turned them off after a week.

In my car, there is a trick to parallel parking

1. line up parallel to the car ahead & pretty close
2. reverse slowly so your front is adjacent to their wing mirror (assuming they also point forwards)
3. turn wheel hard left to get your back end into the space
4. reverse slowly until you feel you are 3/4 of the way in
5. slowly straighten & keep going back til you are all the way in

but getting an instructor in your car really is the best way. They can point out the critical stop/turn points and how they relate to the size of your car. Then you can practice.

Dh took me out. Gave me tips.on how he does it. Getting car at the right angle. Taking time

Using mirrors

@parietal

In my car, there is a trick to parallel parking

1. line up parallel to the car ahead & pretty close
2. reverse slowly so your front is adjacent to their wing mirror (assuming they also point forwards)
3. turn wheel hard left to get your back end into the space
4. reverse slowly until you feel you are 3/4 of the way in
5. slowly straighten & keep going back til you are all the way in

but getting an instructor in your car really is the best way. They can point out the critical stop/turn points and how they relate to the size of your car. Then you can practice.

This is how I do it too. I use my my passenger door handle to gauge when to start straightening. When that roughly lines up with the kerb, I straighten up to park.

Another person here advocating practice. Public or supermarket car parks are a good starting place. Do it enough and you won't think twice and will slither into a teeny space in no time. I say that in full confidence because I often have to parallel park, do so, lock the car and walk away and think WTAF!! I park with literally a few inches front and back and shock myself! You can do it. Just keep practicing and you'll get the hang of it!

As others said, practice and also maybe another lesson in a car with no cameras.

My instructor didn’t have a fancy car with sensors but she did have a teeny sticker on the bottom of the rear windscreen and taught me that when that sticker was lines up with the car it was time to turn the wheel full lock - maybe experiment and see if anything like tha

@parietal YES! That's the formula - I knew there was one when I helped my sons practice before their tests but couldn't remember it. OP, there's your solution and its spot on!