It's time for some driving tips folks. This week's tip - How to parallel park.

To see it portrayed in movies and television, you’d think that parallel parking was the driving equivalent of brain surgery. While it may not be the most natural thing you’ll do when driving, the difficulty of parallel parking a car is greatly overstated. By following a few simple steps and getting a little practice, you’ll be parallel parking in no time.

Once you take the wheel, simply go through the following parallel parking steps:

• Find your parking spot. Don’t be afraid to seek out a spot that leaves you a lot of extra room, especially when you’re just getting started. A spot that’s 5 feet longer than your car should be perfect.

 

 

• Check your mirrors and blind spots. Figure out what’s going on all around you.
• Signal to the side of the space and get closer to the cars you’ll be parking beside. Slow down and come to a stop. If you see another car approaching from behind, just wait for the car to pass and wave the driver on if necessary.
• Position your car beside the vehicle you’ll be parking behind. Get close to its side, but not so close that you’ll have a hard time maneuvering without hitting it. The back of your front seat should be lined up with the back of the other car’s front seat

 

 

• Put your car in reverse and check your mirrors one more time before slowly starting to back up. Look over your right shoulder as you move backwards and give your steering wheel a hard turn in the direction of the curb.
• Continue to check all directions around your car. Don’t be afraid to stop and move back into your starting position if things aren’t going the way you had hoped. It’s much better to look a little silly than to hit another car.
• Once the back of your front door is lined up with the rear bumper of the car next to you, turn the steering wheel in the opposite direction (away from the curb). Think of the turn as an S-shape. This is the last part of that “S”. As you’re moving into the space, you want to be straightening out your car within the space.

 

 

• Continue moving backwards until you’re close to the car behind you, but not so close that you hit its bumper.

 

 

• Pull forward a bit to center yourself within the space.

 

 

Source:  Drivers Ed Guru