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How To Park A Car

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How To Park A Car

Parallel parking is one of the trickiest driving manoeuvres, luckily for you, driving instructor Gary Lamb is here is show you how it's done. Learn how to park a car perfectly with VideoJug's assistance. Parallel parking is one of the trickiest driving manoeuvres, luckily for you, driving instructor Gary Lamb is here is show you how it's done. Learn how to park a car perfectly with VideoJug's assistance.

Step 1: The process

Parallel parking is when you draw up parallel to a parked car and then reverse into a space behind it. This is a very useful skill which you will need as soon as you start driving.

Rely on the Preparation, Observation and Manoeuvre routine to complete any parking. Traffic may have to stop for your manoeuvre, so accurate and competent manoeuvring is required.

Step 2: Prepare to Parallel park

Drive forward past the empty space and use the footbrake to stop parallel to the car on your left hand side. Don't stop more than a metre from the car as you may cause greater obstruction than necessary. Discuss the use of signals with your instructor.

Press your foot down on the clutch and select reverse gear, then lightly press down on the accelerator and raise the clutch to biting point.

Step 3: Position

Check all around for other road users, look over your left shoulder through the rear window, if the way is clear ease of the clutch and drive back very slowly.


Watch for the rear corner of the parked car to your left in your rear side window. When you can see it, check all around and if safe turn the steering wheel to the left one full turn. Check the road both ways and then continue reversing very slowly at an angle into the space. When you are about 45 degrees with the kerb start to steer right. This will swing the car parallel with the kerb.

Step 4: Park

Using clutch and brake controls to keep the car slow, straighten the steering to the left. You should be close to the kerb, but if not, you can move forwards and backwards to get it right. You will get a feel for how close you should be the more you practice.

Avoid letting your tyres touch the kerb. And don't steer whilst stationary, as this is bad for your tyres and steering. On the test you will be expected to complete this manoeuvre within the space of about 2 car lengths.

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Tips & Comments
  1. mark4545

    Leave a comment here....

  2. PetrolHeadz

    Hello guys, I learnt to drive just under two years ago and love it i now drive a mazda rx7, very high powered engine 400bhp :-) . Thats why i spent allot of time making http://www.petrolheadz.co.uk its a new community for petrol heads, theres loads you can do on it including IM chat. Its just a hobby so if your a petrol head like me maybe you would like to join up, its free of course. im guessing if your watching this your gonna start the journey to become a true petrolhead lol

  3. beeejaaay

    Hi lastboyscout. I f you look carefully at the video, when the instructor got in the car from his house the car was parked on the right hand side of the road. This is not correct as he is on the wrong side of the road to move off.I suggest you read the comments carefully and not jump to conclusions powered by your lack of knowledge and IQ.

  4. lastboyscout

    In reply to 'beeejaaay' comment, he IS on the right side of the road! I'm assuming you are living in the UK?......paulipoo, it's a demo for learners to parallel park, not an instruction on how to park in small spaces......inbetweener, couldn't agree more but if you take up some tuition you can be taught to do it with ease.

  5. beeejaaay

    Shouldn't Gary with over 20 years teaching experience park his car outside his house on the correct side of the road. Not a good advert for you and your school.

  6. paulipoo

    it´s all very well and good but most spaces are not much longer than my car and with just 1 wheel turn,i just wouldn´t fit in.

  7. inbetweener

    Not enough detail here at all - you could have put in how much to turn back, when to turn back (it is difficult for learner drivers to know when they are at 45 degrees). Considering you have a 7 minute (?!) tutorial on here on something as trivial as how to fill a petrol tank you could have done this rather more difficult skill better justice.