Parallel parking

Spend as long as it takes to perfect your skill with this manoeuvre. Quiet suburban roads, or off road areas, are ideal. You should choose a road that is wide enough for other vehicles to pass while you are manoeuvring.

Many drivers avoid this manoeuvre, simply because they perceive it to be difficult. A likely reason for this is that they have only ever attempted it when under pressure from traffic in a busy street. With this in mind start your practise by parking on quiet, wide roads to build your skill and confidence.

Although the parallel parking method is designed to enable drivers to reverse into 'tight' spaces between two cars, it is tested by the DVSA using just one car - this is mainly for convenience given that there is a limited time available during a driving test which does not allow time to search for an appropriate space.

If you have not already done so, print and complete your Training Outcomes Worksheet for this unit - you might wish to revise your outcomes before doing the practical exercises.

Next: Watch the video intro on the right and then watch the brief overview of the manoeuvre in Step 2.