Parallel Parking – Two-Way Street

This type of parking is one of the most important skills to master.  It means you park in available spaces on one or both sides of a residential or business street. There are often no clearly marked lanes on the sides of the street. Often, you must deal with traffic, pedestrians, trucks, bicyclists, and other potential hazards.

1. Select a space that is at least 5 feet longer than your vehicle.
2. As you approach an available space, tap your brake lights and put on your turn signal. Monitor traffic to the front and rear.
3. Place your vehicle approximately 3 feet from and alongside the vehicle you plan to park behind. Align your REAR bumper with the other vehicle’s REAR bumper.
4. Put the vehicle into REVERSE and turn the wheels all the way to the right.
5. Slowly back up until you are at a 45-degree angle using your side view mirror.
6. Back up until you can see the HEADLIGHT closest to the curb of the vehicle behind to establish that you are roughly at 45 degrees. Then stop.
7. Turn your wheels all the way to the LEFT.
8. Slowly back up monitoring the RIGHT front fender until right side of your vehicle is parallel with and within 12 inches of the curb.