Is anybody else just utterly rubbish at manoeuvring a car? and how did you get better?

[CharlotteBronteSaurus]

practise, people said. I have practised: I passed my test 10 years ago. and while I've never had an accident on the open road, as it were, yet again today a gatepost jumped out at me when I was attempting a 3 point turn. I need to get better at this....

I didn't have to reverse park as part of my driving test (8 years ago, didn't have to do it at my test centre) so I was never taught & I will only attempt it if there are no other cars around!! Plus most of the time I want to be able to get into my boot so parking that way is silly IMO! :o

I am however pretty good at parallel parking & 'turn-in-the-road' manoeuvres. (Unless I'm 'hormonal' and then my spacial awareness seems to go out of the window & it takes me twice as long & lots of faffing!)In our previous house & the one we currently live in we have only had on street parking so I had no choice but to do it. It really is practise, practise, practise. I can't remember exactly how I was taught to parallel park (definitely don't do it the same way I was taught) but basically I pull up so my rear bumper is level with the car next to me, reverse & put steering wheel in a hard lock until car is at a 45* angle, straighten up & reverse back until the view in my kerb side mirror shows the side of the car where the kerb is then I straighten the car up. Bish bash bosh, job done! Like I said, works fine until it's 'time-of-the-month' and then I can barely remember how to start the engine!!

I don't think I have properly reversed around a corner since I passed my test...does anyone?!

my car has reverse sensors AND a camera which automatically switches on when I go into reverse gear! so I can not only hear how I am doing but also see how I am doing! I tell you , it's the way to go!

(it's Prius btw)

I just wish that car park spaces in the UK were all at a slant, then I'd have no problems at all.

Keep trying.

When you reverse into a space, don't try and get in the middle. Try and get v close on one side (don't worry about the other side). Then afterwards, straighten up a bit. Build on that.

Sorry don't have any suggestions for parallel parking other than as long as you are going very slowly, if you do bump the car behind, it wont do any damage.

I had a little reno cleo, then drove a massive vectra for a couple of years, went back to a small car and hey presto - parking is easy.

I'm rubbish but getting a bit better. Parking sensors are my saviour.

Another one with spatial awareness/hormones issues here

Normally I can park just fine (in a Focus), reverse parking and paralell parking without a hitch. But...Driving forwards into a normal sized space while pg? That'll be me parking in the car next to me then

oh i just do it like this:

lol never posted link b4 not sure that's even going to work!

hmm it didn't that'll teach me to try and be smart arse. try again

i give up

Passed my test 2 months ago and have a bigger car now then what I was learning in. Couldn't bay park AT ALL after I passed, as wasn't taught or tested. It's all bay parking outside my house, so basically it was learn it or don't go out in the car. I can do it perfectly now, and parralel park.

This helped me, particularly the 30 - 40 degress angle that you need to turn into the space. I wont tell you who wrote it!

How to 'perfectly' parallel park:

1. Find a space two meters longer than your car.

1. Drive forward as close to the car in front as possible and stop parallel to it.

1. Then when you reverse, if you are in a larger car, you need to look for an angle of between 30 and 40 degrees. If you are in a smaller car, you can turn harder, and you should look to turn in at a sharper angle of 40-50 degrees.

1. Once you have hit that angle, you start to straighten up parallel to the kerb

ends

Oh god, I cannot reverse park even after [muffled] years of driving.

I will keep going until i find a drive into space or abandon the car about ten feet away from the pavement.

I will blame fighting children, steamed up windows, dog licked windows, the car clutter, hormones, stress levels and the current government.

Oh, it's one thing I am surprisingly good at. I had an excellent driving instructor. Giving the example of two cars with a space for another inbetween so it would be parallel parking:

Basically get your car as close as possible alongside the furthest car.

Reverse (obviously). When you can see the back of the other car in the middle of your back seat window, start turning in (as described above by Dorothy)

Straighten up. Watch your back end

Bobs your uncle.

And I have driven everything from a Punto to a 8 seater minivan type thing, a 4x4 and estate cars. Ex-h was a bit of a car swapper

It's very bright in "cars." Wondered whatever was going on. Is this not now talk? Have I been diverted? Fortunately I can reverse and shall gracefully back out of here

Tis worse when you reverse into a tight space, jiggle about a bit, then get out of the car and have a crisis of confidence with an... "oh fuck, I can't get out of this space" despite it being logical that if you got in you can get out

A little tip that helps me with parallel parking is to imagine my rear lights are lining up with the car behind's headlights. So you (reverse) turn in until you imagine your lights are lined up with theirs, then straighten.

bebe - yes, all the time! Lots of roads around here are only wide enough for one car so if you meet someone you have to reverse to the last junction and back round the corner to let them through.

Nothing really helpful to post but just wanted to have a boast

I actually managed to parallel park the other day on the first attempt! Have never needed to do it since my lessons 12 years ago, I just tried not to think about it too much and I did it :o

Completely ruined my cool factor though. I actually squealed in delight at myself

Right, now we can all reverse park, let's move on to the next step: reversing a caravan

at the thought of reversing a caravan I still have nightmares of my dad towing a trailer tent and the problems he had in a big open field

My tips, added into DorothyGherkin's list:

1. Find a space two meters longer than your car.

1. Drive forward as close to the car in front as possible and stop parallel to it.

1. Then when you reverse, if you are in a larger car, you need to look for an angle of between 30 and 40 degrees. If you are in a smaller car, you can turn harder, and you should look to turn in at a sharper angle of 40-50 degrees.

In my car, this involves turning the wheel pretty much as far as I can (smaller car in this example).

1. Once you have hit that angle, you start to straighten up parallel to the kerb

ends

In my car, I straighten up as soon as I can see the back wheel is next to the kerb in my passenger side wing-mirror - you might need to tilt your wing-mirror down a bit more than you usually would to practice this. For a tight parking space, I need to turn the wheel the wheel all the way back as soon as I can see this.

Reversing a caravan/ trailer - turn your steering wheel the opposite direction you think you ought to be going but do it bit by bit to stop jack knife.