Tips for Reverse Parking or Parallel Parking

Other Driving videos for you:

Large Roundabouts  |  Turning in the Road (three point turn)  |  Reverse on the corner to your left  |  Emergency Stop

Parallel Parking – Reverse Parking  |  Reverse bay parking tips  |  Reverse into the bay to your left – mistake

Parallel parking steps

In the above parallel parking video we guide you through the instructions step by step so that you can learn your parallel parking or reverse parking for the UK driving test. This includes how to keep the right distance from the curb when you’re practicing, so that reverse parking becomes second nature for the test and every day driving. You may also be interested in our video and tips on reverse parking into a bay.

Tips for reverse parking, Video Transcript

Today we are going to do parallel parking or reverse parking, whichever [term] you prefer. Pretty much the gist of it is you drive forwards up alongside another parked car. Try and keep about a metre away from the car, just in case they open the door and it gives you a bit more of an angle obviously to get into the space you want to get into.

The key to this one is to make sure it’s safe, safe, safe, safe – I cannot repeat that often enough. So we are going to look around to make sure nobody’s coming, I can see there’s two cars coming up behind me I’m going to let them pass before I move forward. I’m going to check my blind spot to make sure there’s nobody coming, so I am going to get myself into position now.

Drive alongside the car, just driving slightly past them, signal left to let people know I’m stopping – very, very important. Then put on the handbrake and pop the car into reverse, when it’s in reverse the white lights come on at the back. Look around to make sure nobody’s coming, I’m going to line up the back of our car with roughly the front of their car. I’m going to begin to turn the wheel about a half turn and I am stopping and looking around me, make sure nobody’s coming, and I’m using the little mirror on the left to make sure I don’t hit the curb.

As I’m getting closer and closer to the curb I’m going to begin to turn the wheel in the opposite direction – so stopping, looking around and then coming back. I’m just going to turn the wheel away from the curb, big swing and just bring it in beautifully. Looking around, there’s a car coming he’s waiting for me so I’m okay and now I’m just going to straighten the wheels.

Now you’ll learn to come back one car length, I’ll show you how far back that is, it’s about the size of the car you’re in and when you need to, if you need to, you can always just pull forward and tidy up. So I’m just going to bring it in very gently towards the curb and straighten. Always leave enough space for you to be able to get back out of the space, so don’t go too close to the car in front. Manoeuvre done, turn the engine off.

End of transcript