Parallel Parking

[vroom125]

Hey, so I am finally getting my driver's license, but I have never practiced parallel parking. I know I'll fail that part unless I practice, so I was wondering if any of you guys knew what the dimensions for the parallel parking spot are in the arizona road tests.

Thx

[ShermanLax607]

Well I'm not from AZ, but it cant be too much different can it? I dont really know if there are exact dimensions, only that you need to be within 6 inches of the curb.

What I did on my test was parallel park behind a car. A single car, so there was really no limitation on how far I could back up. If you really want to practice, I would say give yourself about 3-4 feet in front and in back of your car. As you practice more and more, move those cones in closer and closer.

[CApenguin88]

use two metal trash cans as your markers that way if you hit it you can hear when you hit it..thats how i learned to do it and as for dimensions for the test i really don't know sorry

[Live4It]

The difficulty of parallel parking is way overrated if you ask me, I think it's pretty easy, after the first few times you practice. Don't worry about dimensions, drive around your city, and look for a car parked on the side of the road, on a non-busy street. Pull up next to it, and parallel park behind it, make sure you're close enough to the curb, close enough to the other car, yet not too close, and make sure your car is straight, and you'll be fine. That's basically all they do in the test, make you park behind one car, most of them around here do anyways.

[Lax'N'Roll]

I went up to the dmv parking lot where they had the cones for the test and practiced there...

[Dadabhoy_Muzzi]

Is there not a way to parallel park. I learned something along the lines of this. (Do not fully remember cause I did this last year).

Pull up beside the car that you will park behind (Maybe a foot or two distance). Make sure your car is straight. Line the little triangle of the back window up with the taillight of the car beside you. Turn the wheel two full turns to the left. Release break and let the car come to the curb. Then make one full turns to the right. This will let the car come into alignment with the car ahead of you. Then make a full turn the right and move up if you need to. Voila!

I think thats the way I learned. Works really well. Again, I haven't done it in a year so I am not really sure on it. Good luck!

[lacrosseman192]

A lot of people think parallel parking is this terrible thing but i didnt think its bad at all....

if you go to ehow.com and search parallel parking they have a good one and a video for you to watch and theirs i felt was the best but keep in mind everyone has a different way to parallel park,

also if you have a problem with getting too close to the curb, move your right mirror so you can look out it and see how close your back tire is to the curb so you can pull out and try again if you dont like how its going

[cjm3113]

The difficulty of parallel parking is way overrated if you ask me, I think it's pretty easy, after the first few times you practice. Don't worry about dimensions, drive around your city, and look for a car parked on the side of the road, on a non-busy street. Pull up next to it, and parallel park behind it, make sure you're close enough to the curb, close enough to the other car, yet not too close, and make sure your car is straight, and you'll be fine. That's basically all they do in the test, make you park behind one car, most of them around here do anyways.

Exactly. People are afraid to parallel park. Practice a few times and you will realize it isn't as hard as you think.

[stinisonfire]

I'd recommend asking your parents or someone else who is a licensed driver as opposed to getting help on an internet forum.

Maybe it's just me, but I think learning to drive / park is much more of a visual / practice thing.

[LaxStick123]

Parallel parking really isn't hard. This is with a regular smaller sized car. A larger car will differ.

1. Drive up next to a car and make sure the space is larger that your car. Also, leave about a foot to a foot and half of space between your car and the other.

2. Back up until the end of the car next to you is about half way down your car (around where the end of the front passenger's door meets the door of the rear passenger)

3. At this point, turn your steering wheel all the way to the right and turn the car until you are at a 45 degree angle with the other car. Back up and leave a little space for the curb.

4. Now turn the wheel all the way to the left and proceed on straightening out behind the car. You may need to drive straight forward just in case you hit the curb or might hit the other car. This is not a problem. Just pull forward a bit next to the car and enter again.

This will take practice and lots of it is necessary. I recommend starting with cones then moving to a relatively empty parking lot and use the cars to practice parallel parking. Eventually move up to real roads and spaces.

While parking, always remember to keep you head on a swivel and keep watch everywhere, the mirrors, the corners, the front, and everywhere else to make sure you are not going to hit anything and there are no dangers around you.

Also, practice on the car you are going to take the driver's test in because you need to develop you frames of reference on that car so you can drive and park effectively.

Drive Safely!

[laxbrandon16]

To get my license I didn't have to parallel park at all.

[tomtom]

Forget the rest of the advice given here. Just do this:

http://youtube.com/watch?v=REpXf0cmJ64