It’s something I have to do only once or twice a year.
The last time, what threw me off was that I was on a one-way street and the parking spot was to my left.
I had to pull in and then out several times due to cutting the wheel too soon or too late.
When I finally made it into the slot, my rear tires hit the curb but I had enough clearance and by inching forward and then backwards numerous times, I was finally nestled properly betwixt the two other cars.
The entire process took a full five minutes and when I got out, I noticed a guy on a balcony with an amused look who had evidently enjoyed watching the entire spectacle play out. I don’t blush easily but I could definitely feel myself reddening up as I tried my best to play the whole matter off.
So my question, how often do you parallel park and how skillful are you at it? For those who only rarely find the need, do you think you could pull the maneuver off with one graceful, reverse swoop?
Pretty good at it, but I still hate doing it. I’ll pay for parking or walk further to avoid it. I rarely had to parallel on the left side, I remember getting too close to the car on the left and starting over a few times to get it right.
I was born, raised and learned to drive in Chicago. Parallel parking was the rule. I moved to California when I was 24, and have been regularly stunning the locals with my parallel parking mad skilz. I try to tell them the secrets but they can’t get it.
It’s a long time since I’ve ived in a place where I ever need to do it, but Yes, it’s not a problem. In fact, I think I could, after a little refreshing, parallel park better blindfolded, than with my eyes open. I know the size and shape of my car, and the turning radius. I look at the parking space, imagine the car in that space, and just go there. It’s a simple matter of trusting your spatial perception and sense of timing (that’s what driving is), and sometimes looking at the curb, the other car, etc. can lead you down a false path.
I am proficient at parallel parking. In most of the places I drive to every day, I have to parallel park. I can get it right at the first try >90% of the time, independently of whether I have to park on my left or my right side.
I’m one of those people who turn the wheel the wrong direction when I look over my shoulder, so I used to suck at parallel parking. But now my car has a backup camera and I’m near perfect at it! The camera allows me much better maneuverability in reverse. For example, every day I have to back out of my garage in an “S” configuration because the developers installed a one-lane driveway in front of a two-car garage. The trash bin can be inches from the edge of the driveway and I never hit it.
By contrast, my husband backs up better by turning his head and when he looks at the camera he turns the wheel the wrong direction!
I don’t have to do it very often anymore, but I have always been good at it. I drove a land boat for a long time and became quite good at parking that thing in spots that could barely contain it. Now that my car is significantly smaller, I can park that thing almost anywhere.
I am okay at it. What I am most proud of is when I taught my wife how to do it. Until then, she avoided parallel parking like the plague, and she’d been driving for more than 20 years.
I showed her exactly where the back edge of her back passenger window should be when adjacent to the car she wants to park behind before reversing into the spot. She now parallel parks successfully the first time every time.
Of course when she gets a new car she will have to readjust but, having done it successfully for a while now, I am sure it will not present a problem for her.
I’m pretty damn good at it, if humility is sacrificed to truth. I can wrestle my car into a space five per cent longer than it is. (More importantly, I can get out when some poopy-head has parked too close to me.)
I’m good at it, but don’t have to do it too often. I do back into spaces everywhere I go, though, so I’m very comfortable with the dimensions and piloting the car, in general.
I’m usually pretty good at it, have to (or choose to, since I’m good at it) on a pretty regular basis. Newer car has a backup camera on it, and with that thing I swear I made it into a space in one clean pass where I ended up with just a few inches between the cars in front and behind (in front of a restaurant, onlookers/diners appeared to be stunned). I’m good at it without, but with the backup camera it’s super easy.
I do fine when I’m driving a manual transmission-- two moves, usually, but I’m lousy at it when the car is an automatic. My new car is an automatic, and it’s my first since I was 20 (I looked for a manual, but couldn’t find one). I’ve been practicing with it, and I’ve tried putting it in its one low gear, but it’s still hard, even though the car is very small. I usually end up scooting back and forth a couple of times after my initial pull-in.
Another Chicagoan here, and my daily driving around town keeps me in good practice. Lots of one way streets in the hood means I keep current on both sides of the road. But I learned my Jedi-level parallel parking skills by delivering pizza in college. Learned to drive a stick at the same time.