The Manual
Vol. I · No. 1 · September 2026
The Gentleman's Guide
Part V · Car & TransportationNo. 196 · Page 7 of 20

Parallel parking and city parking

Parallel parking is a fixed sequence of three turns of the wheel, and it works every time in any space a few feet longer than your car. Read every sign on the pole from top to bottom before you walk away, because the ticket costs more than a garage.

Parallel parking and city parking

Pick the space and set up

You need a gap about one and a half times the length of your car. Signal as soon as you spot it, so the driver behind you stops short instead of sealing you out. Pull up beside the car in front of the space, two to three feet away from it, with your rear bumper even with its rear bumper.

The sequence

  1. Shift to reverse, check your mirrors and look over your shoulder through the rear window.
  2. Back up at walking speed and turn the wheel all the way toward the curb as soon as you start moving.
  3. When the car sits at about 45 degrees and you can see the full front of the car behind in your curb-side mirror, straighten the wheel and keep backing.
  4. When your front bumper clears the rear bumper of the car ahead, turn the wheel all the way away from the curb.
  5. Stop when you are parallel, then pull forward to center the car in the space. Aim to finish six to twelve inches from the curb, and most states write a ticket beyond twelve or eighteen. If you touch the curb or run out of room, pull forward and out and start again. Trying to rescue a bad angle takes longer than a second attempt. Backup cameras help with the last foot, but they do not show a cyclist approaching alongside.

Reading the street

City signs stack, and the most restrictive line that applies right now wins. Check for street cleaning hours, rush-hour tow zones, permit-only blocks and meter time limits. Painted curbs mean something, and red nearly always means no stopping at all. Most states forbid parking within 15 feet of a fire hydrant and within 20 feet of a crosswalk, marked or not. Your state driver's manual lists the exact distances.

Hills and garages

On a hill, set the parking brake and turn the wheels so the car would roll into the curb: toward the curb facing downhill, away from the curb facing uphill. With no curb, turn them toward the edge of the road in both directions. In a garage, photograph the level and space number along with your ticket, and leave nothing visible on the seats, not even a charging cable.

Note Pay or contest a parking ticket before the date printed on it. Late penalties often double the fine, and enough unpaid tickets can bring a boot, a tow or a block on renewing your registration.