A 3-minute lesson from the Massachusetts course. Read the rules and examples, follow the handbook page references, and check your understanding before you move on.
Parallel parking and hill parking are road-test skills and common exam questions. Take it slowly, look where you're going, and set your wheels so a failed brake won't send the car rolling.
Parallel parking steps:
Choose a legal space that's long enough for your vehicle
Pull alongside the car in front of the space, two or three feet away, bumpers or front seats lined up
Look behind you both ways for pedestrians and other traffic
Back slowly, turning the wheel all the way toward the curb, with your foot resting lightly on the brake
Look directly out the rear window, not in your mirrors
When your front passes the parked car's rear bumper, turn the wheel the opposite way and keep backing
Straighten your wheels and pull forward, leaving room in front and behind; then shift into park
When parking on a hill, always set your parking brake. With an automatic transmission, shift into park; with a manual transmission, leave it in gear. Turn your front wheels so the vehicle won't roll downhill if the brake fails.
You park facing uphill on a street with a curb. Turn your front wheels outward, toward the travel lane, set the parking brake, and shift into park (or leave a manual in gear).
Check your understanding
Read the question, decide on an answer, then open it to check the explanation. These are Roadwise study questions based on the source handbook.
When parking downhill against a curb, which way should you turn your front wheels?
Away from the curb, toward traffic
Toward the curb
Straight ahead
It doesn't matter with the brake set
Answer: Toward the curb
Parking downhill against a curb, turn your wheels inward toward the curb.
