Do you suffer from parallelophobia? If you deal with an irrational fear of parallel parking, you're not alone. Nearly half of all Americans suffer from this condition, and in Britain, many would rather park a mile away than parallel park near their destination.
To help with that, we're going to break down parallel parking into a few easy steps so that you no longer have to fear it. We take this responsibility very seriously at Jalopnik and have done extensive research on the topic, which not only included consulting numerous reliable sources, as well as our own vast experience with parallel parking, but we also conducted some very scientific simulations, as pictured above. We even made "vroom, vroom" noises, you know, for accuracy. And, yes, we keep toy cars on our desk. Don't judge us.
Parallel parking is easier than you may think, even without using fancy backup cameras. Start alongside the car parked in front of your spot. As you back up, cut your wheel to the right once you're half-way past the car parked in front of you. Then, cut your wheel to the left once your front bumper clears the rear bumper of the car in front. Finally, line your car up with the cars in front of and behind you. That's pretty much all there is to it. However, our editor expects us to write a whole article about this, so we'll elaborate with additional helpful details. Ultimately, the key is to take your time while remembering to look behind you and check your mirrors.
The first thing you want to do is find the right space. You need enough room to maneuver and to get out of the spot when it's time to leave. So, pick a space that is at least 1.5 times the length of your car. Once you've found your spot, line your car up with the parked car in front of the spot, positioning yourself about 3 feet to its left. Next, flip that turn signal on so people behind you know what you plan to do.
Now you're ready to parallel park. We're going to break this up into four steps. Step one, back up straight until the middle of your car is lined up with the front parked car's rear bumper, and then cut the wheel sharply to the right. Continue backing up. Step two, keep your wheel turned all the way to the right until you are at a 45-degree angle to the curb. Usually, you can tell this is the case when you can see the entire front of the car parked behind you in your driver's side mirror.
Then, straighten your wheels, and continue backing up. Step three, when your front bumper clears the rear bumper of the car parked in front of you, cut your steering wheel to the left. Continue reversing. Step four, when you're aligned with the cars in front of and behind you, position your car an equal distance between the two vehicles to give everyone enough room to get out.
Congratulations, you have parallel parked, one of the automotive skills everyone needs to master. You can release that death grip on your steering wheel. It's okay.
Fortunately, pulling out of a parallel parking spot is much easier than pulling into one, so you don't have to worry about breaking into that flop sweat again at this point. But don't let your guard down entirely. You don't want to pull out in front of traffic or back into the car behind you.
The process is simple, as long as you keep looking behind you and checking your mirrors. First, flip on your turn signal. Then back up to give yourself enough space to pull out of the spot, being careful not to hit the vehicle parked behind you. Look over your shoulder to your left, and check your mirrors to make sure that no one is coming. Once the coast is clear, turn your wheel to the left and enter the street. Be mindful of the car parked in front of you, so that you don't hit its bumper.
As you can see, parallel parking is relatively simple (which might be why drivers haven't bothered to use Ford's parking assist). We should note that lots of drivers get anxious about holding up traffic when parallel parking. But don't worry about the drivers behind you. We mean, worry to the point that you avoid backing into them, but don't let the fact that they have to wait for a minute bother you. At some point, they're going to have parallel park, too. That means that they'll have to rely on the patience of strangers as well. So, take your time, keep looking behind you and checking your mirrors, and you'll be fine.