Parallel Parking

To parallel park successfully, you need a space about 4-6 feet longer than your car. Then, it’s all about timing!

1. Use your indicator to signal a right turn*. Stop to the side of the front car (the car you are parking behind), so that the cars are about even and about an arm’s length apart (20-26”).

2. While looking over your right shoulder, start backing slowly, then start turning the wheel to the right. Aim toward the right rear corner of the space.

3. When your front seat is in line with the rear bumper of the front car, stop and turn the steering wheel one revolution to the left to straighten the tires. Continue backing at this angle until your right front fender just clears the left rear fender of the front car. (At this point, your left rear bumper will be in line with the left front bumper of the back car.)

4. Quickly turn the steering wheel to the left and finish reversing into the parking spot. Looking over your left shoulder during this part of the maneuver may help you align with the rear car – or use your rear view mirror.

5. To straighten out, turn the steering wheel one revolution to the right before pulling forward.

Perfecting your skill is a matter of hand, eye, and foot coordination – and timing. Practice this maneuver repeatedly, slowly, until you are comfortable, then you can add more speed. Use an area that’s not busy, such as a parking lot, or a wide residential street so you won’t have to rush. You can use markers (cones, stanchions, lines) before trying this with real cars.

*These are instruction for parallel parking on the right-hand side of the road. On one-way streets, where left-side parking is possible, just reverse the left and right turns.

Attitude on the roads

A lot lies in the attitude of the drivers also. If everyone can do their bit to make the life of others easy, the roads that we drive on can be made a lot better. Things that can be avoided while you are on the road include:
Overtaking through the left, if the road is not a multiple lane highway
Honking continuously to get yourself going
Breaking a queue - you know for a fact that there is a queue and try to follow the right side (which is relatively empty) and then join the front end of the queue, pushing yourself in. The issue becomes more serious when you do the overtaking job through the left side!
Creating a queue - acts like adjusting your seatbelt, adjusting your music to choose your favourite channel or song, or doing your personal stuff inside your car while you are driving. This can slow you down and create problems to all others on the road
Making a fuss about almost everything - there can be many problems on the road, and if you decide to keep yourself warm/hot about everything, you end you pumping up your on bloood pressure. Be open, nobody makes a mistake purposely. It just happens. Keep yourself calm and cool on the road.