I want to talk to you about Reverse
Parking. Or as it's also called, Reverse Bay Parking, Stall Parking or 90-Degree
Reverse Parking. But all it really is, is backing into a parking space. So to start with, find an empty section of a parking lot to practice in. Then start driving
slowly down a row of spots and pick out one ahead to back into. As you're driving, leave at least three feet, or about a meter, between the side of your vehicle
and the front of the parking spots on the side you're going to park in. I would say more like even five feet if the spacing allows it. I'm going to park in one on the right side so I'm going to put my right turn signal on to get other
drivers attention and let them know what I'm about to do. Slow down to a crawl as
you get close to the spot you picked. That's the spot I'm going to back into. It's marked on either side. And right next to it, those cones mark the spot where
someone else might be parked on that side of me. The cones are good to have to
practice with, but you don't have to buy cones. You can just get some cardboard
boxes and set those on the ground so you'll know where the edges of the
parking spot are. And if you back into them while you're practicing, no harm
done, and you just know you need to pick a different starting point the next time. What you're going to do now is line a part of your vehicle up with an outside
reference point. You're looking for the reference point where you will start
your backing from. I'll show you where that reference point is for this car and
that will help you find where that point is for your vehicle. Because the point from which you start your backing can vary slightly depending on the size and
the turning radius of your vehicle. But this will give you a starting point to
work with. I pull up past my spot and move slowly forward. And then I stop when I can look out the passenger-side rear window and see the closest line in my
parking spot lined up in the bottom right hand corner of that window. From the outside, this is what the position of my vehicle looks like in relation to the
spot I want to park in. This is the second spot away from my spot where I'm going to park. You can see that my front wheels are pretty close to the second
line of that spot, and the second line of that spot roughly intersects where my
steering wheel is. Once you've lined your vehicle up with the reference point that
works for you, you're almost ready to start backing, but not quite. Because first, you have to carefully check the area all around your vehicle for other
traffic or pedestrians. Check over your shoulder, check your left and right
mirrors, check your rear-view mirror, check your backup camera if you have one, just to be sure the area is safe for you to start backing. And the rule of thumb about which way to turn your steering wheel when you're backing is: if your parking spot is on the right, you turn your steering wheel all the way to the
right. And if your parking spot is on the left of you, turn your steering wheel all
the way to the left, and lock it there as you're backing. After you've checked all around and you know the area is safe, put your foot on the brake, put your
vehicle in reverse and you're going to start backing. And as soon as you start moving, turn that steering wheel all the way to the right, and lock it there. And just start backing. Back up slowly and keep checking around you as you back. I've got my wheel cranked all the way to the right. I'm holding it there. And I'm backing in between the cones into my parking spot. Continue backing, and the
rear end of your vehicle will swing around into the parking spot. As you're backing into the stall, the front of your vehicle will start to straighten out. And when it looks like it's starting to point straight ahead, turn the steering
wheel back to center so you're backing straight into the spot. You can kind of judge that by looking straight ahead at another stall that's
lined up with yours and going by those lines. And if the parking spot is on your
left, you'll need to find a reference point for that too. In my car, when I'm in the driver's seat looking left, I look like I'm just about centered in that second spot past my parking spot. Then I can turn my wheel all the way to
the left and start backing. I did this with a smaller vehicle too, and found
that the reference points for it were slightly different than from my vehicle.
They were close, but not quite the same. That's the point of practice. But what do your reference points look like when there are other cars parked in the spots
next to yours? If the spot you're going to back into is on your left, your
reference point really remains the same. You can see well enough out of your left
side window that you can line up with the middle of the second spot after
yours. If the parking spot you're backing into is on your right side, then you do
need a new reference point because there'll be a car or truck blocking your
view of the lines of the parking stall on the pavement. For my car I pull past the spot I'm going to park in until the middle of the vehicle that's next to my
spot is in that lower right hand corner of my rear passenger-side window. In an actual situation where you're backing into a spot, and you see that you're
going to be a little bit off from where you would like to be to get right into
the middle of that parking spot, make some slight corrections to the path of your vehicle. If you see you're going to cut it a little bit short, turn your
steering wheel a little bit back towards center. That'll kind of straighten out
your path as you're backing, and as you make that correction for a few feet, then
turn it back to the right again to continue your backing turn. If you see that you're going too wide and you're going to overshoot your spot, put it in
Drive and go forward a little bit to the left to cut down on that angle. Then put
it in reverse, turn your wheel back to the right, and
continue backing. I've shown you the reference points that work for my car, so
go out and practice and find the reference points that work for you. Thanks for watching, and I hope this helps somebody. Take care and drive safe!
