h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

The best way I've found to get a car parallel parked safely is to find someone very good at it. Then attempt to take this person everywhere with you. Make them park the car whenever possible.

Parallel parking must rank as one of modern societies greatest stressors. It has long been my belief that anywhere you have to drive backwards, even for the briefest time, to get to can't possibly be worth all the effort. I never really understood why driving backwards round a corner was even on the test. If you missed your turning, why not drive around the block and try again?

At least the UK test it's only two out of the three possibles; Parallel park, Reverse round a corner, Three point turn.
I can understand the threepoint turn a parallel parking as being usefull but as you say, reversing round a corner?

Reversing round a corner? Seriously? I thought that Danish traffic regulations had it's strange points and that the requirements for learning to drive are steep (and makes it costly, indeed) -- but never did we have to reverse around corners...

*shudders*

*thinks long and hard*

What's the point?


SG V

I dunno,but I had to pay someone to show me how when I was learning to drive (learning to pass the test ) even if I never did it on the test itself.

Yesterday I saw another great way to get a car parked. The only flaw is that you must drive a small car, like a sub-micro-compact car from Japan. Or possiply a VW Bug. Then you can do what I saw someone do. He and his friends PICKED UP the car and CARRIED it into the parking space! They only needed five people to do this, and I'm pretty sure the guy on the front bumper was shirking.

FYI - I reversed round a corner yesterday cos I was lost! I think I need lessons in parallel parking, it seems to be a skill I just can't acquire at all, although power steering helps.

Yeah, I remember doing something like that twice in my younger days (no, since you ask, it's not THAT long ago....In my opinion ).

Once we "hopped" a friend's very small Italian car sideways into a parking place (you just start pushing it up&down on its suspension - it's not too hard). When we left, a couple came by and stopped gaping, wondering how we parked there...

The other one, well, going back from a high school party, we carried a Citroen 2CV Van onto the front lawn of the house where it was parked..... Shame on us, really! It was dead easy, though -- they're not too heavy and even have convenient handles on the back door (I guess that's why we had the idea)



SG V

Even easier:
1 Tow a pallet truck.
2 Park parallel to the kerb but as far from the kerb as you like.
3 Use pallet truck to lift and ease the thing to the kerb.
4 Go shopping.


AG

warning this only works for small cars!

LOL at the idea though

You've all made the subject of parallel parking quite enjoyable. I must say, I long for a parallel universe where it is simply not necessary.

By the way, as "Gambler", like me, does not like to go backwards even for a short time, I wonder if he's an Aries? If a bus stops every other block and I want the one in between, I will always get off one block earlier than my destination, because I hate going backwards!