Bay Parking

Move forward until your vehicle is one car width away from the bay that you wish to reverse into, and one car length past it. This will give you sufficient room to manoeuvre, and time to fit in the necessary observations.

As soon as you your vehicle is stationary, apply the parking brake and select reverse gear.

Preparation - Gas and biting point.

Observation - All around to check for pedestrians as well as moving vehicles.

Manoeuvre - Look over the appropriate shoulder, release the parking brake and reverse when it is safe to do so.

Perform another all around observation before turning.

As you reverse (looking over your shoulder of course) you will get used to a reference point that is different both for every vehicle and for each direction. When your reference point is in line with the first line of the bay that you have chosen, turn quickly to full lock in the same direction as the bay.

As you continue to reverse slowly around into the mouth of the bay, make sure that you do one more all around observation and any minor corrections to the steering that are necessary.

Just before you are completely parallel in the bay straighten up (remember to glance at the wheel to make sure that it is properly straight if you are not sure). I say to begin straightening the steering just before being straight on in the bay because it takes a second or two to straighten up from full lock.

When you are suitably straightened up and fully into the bay then bring your vehicle to a halt, apply the handbrake, and select neutral.

Take your feet off the pedals and relax.

The Driving Test

The examiner on the driving test will expect you to:-

1 Have good Co-Ordination - You will have to co-ordinate the speed and the timing of the steering in a smooth manner so that the manoeuvre can be performed in one smooth attempt. Less speed is always good especially in a car parking situation where pedestrians of all sizes can be expected to come at you from any angle.

2 Observe - There will have to be several all around observations to ensure the safety not only of ourselves but of other users of the car park also.

Before moving off - so that you have checked for pedestrians moving between the vehicles.
Before you turn - even though it is only a second or two from the last one. Some pedestrians really do not look out for themselves.
While you reverse into the bay - look over your shoulder to make certain that there is no-one behind you and that you know exactly when to bring your vehicle to a halt.

3 be accurate - You will have to reverse into the bay and stop between the lines in a reasonable parking position.