Parking – they say it’s the hardest part of driving. Turns out, it actually is one difficult task. Considering all the factors you need to think of when you are parking; properly aligning your car so it won’t go over another is a tardy task. Although many drivers (especially new ones) are not fond of parking, there are some ways on how you can improve this skill. Of course, practicing and being patient is part of the course. Let’s cut to the chase. So how do you practice improving on how you park your car?
A little bit of being tech-savvy can help you go a long way
Parking skills include the patience and technique in finding a parking spot. Furthermore, a lot of people tend to miss out good parking spots carrying the reason that they are not that experienced in parking. There are certain applications that can help you in your dilemma. Apps like SpotHero and Best Parking are just two (2) of these applications. By using these two, you can easily find a parking space in the city. Both apps are compatible in both iOS and Android.
Tennis balls or small balls can help you park A LOT
If you have a garage or a place where you can place your car, then this technique would be perfect. H**g the tennis ball or a small ball from the ceiling so that it barely touches your windshield. Make sure to position this on a place where you can accurately position the car. So, every time you pull up in your garage, you can simply aim for the tennis ball to determine the accuracy of your parking. Moreover, you can easily avoid bumps and unnecessary scratches on your car by doing this ball technique.
Use the handbrake
Regardless of whether you are carrying an automatic or a manual, you should get used to activating your handbrake when you are on a full stop. By having this habit, you are ensuring that you won’t accidentally step on the gas that could cause catastrophes. In addition, this is essential even if you are not on a full stop on an inclined plane. Another reason is that always pulling the handbrake up reduces the wear on your parking pawl. It’s a metal pin that avoids the output shaft of your transmission from turning. A pawl is a pretty expensive fix if broken so, prevention is actually better than cure.
Parallel parking is less difficult than you think
A lot of drivers even those who are quite experienced are having troubles with parallel parking. As a matter of fact, parallel parking is a MUST for all drivers; it’s not really that difficult. The one and only trick everyone needs to know is that when you are parallel parking, turn the wheel while your car is on a full STOP. To give you a further image of how it looks like, first, you need to be close to the car in front. This will be bringing your back bumper aligned with the other vehicle’s back bumper. If you have trouble seeing the bumper, you can probably just bring your driver’s side window even with the other vehicle’s passenger window. After that, while you’re at a full stop, turn your steering wheel to the direction where you need to put it to penetrate to the space. Reverse slowly until you see the back vehicle’s license plate in your middle rear-view mirror. Stop the car. Maneuver your way in so that you are in proper space to the car in front and at the back of you.
Reverse-parking is actually more efficient
When you see a parking spot, the first thing you need to think of is the fastest and easiest way on how you can score that spot. Although most inexperienced drivers would go and proceed to the spot forward, going in there in reverse is actually easier and more efficient. Just like parallel parking, learning this requires a bit more experience but once you get the h**g of it, you’ll do it every single time. Practice by going to a spot where no other vehicles are around. Pull up parallel to the empty spot where you plan on parking. Rotate the steering wheel until you feel it’s enough for you to take the reverse; maneuver your way into the spot.
Practice, Practice, Practice
The last but definitely not the least tip is to practice. Most often, people are too afraid to practice in real deal simply because they might cause accidents or they might cause damages to their cars. Of course, practicing your control over your car is the first step in everything. What I would advise is to practice blending in with your car first before practicing anything. Once you master this, everything will go easy for you.
Some would say that parking is easy as a-b-c. However, some find it very difficult. Although these opinions solely depend on how badly you want to get over your fear of parking,parking is actually both easy and difficult. What you need to do is to practice control and patience; mastering those two will probably save your life.
