The next time you’re trying to parallel park your car in a tight space, just keep in mind that the rear tires should go in the slot first, followed by the front ones.If your wheel pops up onto the kerb during the test, it will count as a serious fault and you will fail.

This helps to fit the section of the car (the rear) that cannot be maneuvered as sharply, and subsequently take a couple sharp turns to fit the front section in perfectly to the available parking space between two other cars. By going in reverse, you put the rear tires in the correct position and then move the front tires in.

Reversing helps while parking parallel because it’s the rear tires (as opposed to the front tires, as in the former case), which play no role at all in steering the vehicle, that go into the slot first. And don’t forget, there are vehicles behind you who are waiting for you to finish whatever it is you think you’re trying to achieve. Also, it’s bound to be incredibly time-consuming. Moreover, if it’s a ‘tight’ space that you’re trying to park in, going head-on into the space would be very, very challenging – it wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say that it’s next to impossible to execute a parallel park going head-on into the slot.Ī not-so-neat example of parallel parking.Įven if you somehow manage to cram your car between two vehicles going in head-on, it’s highly unlikely that it would be a ‘neat’ park job. If you try to parallel park by going head-on into the vacant slot, the rear tires will simply follow the front ones, meaning that you will need almost two cars’ worth of space to park (it could be more or less depending on your expertise in parallel parking). What this means is that these wheels should always be at your disposal while making turns. the front wheels, in most cases) facilitate the angular motion of the vehicle and regulate its directional stability, not only while going straight ahead, but also while backing out. You see, the steering wheels of a vehicle (i.e. If you have a vehicle whose steering is entirely dependent on the front tires, it is easier to reverse it into the empty slot while parallel parking. Why is backing into empty slots easier than heading into them when parallel parking? However, before we delve deeper into this parking problem, we need to cover a few basics… Short answer: Parallel parking is easier when you reverse into the vacant space because the front tires of the car are controlled by the steering wheel, and can therefore be steered in any direction with ease, as opposed to the rear wheels, which only move straight. Why is this practice of parallel parking cars so common? Why don’t they just turn their vehicles head-on into the empty slot to park, rather than backing up into it, a maneuver that involves a great deal of practice and effort on the driver’s part? Even if you don’t own a vehicle, you have likely seen plenty of other folks backing up instead of driving in head-on to parallel park their vehicle. If you own a car, truck or any other four-wheeled vehicle, you are probably intimately aware of this annoying thing that happens almost daily in our lives.

It is easier to parallel park your car if you reverse into the space rather than drive straight in because the front tires of the car are controlled by the steering wheel, and can therefore be steered in any direction with ease, as opposed to the rear wheels, which only move straight.

Why is backing into empty slots easier than heading into them when parallel parking?.