Reversing In & Driving Out of a Parking Space

January 27, 2023 at 4:26 PM

What steps to take when reversing into a parking space

Reversing into a parking space is not the easiest thing to learn but by far the safest parking option. When approaching a suitable carpark to reverse into, the first thing we should do is check our rear vision mirror, so we are aware of what’s behind us. We will do this well before we come to our stop. Once stopped, we indicate to the right and select reverse. We do a 360-degree check to make sure we are well aware of what is all around us. While we are doing this, we slowly start reversing, turning our steering wheel to the right. We keep checking all around us 360 degrees. We must keep an eye on the front of our car to make sure the front is not going to hit anything while we are turning the wheel. If our car had a reversing camera, we could use that too. Once we start to get into the parking space, we can check our outer left and right side mirrors to make sure we are centred in our parking space. We can do this by looking at the distance from the cars if possible by guiding ourselves by the painted white lines. If there is another car behind us, we may be able to use the cars reversing beeper to judge our distance from the other car, otherwise, we have to judge it by looking behind us. Once we have stopped, we put the car in park and pull the handbrake up.

 

 

What steps to take when coming forwards out of a parking space

When coming forwards out of the parking space, we release the handbrake and put the car in drive. We do a 360-degree check all around us to make sure we are aware of what is happening. We slowly inch forward and focus mostly on the front to make sure it is safe to keep moving forward. As we move forward we start moving the steering wheel towards the right. We keep moving very slowly, so we have plenty of time to keep checking to make sure it is safe. Once we straighten up, we can pick up some speed if it is safe to do so and check our rear vision mirror, so we know what’s behind us.