Parking refers to stopping a vehicle and leaving it without occupants. Review sites such as UK.collected.reviews can help you get reputable car rental companies, some of which can guide you on the designated parking areas in a locality. If you have a car, you need not worry where to park your car. Instead, today technological advancements have made it possible for drivers to locate designated parking areas in cities and towns. Once you’ve found the parking space, you can now proceed with the parking. This article covers two parking techniques, the parallel car parking technique and the perpendicular parking technique, and how to go about them
The Parallel car parking technique
This is the most challenging parking technique of all. It involves parking cars bumper to bumper and requires about 45 degrees to park the car. You don’t have to measure that you’ve turned the car 45 degrees accurately. This is only a rough guide.
How to go about the parallel car parking technique
Ensure that you leave a space equal to the width of a door between the cars
In reverse parallel parking, you will be needed to stop beside the other parked car before reversing to space behind it. To successfully achieve this, you’ll be required to judge your car’s distance properly with the other to ensure a smooth pull in. If you get too near to the vehicle, your front end will not clear the other vehicle. Similarly, if you go too far a war, this will mean a sharper steering angle will be required to avoid the car behind while getting into the space. Professional instructors recommend leaving a distance of about one metre, commonly referred to as a car door’s width, between your vehicle and the parked one. To help determine this distance, imagine the space you would require to keep if your passenger door was open while creeping up beside the parked car.
Ensure that your door mirror is aligned with the other car’s front
Prior to turning your car’s wheel to bring it to the parking space, ensure that you have already initiated reversing it. This will help prevent excessive wear to the tyres and steering mechanism of your vehicle. Always have your car’s front end in front of the other vehicle that is parked parallel to you. This will permit you to have some room that you can move back slightly prior to steering.
When you’re on level with the other car, begin turning
Have your steering timed such that when you attain the same level as the car you’ve parked in parallel with, you start turning.
Utilize the car behind as your reference
One great way to determine that you’ve roughly attained the 45-degree angle while turning is to look at the passenger side door mirror and view the registration number of the car that’s parked behind you. Proceed to level the steering and start reversing until your vehicles fronts get past the back of the vehicle that is in front.
The perpendicular car parking technique
This is the most common parking technique and is applied by most shopping centres and supermarket parking bays. To perform a perfect perpendicular park, follow the below step-by-step tips.
Check your mirrors
When parking, check the mirror to know whether another road user or car is approaching from behind. After checking through the rearview, you’ll be able to determine whether to let the car pass or the other car’s driver may decide to wait for you to park. Ensure you also check the wing mirrors and blind spots.
Indicate the direction you are parking
Once you’ve found a parking spot and checked your mirror, whether the bay is to the right or the left, turn on the appropriate indicator to inform those behind you the direction you’ll be parking. This will help prevent someone from overtaking you as you pull in. However, you should still perform a final blind-spot/mirror check as a precautionary measure to ensure you are safe to turn into the parking space.
Position the vehicle at a good angle
Ensure that you park your vehicle within the designated space and park it straight. The best technique should allow the car to fit well within the initial time of parking. Ensure there is enough room between your car and the other two cars.
In conclusion, car parking can be challenging, especially for newbies. However challenging you may find it, it is a must that you will be needed to park your car at one time or the other. Thus having the needed parking techniques at your fingertips is vital. This article has covered the parallel car parking technique and the perpendicular car parking technique.