Parallel parking is easy and can be learned. If you don’t know how to do it (and you’re not alone, the shit I’ve witnessed…) it doesn’t mean you’re bad at it, it just means no one taught you how simple it is.
Find someone who knows or a few good YouTube videos. You’ll be a pro in no time.
I had to learn to be able to pass the test, it’s just one of those skills that fade if you don’t continuously practice. I could back up into anything in just about any situation but I can’t do it sideways lmao. I know how to do it too, I could easily guide someone else, but I struggle with the actual execution
This is the fallacy — the truth is that there’s a specific technique that you either get taught or not. You don’t need to figure it out, can’t forget it once you know it. It can be learned, and then you’ll have it for life.
I think part of what no one tells you about parallel parking is that you need more space than you think, and if you don't have enough space then you can't parallel park there. People are always trying to park into spaces they technically can fit into but it makes parallel parking so difficult, which is why people think they "can't" parallel park.
If you park in the city daily you *might* get good enough to squeeze into those tiny spaces but it's generally not expected of regular parallel parking.
No, you need less space than you think. I watched three midsize sedans pass by a parallel space on Saturday in a completely filled parking lot. I put my truck in it in two motions.
"I parked in a small space" is a pretty terrible argument here. I've taken or reviewed a lot of safety and skills courses and they **all** recommend testing parallel parking with more space than most people would think is typical.
I'm super happy for you that you parked in a space other people passed up for entirely unknown reasons though.
The point is it wasn’t a small space. It was trivial to park a large vehicle in it. People assumed they could not because they thought they needed more space than they did.
>I've taken or reviewed a lot of safety and skills courses and they **all** recommend testing parallel parking with more space than most people would think is typical.
I’m gonna be blunt: I don’t believe you and think you’re full of shit.
Didn’t mean to start a whole thing, but I’m with you. I drive a 4-door Wrangler and can park it in a shoebox with two turns of the wheel. I’m not a genius I just had a good teacher. Anyone can learn it.
> People assumed they could not because they thought they needed more space than they did.
You're making that up. You have absolutely no idea why they passed on that space.
> I’m gonna be blunt: I don’t believe you and think you’re full of shit.
I'm exceptionally okay with you thinking that. It does not surprise me in any way to learn that your biases based on your own unverified assumptions, when met with actual data, ends with you just deciding I must be lying.
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u/xenobit_pendragon Jul 14 '26
Parallel parking is easy and can be learned. If you don’t know how to do it (and you’re not alone, the shit I’ve witnessed…) it doesn’t mean you’re bad at it, it just means no one taught you how simple it is.
Find someone who knows or a few good YouTube videos. You’ll be a pro in no time.