Is “why do I always park crooked” a common complaint that you have about your driving? Let’s finish it off once and for all by helping you park your car straight.
You should not be embarrassed if you park crooked. Most of the new learners find it difficult to park at all. Many pro drivers, too, sometimes park crooked.
You can quickly learn to park straight and practice to improve. Moreover, crooked parking may be due to other external problems such as a wrongly positioned mirror, driver’s hood line, an overly crowded parking lot, and more.
Why Do I Park Crooked?
You might think that it’s only you whose parking is problematic. But if you do some research, you will notice most people park crooked. This might happen due to faulty design of the car, lack of space to see the back, a tight parking lot, or a parking area without lines.
You Cannot Locate The Back Bumper.
Well, one of the preliminary steps is to place your car’s bumper in the posterior end near the end line of the parking area. In most cases, from the driver’s seat, you will see that your car’s bumper is in the right spot near the end line. Once you straighten your car and get out of the car, you will notice a large gap of about 1 to 2 inches.
What could you do about this? Well, many car owners claim that installing cameras in the car gives access to the back view, which in turn helps them look back and park perfectly straightforwardly. Some modern cars have already installed a camera system controlled by the car computer and, as shown in the back view on the screen, prevents crooked parking.
Tight Parking Lot
A tight parking lot is often a nightmare for new learning drivers. The first thing drivers need to park straight is ample space to turn around their car freely. A parking lot crowded with parked cars won’t give you such liberty. There is always the risk of colliding with some car or the other and causing scratches on both cars.
Ultimately, the parking becomes crooked. If you are new to driving, do practice in empty parking lots.
No Lines To Guide
New drivers swear by the guiding lines drawn across the parking lots to park straight. You can follow the lines to determine if you have parked in the center of the parking spot or shifted to either of the four-sided.
For straight parking, you must reverse your car slowly until your back bumper is about a foot away from the line behind your car. Then position your car in a straight direction.
You are Better Suited To Another Car
This might seem silly, but it’s true. You might be a pro-level driver for one car, but with some particular model, you fail to drive as smoothly as you should.
Many car owners complain that they park well in their cars but park crooked with other cars. It might happen because you are accustomed to your car’s design, functionality, and shape. So you can park straight.
Design Of The Car
Some cars are designed in a way that makes it even more challenging to see the back or the sides. Some rearview mirrors create an optical illusion in some angles that you get a crooked view of the surrounding, and thus you park crooked. Experts advise lowering your mirrors to get a clear look at the back.
How To Park Straight
If you are new to driving, parking your car straight is one of the most common problems you might face. Believe it or not, it is an essential life skill most drivers ignore. Once you learn the art of parking your car straight in parallel parking, you can go on flexing about it to your friends. Moreover, if you have OCD or are just a person who likes perfection, parking your car straight along the parking lot lines will make your brain release tiny molecules of satisfaction. Like any other skill, practice is the key to being perfect.
Align With The Car In Front
The first thing you have to do is to line your car alongside the car parked right in front of your car. You should align your car’s back bumper along the back bumper of the car. When you are learning to park your car straight, it’s wise to always park behind an already parked car. Make sure you are at least 6 to 7 inches from the car.
Reverse the Car
The next step includes reversing your car. Start reversing and then quit placing your foot on the brake until you move about a foot backward. Then turn your steering wheel to an entire revolution l to the desired direction. You will turn left if you want to park on the street. You should turn right if you want to park parallel to the right of a street. Check on the rearview mirrors to see if your positioning is correct or not.
Roll Back With You Wheel Turned
Now, you need to roll back in slower motions when your wheel is turned. Continue the process until your car’s back wheel reaches the curb. To be precise, it is at a one-foot distance from it.
Turn in The Other Direction
Next, you need to turn your steering in the opposite direction. Turn your wheel for two complete revolutions and then reverse in. At this stage, your car will start to take a straight position.
What To Do If You Touch Another Car?
Always keep an eye on the front to ensure you do not touch the car parked in front of yours. What if you did touch the front car? Then reverse back and start the process all over.
The last is to reverse your car so that your car’s side is in alignment with the curb. To check if it’s aligned, open your door or determine through your eyes if the car in front of you is in line with your car. If the front car has parked straight, then be assured that you have parked straight.
Parking Straight In a Lot
- Drive into the parking lot slowly while looking at the lot and decide where you want to park. Move your car next to the parking area where you want to park.
- Then start turning your steering in a direction opposite the parking spot so that your car motions in an outward direction. But ensure that no person or car is coming around your car while parking.
- Now, roll your wheels to be inside the spot by moving them until you cross the front line. When you’re about 2 feet from the front line, follow the lines to be in a straight position.
- You can be assured that your car is straight if you have your back bumper right into the spot and you have enough space in between other parked cars.
Perpendicular Parking
Once you become a pro at parking straight, you can opt for parking perpendicularly. Perpendicular parking is nothing but placing it at an angle of 90 degrees. Why would you require to do so?
Yes, parking straight is enough if you are parking on the street, in your garage, or in a parallel park space. But sometimes you might encounter a perpendicular shopping mall parking lot, or you might need to park at that Angle at a street-side store.
