bay parking tips

pavlovs_dog

there's an industrial estate near us where i first practised when i started learning to drive - moving off, clutch control, stopping smoothly and all that jazz. That has bays marked out so i think i'll try it out there when the park is empty to get a feel for the manouvres before attempting it at my local tescos.

will report back and let you know how i get on.

thanks for taking the time to respond and share your experience - it's much appreciated :beer:

Takoda

I think that reversing into spaces is a lot easier.

thescouselander

OP - what sort of car do you drive? Come cars are just a pain to get into bays if they have a poor turning circle - the Mondeo estate is a perfect example of this.

My strategy is to take as wide an approach as possible - this gives more time to line the car up between the lines.

If its really tight I reverse but if you aren't confident I don't think I'd recommend this without a bit of help for the first few goes at least. As others have said, you might actually find it easier to reverse in the end. On the other hand some people just cant reverse and will never be able to.

YorkiePud_3

Please do NOT go back to your old instructor to ask for help ... he or she has failed you BADLY!!!!!

The instructors do NOT know what test routes your Driving Examiner will take you on when it's your test or what manouevres you will be asked to do on your test, so it is down to your instructor to make sure you know AND are capable and confident to perform ANY manouevre you may be asked to do.

If there aren't bays at your test centre, your Driving Examiner could have taken you somewhere there WERE bays to see if you could undertake that manouevre successfully, so your instructor was absolutely in the wrong not to teach you this manouevre ...

My Dad is an instructor and even when there are markings in bays, he teaches you to find something on your car to line yourself up ... maybe a third the way along the top of the back seat is where you need to start turning ... you know, that kind of thing ...

If you go where there is a marked bay and practice yourself, take note of what is lined up inside your car when you need to start turning ie. when you look through your mirror and one side of the bay is lined up with something in your car you know you need to turn .. or, as he does for pupils who find it hard to judge, get yourself a car sticker, have someone get in the car while you reverse into a bay and when you are starting to turn and have the car lined up, have them dive into the back seat and put the sticker on the back window when you say you need to turn.

It will just give you a head up .. ie .. when such and such a thing is lined up with the sticker, you know when you need to turn ... I have probably made that sound all complicated now, but hopefully you get my meaning!

I have got to say, Dad has been an instructor for over 17 years and he was FUMING to hear you hadn't been taught reverse parking in bays just because there weren't any at the test centre .. like he says, an instructor needs to make sure his pupils can handle ANYTHING they may be asked to do on their test.

We live in a small town and yet there are 26 different test routes that pupils can be taken on and a number of different manouevres for the Examiner to choose from to ask you to undertake .. Dad makes sure his pupils go on ALL of the routes a number of times and are happy and confident with whatever they meet and whatever manouevres they are asked to do.

So if I were you, I would either go to a different instructor and ask to book a "refresher lesson", explaining you're having a bit of trouble with bay parking, or get someone you know to have a good few hours sitting beside you while you practice it, helping you find some marker so that it makes it easier for you to know when to turn etc.

It's not a mystery and don't think you're in any way a failure (cos I know that is how some people can make you feel!!) ... you just haven't been taught correctly!!!

thescouselander

If I understood the OP correctly I thought they were having problems getting into normal parking spaces (like at the supermarket or something) - I didn't think it was about reverse parking.

Driving into normal spaces in a car park isn't part of the test so why would an instructor cover this unless specifically asked?

cyclonebri1

PD! no offence but please let me know you location so I can stay away untill you get "better"

My car seems a magnet for drivers with your problem? whhhhhhaaaaaat? ;)

buxtonrabbitgreen

Since I got my C1 I have been doing a bit of reversing into spaces. Only because I get to work before everyone else though.
It does depend on your car though. The worst one I ever had was a Nissan Bluebird with no power steering. I regularly had to do 40 point turns to get in and out of spaces. And would end up red in the face and exhausted.

Jennifer_Jane

Just to add to this - I'm having the same problem. Brand new car and it's a bit bigger than my last one and has horrible visibility - and power steering. I reverse into my driveway which starts level with my neighbour's and then increases in height. Get this wrong and I could fall off the edge.

I have tried to get some practice at the local supermarket for reverse parking into the bays and it may have helped a tiny bit, but I just think the confidence will come with day-to-day practice. In the meantime, I am hugely nervous about hitting something, so obviously take more care than perhaps is necessary and want to be exactly in the middle of the bay so that others have room to open their car doors!

And as for when I took my test - first time was 1974, passed first time, and the second on Friday, 13th August 1999 when I returned to the UK (again passed). In general I'm a really confident driver, it's just the newness of the car, and the fact I had my last car for 11 years. You just don't need to think after all that time, it's all second-nature.

Thanks for posting, it's interesting to hear someone else is having the same problem.
Jen
x

Pew_Pew_Pew_Lasers!

The size and shape of the car is irrelevant really. You have mirrors, you don't really need windows.

goldspanners

Pew_Pew_Pew_Lasers! wrote: »

The size and shape of the car is irrelevant really. You have mirrors, you don't really need windows.

your right.

use the wing mirrors,how can it go wrong?

forget thr rear view mirror, use the left and right wing mirrors for reverse parking.