So you can pass a test without knowing how to park or reverse

Exemplar

I'm a 48 year old male.



I do burn water though....

wba31

I think struggling to park a car is far less concerning than dumb stuff people do when we're travelling at speed (still cooling down from the bloke who pulled out on me on a 40mph road this morning then proceeded to keep tapping his brakes while staring at me in the mirror despite me not being close enough to have to brake myself...)

My wife couldnt park for beans, but an afternoon in an empty car park and her dad teaching her in a few different ways and she now parks better than i do (i struggle without rear sensors to know that the bumper isn't 2 foot deep...)

NBLondon

Exemplar wrote: »

I've done advanced driving courses several times and we all need to keep refreshing.

... And none of your instructors on these helped you improve your parking skills?


I wouldn't claim to be brilliant at reverse parking - bay or parallel; I got better with practice and still I'll sometimes go a bit further for an easier space. If it's an unfamiliar car - I'll definitely be more cautious as the sightlines are different.

dlm

Show her, shes' your sister, Get her at a crawl and show the wheel/time method until she gets it right. 10 past 12, 3 seconds, full lock left then full lock right. Works every time!

Incidently - I recall meeting a lady of 75 or so years on a country lane whilst i was driving my breakdown lorry. She didn't move into the passing space behind her, but signalled me. I went out and she said 'I never could reverse, have not done so in 60 years and not starting now. Would you move it back for me?' Stunned and chuckling to myself I did so.

Then as you drive off, you think about how she has managed that and planned her trips and parking all those years.....respect!

notanewuser

Was just about to ask about reversing on country lanes.

mad_rich

When I'm in charge of the country, there will be mandatory retesting every 5 years.

It will catch the people who manage to scrape through the test by the skin of their teeth, and those who pick up bad habits along the way. (It will also give people a chance to learn about changes in technology and the Highway Code since they passed their test in 1952.)

When I suggested this to a friend who passed only on the nth attempt she said "Oh God, no! I'd never pass.".

Quite.

BeenThroughItAll

dlm wrote: »

Show her, shes' your sister, Get her at a crawl and show the wheel/time method until she gets it right. 10 past 12, 3 seconds, full lock left then full lock right. Works every time!

How exactly does your foolproof method take into account the different length, turning radius, steering rack ratio, width of the road in which you are reversing, etc?

There simply cannot be any single method of 'turn this much for this long then that much for that long' which works. There just can't, the mathematics don't stand up.

There is no substitute for practice, but at the end of the day, some people have no spatial awareness, and shouldn't be allowed out on their own in a car.

Car_54

BeenThroughItAll wrote: »

How exactly does your foolproof method take into account the different length, turning radius, steering rack ratio, width of the road in which you are reversing, etc?

Not to mention speed. It's pretty unlikely that someone who "can't park for toffee" can control their speed consistently using clutch control, so in 3 seconds they could be anywhere.

BeenThroughItAll

Car_54 wrote: »

Not to mention speed. It's pretty unlikely that someone who "can't park for toffee" can control their speed consistently using clutch control, so in 3 seconds they could be anywhere.

Excellent point.

Spirit_2

BeenThroughItAll wrote: »

How exactly does your foolproof method take into account the different length, turning radius, steering rack ratio, width of the road in which you are reversing, etc?

There simply cannot be any single method of 'turn this much for this long then that much for that long' which works. There just can't, the mathematics don't stand up.

There is no substitute for practice, but at the end of the day, some people have no spatial awareness, and shouldn't be allowed out on their own in a car.

I have driven for over 30 years and could park parallel park all vehicles we have owned, from small sports cars without power steering, VW splitscreen camper, Discovery's,Volvo Estates and BMWs. I am now having driving lessons following lifechanging illness and reapplying for a driving licence. Relying on judgement and mirrors ( my previous practice) is not going to suit me so my instructor has shown me "methods" for parallel and reverse bay parking. He caveated them as "they work for all hatchbacks". The methods also work in my Mercedes and OH's Passat. I trained as an accountant, so not a huge need for spatial maths but a strong grounding in requiring evidence based results. There are lots of youtube videos as parking tutorials.

I have driver aids such as reversing cameras and sensors, and automatic parallel parking which I thought would be crucial until I learnt these current approaches to driving instruction.