Parallel Parking Steps (That Work)

hello everyone my name is jay with driver's ed direct and today we're going to be talking about a maneuver that we get asked about so much as instructors parallel parking now parallel parking can be intimidating and stressful at times however here at driver's ed direct we have a technique a right straight left technique that without a doubt help you to parallel park let's get started [Music] [Music] first things first we have to assess the situation we have to make sure it's safe to parallel park check out the traffic situation around you paying special attention to traffic behind you we don't want to stop in the middle of the road if there's fast moving traffic behind us if we're on a busy street you need to be extra careful because you may be impeding an entire lane of traffic if it is not safe to parallel park move along and find a safer place to park now that we have determined it is safe to park we need to of course make sure that we can fit in the parking space we recommend that you find a space that is at least one and a half times the length of your own vehicle bigger the better of course but real world you'll usually be working with a tighter space also we need to make sure that the space is a legal parking space that means no fire hydrants painted red curbs or no parking signs so we have assessed the situation we have found an ideal place to parallel park fantastic now it's time for us to prepare for the maneuver again the entire time we are parallel parking we are actively doing traffic checks using our mirrors and checking our blind spots to see what's going on around us cars pedestrians or cyclists may come along while we are in the midst of parking so we need to be aware of our surroundings at all times as we pull up to our desired parking spot we want to put on a right turn signal so that others know what our intentions are that we plan to pull to the curb with our turn signal on we want to properly align our car perfectly parallel with the ahead part car we want to be about three feet away from that parked car that is we are close enough that i could reach out and shake hands with someone in that car where we stop is the key we want to align the back of our rear door with the bumper of the other car some cars have a small triangular rear window you can also use this to line up with the other car's rear bumper also you can think of it this way you are lining up your rear tires with the other car's bumper make sense perfect now with your foot firmly on the brake shift your car into reverse once again recheck your mirrors and blind spots for traffic and pedestrians approaching from behind all looks good and now we are ready to execute the tried and true right straight left method let's go to work now with everything lined up from our previous step our car three feet away from the vehicle that we're using and our rear passenger door align with the bumper over the other car we want to turn the wheel all the way to the right with the wheel turned all the way to the right we let the car reverse backwards very slowly you usually don't need much gas and we highly recommend covering your brake the entire time so you can stop suddenly if needed let the car continue to roll back until your car is at a 45 degree angle with the curb for those of you who hate math this visual reference point may work for you stop the car when the divider between your front and back window blocks the other vehicle's left rear taillight ultimately you want to find a visual reference point that works best for you depending on the situation that you're in now that you have reached a 45 degree angle away from the curve it's time to straighten out the wheel to the center position this usually is one and a half to two turns of the steering wheel with your wheels now straight you are going to continue to back up don't forget to check your mirrors and blind spots again reverse very slowly until your right front bumper clears the back bumper of the other car if you are having trouble seeing if you have cleared the other car's bumper these alternative visual reference points may help you stop when the other car's left mirror aligns in a straight parallel to the curb line with your right mirror or stop when the other car's license plate is about centered in your passenger side front window now that you have cleared the other car's bumper turn your steering wheel all the way to the left slowly reverse your car watching carefully that you do not clip the car in front of you or back into the car behind you as soon as your car is parallel with the curb straighten out the steering wheel and reverse or pull forward making any small adjustments you need to position your car evenly between the two part cars there you have it we have now successfully parked between two cars try this method a few times starting with bigger spaces to begin and you'll be parallel parking with confidence in no time at all if you really want to be a pro and save your mirror from getting knocked off your car we recommend folding in your driver's side mirror after parallel parking so you may be asking yourself hey jay what if i don't park perfectly parallel on my first attempt that's a very good question if you can just pull out of the space and try again however sometimes you may have to do some fine-tuned forward back forward adjustments by steering all the way to the right and moving forward slightly or steering all the way to the left and reversing slightly and then repeat these forward backward steps until parked properly just make sure you are extra cautious and slow don't bang into other cars assuming you're not abandoning your car you eventually are gonna have to leave your parking space be careful when you exit you'll usually need to reverse a little bit before pulling out of the parking space to avoid clipping the car in front of you also don't forget to smog signal mirrors over the shoulder before exiting the parking space it's always good to double check for pedestrians cyclists and vehicles alright friends now you are ready to start parallel parking just remember the five easy steps that we have for you first assess the situation assess the situation and find a legal safe place to park then prepare prepare to park by pulling on your right turn signal and lining up your car just right execute execute the right straight left method to reverse your car into the space adjust if you need to make any final adjustments needed and then exit safely don't forget to smog signal mirrors over the shoulder before exiting the parking space [Music] instructor jay here thank you so very much for watching if you haven't done so already don't forget to subscribe to our channel where you'll find other videos that will help you pass your test and continue driving safely on the road you

Channel: Drivers Ed Direct Driving School

Views: 889,022

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Id: QHHwbOG3W_c

Length: 7min 22sec (442 seconds)

Published: Tue Mar 23 2021