PARKING MADE EASY ONLINE DRIVER TRAINING Let's start with parallel parking. To me, it's the most difficult of all driving maneuvers. The reason I say this is because: You have to think of which way to steer. (To get the back of the car to go to the right, steer to the right.) Back of car to the left, steer left. You have to be watching so many things at once: cars passing you, vehicle in front, vehicle behind you, and the curb. You have to judge when to steer to the right, when to steer to the left, when to straighten your wheels. First of all, if you're going on your road test soon, realize that you can't fail your road test just because you're a poor parallel parker. Let me qualify that. If you are observing really well when you're parallel parking, and you have good control of your gas, brakes, and steering, then you won't fail because you're too far from the curb, or you bump gently against the curb. Or if you're just having a bad time of it. The key is observing well (not coming too close to another vehicle unintentionally and being aware of vehicles passing you) and good vehicle control. This is discussed in my defensive driver education program "Learn To Drive And Survive" which you will find by clicking http://www.ultimate-driver-training.com/index.html Some drivers will pass you when you're steering into your space, and it will be your job to see them, and stop if you have to, because the front of your car is swinging towards the traffic. There are lots of experienced drivers who won't parallel park because they find it too difficult, or just can't do it. Also, any experienced, skilled driver will sometimes bump against the curb, and almost have to start over again. Now, do you feel better? There are many different ways of explaining to someone how to parallel park. Each driving instructor has their own favorite way, but really it all comes down to judgement, which you will have to develop through practice. As a driving instructor I would sometimes say to a student, before their first attempt, "Just pull up beside the car in front, look back to where you want your car to be, and steer to where you're looking. Just be aware of the front of your car swinging towards the vehicle in front." It was gratifying to see how well most people were able to do it. However, here are some helpful pointers: •Look well ahead to find a parking space •Check rear view and side view mirror, blind spot, signal right •Leave signal on, it will turn off by itself •Pull up beside the car in front with your back bumper a little bit ahead of their back bumper •Look back to where you want your car to be •Start steering when your back bumper is starting to pass their back bumper •Steer to where you're looking •Straighten front wheels at about the halfway point •Judge when to crank the wheel all the way to the left •When the front of your car swings around, check your distance from the car in front •Check to see how close you're getting to the car behind •When your car is coming alongside the curb, straighten your wheels •You then may have to pull ahead a little •Put gear selector in park, put on parking brake For parking in spaces such as in a supermarket parking lot: •Check rear view and side view mirror, blind spot, signal •You will need quite a lot of space for this maneuver, so you may have to go into the 'oncoming' lane of traffic •Look into the center of your space and steer to where you're looking •You can make brief glances to the side, at the painted lines, to help center your vehicle •As soon as you can, look straight up ahead; this is very helpful to get your car and wheels straight. Whenever you can, pull straight through a parking space into the one ahead. Presto, you have 'backed into' a parking space HILL PARKING Parking uphill with a curb: -Check mirrors, blind spot, signal -Pull over close to the curb -Before stopping, steer front of car slightly left -Once stopped, put selector in reverse or neutral -Roll back slowly, steer left at a sharp angle -Front wheel should be a few inches from curb -Put selector in park, put on parking brake Parking downhill with curb -Check mirrors, blind spot, signal -Pull over close to curb with front of car angled slightly left -Leave selector in drive, or use neutral -While rolling very slowly steer at a sharp angle to the right -Front wheel should be a few inches from curb -Put gear selector in park, put on parking brake Uphill/Downhill with no curb -Steer front wheels at a sharp angle to the right Below is a more refined method for hill parking that you can use. I highly recommend it. Use neutral when moving slowly forward or backward, that way you're not being pushed. Once you've stopped, and while you're still in neutral, put the parking brake on (press hard on the foot brake at the same time) then take your foot off the brake (slowly) to check that the parking brake is holding. Now put selector into 'park.' One advantage of this method is that now you know for sure the parking brake is holding the car, just the way the manufacturer in- tended. Actually, if you stop on a steep hill and put the gear selector into park and take your foot off the brake without using the parking brake, the car will give a sharp jolt as it comes to a halt. What has happened is that the transmission stopped the car, so the whole weight of the car is resting on the transmission. Not so good for the car, and you may not be able to move the selector lever as a result. You will of course find much more about online driver safety training in my ebook "Learn To Drive And Survive". Click on the link: http://www.ultimate-driver-training.com/index.html Webmasters: if you would like to link to this article you can use the following URL: http://www.ultimate-driver-training.com/parking_made_easy.html
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