Being able to parallel park is awesome

"Jake - Has Bad Luck So You Don't Have To" (murdersofa)
09/25/2014 at 19:15 • Filed to: None

Nobody wanted this parking spot super-close to where I was going because nobody else felt like parallel parking.

Fits in nice and easy.

DISCUSSION (18)

davedave1111 > Jake - Has Bad Luck So You Don't Have To
09/25/2014 at 19:22

Hah, I love the idea that that's a tight spot.

The best reaction I've had is in places where they have really deep gutters (because of heavy rainfall) so if you park close to the kerb, you can't open your door. No-one learns to reverse park because you almost always have space to drive in forwards, considering you want to end up a couple of feet from the kerb anyway. The times I did, people stared like it was some kind of black magic.

burntartichoke > Jake - Has Bad Luck So You Don't Have To
09/25/2014 at 19:24

I love parallel parking my car, I don't know why but it almost feels easier than pulling into a perpendicular spot. When I took my driver's test in California, I wasn't even required to parallel park but backup straight along a curb, what a load of BS. I have no idea about other states but it is sad when the test is so easy and yet people still fail.

Jake - Has Bad Luck So You Don't Have To > davedave1111
09/25/2014 at 19:25

Yeah that was one of the easier parallel jobs I've had.

And backing into spots seems like some sort of ridiculous challenge to everyone else... I back into pretty much every spot I can. The other night I backed the Volkswagen into a 2 car garage after going AROUND my sister's truck and coming into the garage at an angle. Still got it in straight, didn't hit the truck or the Honda.

Zipppy, Mazdurp builder, Probeski owner and former ricerboy > Jake - Has Bad Luck So You Don't Have To
09/25/2014 at 19:25

Just slid it in there LIKE A BOSS.

I seriously gotta practice more parallel parking.

Jake - Has Bad Luck So You Don't Have To > burntartichoke
09/25/2014 at 19:29

I had to parallel park in downtown and had a drunk homeless guy walk up to the driving school car and say that was his parking spot.

The mirrors on the car tilted down when you shifted into reverse, which was nifty. A check in the owner's manual reveals that was an option on my car that wasn't ticked. Bugger.

davedave1111 > Jake - Has Bad Luck So You Don't Have To
09/25/2014 at 19:31

Once you get the hang of it, reversing most normal sized cars isn't too difficult. Some people never learn how, and some people have real trouble with turning everything round in their head, so can't ever be much good.

My sister has an interesting technique, though. I've been told that she once turned up somewhere, stopped next to a space like yours, got out, held up the keys, and said 'I know this car will fit, who's going to park it for me' to the crowd milling outside whatever event it was she was going to. I think she's got better, although the last time I saw her car it was parked about four feet from the kerb (seriously!), and when I asked her why she claimed she was hoping someone would write it off for her...

thebigbossyboss > Jake - Has Bad Luck So You Don't Have To
09/25/2014 at 19:34

Uh. That spot is huge.

Jake - Has Bad Luck So You Don't Have To > davedave1111
09/25/2014 at 19:35

The only part I have issues with is getting close enough to the kerb, though I'm getting better at that. This is only my 4th or 5th time parallel parking.

thebigbossyboss > Jake - Has Bad Luck So You Don't Have To
09/25/2014 at 19:35

I always try to fit into the smallest spot possible.

It's a challenge. Although this morning I was hung over so I actually gave up on a spot.

Jake - Has Bad Luck So You Don't Have To > thebigbossyboss
09/25/2014 at 19:36

Never said it wasn't. I was commenting on how parallel parking seems like some huge challenge to everyone else at my university, so they'll bypass this perfectly enormous spot because they can't be bothered.

davedave1111 > Jake - Has Bad Luck So You Don't Have To
09/25/2014 at 19:41

Driver's side, you should be able to see by looking out the window. Or at least, once you've learnt where it disappears to, anyway. Reverse in gently until you bump the kerb - at your usual 45 degree angle, so shouldn't damage the rim - and then have a look and remember what it looks like. Next time, turn parallel a bit before that :)

There's no substitute for practice. I must have done far more than you before I ever did my driving test - it's on the test here, so you have to practice with an instructor - and I still didn't really learn what I was doing until I started driving around on my own.

thebigbossyboss > Jake - Has Bad Luck So You Don't Have To
09/25/2014 at 19:43

That's fucked. I wish it was like that here though, I could park close all the time!

Denver Is Stuck In The 90s > Jake - Has Bad Luck So You Don't Have To
09/26/2014 at 02:54

Whenever I'm with my best friend, She always has me drive (even though I only have a permit (its ok shes 21)) for the sole reason that I can parallel park. Once she needed to fill up her tire at a gas station, I managed to pull in between a parked traverse and coca cola truck delivering soda while still being close enough to the pump to fill the tire on the opposite side of the car, I also pulled out without issue. There was like an inch between the rear bumper and the coke guys dolly. Those Backup sensors were so annoying, I just ignore them and go off my own judgement. I love parallel parking, it so much fun

Old-Busted-Hotness > Jake - Has Bad Luck So You Don't Have To
09/26/2014 at 06:43

I learned to parallel park an 18-wheeler. Never actually had to do it, but when you get it right holy shit it's a good feeling.

Jordaneer, The Mountaineer Man > Denver Is Stuck In The 90s
09/28/2014 at 14:26

I hate parallel parking, I can do it, Im just not very good at it, plus it doenst help that I have a mercury mountaineer thats rather large. if I had a small wagon, like a WRX or a legacy L. it would be so much easier to parallel park.

Jordaneer, The Mountaineer Man > burntartichoke
09/28/2014 at 14:29

I took my drivers test my license about a month and a half ago (Idaho). and I had to do the same thing. I had to pull over to the side of the road and back up 3 car lengths.

Jordaneer, The Mountaineer Man > Jake - Has Bad Luck So You Don't Have To
09/28/2014 at 14:32

I can do it, it just takes me a little while, my mom is killer at parallel parking, she can parallel park just about anywhere. It doesn't help that in my car, 2000 mercury mountianeer, that its really hard to see the edges of the car, sometiems even in the mirrors its hard to see.

Denver Is Stuck In The 90s > Jordaneer, The Mountaineer Man
09/28/2014 at 16:44

Th e car I drive the most is my dad's 2000 Honda Odyssey. I can parallel park that giant thing with ease. I love parallel parking, I'm good at it and its fun for me