While it might seem a challenging job, with a bit of practice, you can also ace this style of parking. To learn the technique, follow the steps mentioned below:
Find An Open Space To Practice
First, for practicing, you must choose an open area with ample space around your car. Make sure you can quickly get inside and out of your car.
Turn Signal On
To start parking your car, turn on the signal to your left or right. The signal to turn on depends on the direction of the entry point of the parking area. You will turn your steering along the direction of your car’s entry and the signal. The signal is crucial as it tells the people on the street that you’re taking a turn and will park in that spot.
Swing The Car Outwards
Now it’s time to move your car slowly so that it swings outward to the surrounding cars. The more you move away from the parking space, the easier it will become for you to get into the area. Ideally, it would help if you were at least 8 to 10 feet away from the chain of already parked cars.
Place The Car Properly
Now you need to move on to the next step and place your car in the correct position. To do so, you need to place your car so that the bumper in the front of your car is a little past your car’s lights just before you reach your chosen area. You should have a straight-facing car. Make sure your chosen parking space has guiding lines on either of its sides.
Sharp Turn
At this stage, you must make a sharp turn to pull your car into the area slowly. Then you need to make the wheels of your car straightened as you enter the spot so that your vehicle is in the center position.
Check If It Is In the Center
In the next step, you need to determine whether you have parked your car in the center of the parking spot or not. If it’s not and is shifted to either side, then move your car backward in a straight direction until you reach the yellow lines. Then try to straighten your car again so that your car is at the center and is equidistant to both the sidelines.
Move Back
At last, move back so that you have enough space and your front bumper does not reach the guiding line of the parking area. You should park your car precisely at the center, and it shouldn’t cross any line.
How To Park At 45-Degree Angle
Once you have aced the art of parking your car straight parallelly, it’s time to learn something new! You have already learned how to park your car at the right Angle. There’s no harm in learning another one. Often drivers say that parking at a 45-degree angle is much easier than parking it straight or at 90 degrees. Some people even prefer learning 45-degree parking at first and then a 90-degree. They slowly progress to 180-degree parking, which is straight parallel parking. But these are all talks of experienced drivers. To new drivers, parking is a difficult thing to ace. So, here are the steps in easy words for your learning. With a bit of practice, you can ace all three types of parking easily.
- Like all kinds of parking you learned, the first and foremost step before even starting to park is to find a suitable spot. If you are a learner or a new driver, try to opt for open space. Open space ensures that you have enough room to undertake various motions in the entire process of parking. Moreover, there are fewer chances of a person or a vehicle interrupting your learning session.
- When you enter a 45-degree parking lot and choose a spot, and notice rows of cars lined up around your car, it’s better to go and search for another, less crowded spot.
- The signal is a crucial part of your car. You mainly use your signal to communicate with other drivers while driving, turning, and reversing your car. You also use signals when you want to tell the surrounding car drivers and pedestrians that you are trying to park in a particular spot. The first step is to turn your signal on. It would help if you turned the signal in the same direction where you want to enter or go. After turning on the signal, you are required to move your car at a steady pace toward the car parking spot.
- The next thing you want to do is make sure you are not too close to any other car. Remember that the more space between your car and others’ cars, the easier it is to park. Additionally, there isn’t any risk of scratching your or someone else’s car. So before you pull into your parking spot, ensure you have enough space. This will reduce the chances of collision and ensure a center parking of your car.
- Now it’s time to roll the steering. It would help if you moved your steering wheel steadily so that your car moves into the parking lot region. Move the steering until you reach the first line of the lot.
- You need to put your foot on the brakes while moving the steering. While doing so, keep an eye around your car. Make sure the space around you is clear of any pedestrians, vehicles, or parked cars.
- The next step is to position your car straight, then move into the parking space at a steady speed.
- Stop the car once you reach the one-foot mark behind the parking lot guiding line in the front.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do I park straight all the time?
You can learn to park straight almost every time with much practice. You need to make sure that you follow the lines that enclose the parking area. First, reverse your car and place a foot in front of the back line. Then slowly straighten your car and move into the spot at a steady speed.
Why do people park slanted?
There could be a wide variety of reasons for slanted parking. The most obvious reason is that they are learners and have yet to master parking. Other reasons might be an interrupted view of the back bumper, tight parking etc.
How do you correct an angle parking?
There are two-angle parking that you can master. A 45-degree angle parking is the easiest, and it would be best if you learn it first. Then you can progress to right-angle parking. The critical tip is to keep your rear wheels in the desired direction and straighten the car.
Why can’t I keep my car straight?
There can be a variety of reason that makes your parking “not straight”. This could be because you cannot see the surroundings correctly and determine the distance from the parked cars. With a bit of practice, you can always learn to park straight.
Wrap Up
You can quickly master the art of parking, be it parallel, 90 degrees, 45 degrees or in the central parking parks. Experts advise starting learning from 45-degree parking and then gradually progressing to parallel parking.
Parking can be easy if you simply understand that the car needs to be in a specific spot and a specific angle for it to align with the spaces perfectly. It helps if you can visualize the car as it moves backward when you park.
Thank you for reading.
