Among many things a good driver should possess, parking is never easy to acquire. Parking your car diligently and by the book can be frustrating and tedious. No matter if you are a novice driver or an expert, parking your car masterfully requires acquiring a lot of techniques and adopting them regularly. Here are seven quick tips to improve your parking skills and never have a stressful break.
1. Know your car’s dimensions
One of the most useful skills to possess is having adequate spatial awareness. This is connected to understanding the relation to things around you and the space and movements around you. If you are just learning how to park, you will notice that most car park spaces are equal, but most cars aren’t. Get a sense of how wide the vehicle you are driving is. Next, knowing the exact length, width, and even height of our car would give you the precise foundation for any parking maneuvers you would need to make.
2. Practice makes perfect
So, you don’t know how to parallel park? Welcome to the club. It’s estimated that around 48% of Australians, for instance, have trouble with parallel parking, and around 71% tend to avoid such maneuvers. There are two things you can do and the first is to enroll in ABC Driving School if you are from Australia to practice parking more with professional supervision and in marked places. And second, practice until you drop. Know that nobody has mastered meticulous parking on the first try. Hence, don’t get disheartened because it takes a lot of practice and unsuccessful attempts to improve parking skills.
3. Understand the parking spot’s dimension
As it’s vital to know the width and length of the car you are driving, it’s equally crucial to get familiar with parking spot dimensions. It’s never the same parking in an open and wide shopping center’s parking spot as a city’s limited parking area. If you were to know the size of the parking spot, you would feel more comfortable and safe to park. Luckily, most public parking spots are adapted to fit cars of all sizes. When you familiarize yourself with a few dimensions, you will easily know whether you can park your car in a certain spot or not bother doing it.
4. Use mirrors
The rearview and side view mirrors are your to-notch companions when parking your car. Using them diligently when parking a vehicle would vastly improve your parking skills, but this also requires a lot of exercise. Most people are used to using side mirrors, but for a clearer and more definite view when parking, especially when parallel or reverse parking is in action, you need to focus on the rearview mirror. Always check if all your mirrors are perfectly aligned and in the correct position, then to get the knack for using the mirrors when parking, practice by firstly checking the rearview mirror first to see if other cars are approaching, and then side mirrors for blind spots.
5. Don’t panic when parallel parking
Parallel parking is the most challenging parking technique of all. Nothing must distract you while you wish to parallel park. First, position your car parallel to the car in front of the open parking spot and ensure nothing obstructs you from behind. Reverse straight until the back end of your car is aligned with the middle of your rear windows. Then, slowly turn the steering wheel at a sharp angle toward the parking spot. Aim to slowly reverse the wheel until your front wheels are perfectly aligned with the back corner. And voila!
6. Take it slow
It’s a good thing to align your car straight in the parking spot whenever parking. Take it slow and control your speed whenever you want to park. Rushing is never a smart choice so keep an eye on all elements around you, especially with angled and reverse parking. Be cautious and have all eyes on any pedestrians. Turn on the indicators while reverse parking so the approaching cars know your move, and never let anything distract you, but take as much time as you need to park.
7. Trust technology
New and modern cars possess handy and cosmopolitan parking technology that can assist you in any situation. Many car manufacturers have implemented smart parking systems in the car’s design to help you master things such as parallel parking. Parking sensors are advanced tools that indicate with light and sound when you are close to another car or object or about to collide. Besides parking sensors, most cars are also equipped with dash cams and rearview cameras that keep your parking maneuvers in order.
The more you practice, the better you get. All parking methods are easy to master – it just takes time, patience, and nerves.
