Totally OT - Parallel Parking

[launderess]

It's the holiday season and the streets are more crowded than usual, and parking is very tight, and one HATES parallel parking on NYC streets. Rarely does one find a spot with a decent amount of room to whip in.

Am curious do persons living say out in the country or some such place where the thing rarely is used, have to learn parallel parking?

L.

 

[sudsmaster]

Well, Launderess, I'm aware of the tendency of NYC'rs to view the rest of the nation as a backwater where paved streets are almost as rare as raised sidewalks with hard curbs.

But rest assured they do exist in abundance throughout this nation, and that parallel parking is a time honored component of drivers' education and DMV classes.

It is a learned skill and one does need to practice it from time to time, but there are easy visual cues one can use to parallel park the average sedan with a minimum of fuss, bother, and palaver.

My panel van, however, is another matter. No side windows. Parallel parking that thing is like manuvering the Titanic around icebergs. In fact I strive to pull into canted spaces in a parking lot with the front facing the alleyway, so I can pull out without having to risk backing over a shopping cart or worse.

 

[xraytech]

Yes, I do believe that parallel parking is present in every driving test.
I personally have only had the need to parallel park twice since I started driving, but with ample space I can whip my Town Car into a spot in only one try should the need ever arise

 

[rp2813]

Ditto to ALL that Rich said. Harrrumph!

 

[ronhic]

and from an international perspective...

....yes....

 

[danemodsandy]

Ditto!

Even if one is out in the veriest of hinterlands, when one goes to one's nearest one-horse town to conduct one's business, one typically finds one's parallel parking skills quite, quite useful to one in maneuvering into a parking space, because one can usually find only one.

 

[revvinkevin]

Hey Launderess, I have a solution for you!!

Why don't you sell your current vehicle and buy a Smart car... then you will never have to worry about parallel parking again!

(Ducks & Runs?)

LOL

 

[bugsyjones]

Although I do try to avoid parallel parking, it's inevitable if I go to downtown Wichita. Parking availability there is disastrous and you almost always have to park on the busy street and walk a block or so to your destination. Sometimes the one-ways aren't very busy. The parallel spots aren't so bad, but I hate backing out onto busy Douglas Ave. Alot of times, I can't see the traffic around the cars beside me. Also, some spots have parking meters, and I try and avoid those too.

~Tim

 

[westingman123]

Hey Sandy, Rita says "Did you put enough ones into that?" >smirk<

 

[veroroger]

Well, I know

my home state of Michigan (may it rust in peace) and my adopted state of Florida (what's the senior discount) teach parallel parking. Not so sure of other states, especially in season. It seems like we have way too many people in large Cadillac's or Lincoln's who use a "touchy/feely" style for parking or park by sound. When you hear the clunk, you know you need to pull forward. I, myself, try to avoid them at all costs. But, then again, I've been accused of backing up by touch!
Roger Brown

 

[sudsman]

Parallell is a requirement for TX Dl..

But still hate it when the outsiders come into town in those noisy automobiles and scare the horses.. Or they kids come down the walks and untie the horses from the hichin post.. I have lost a many of good laundry wagons just that way. And poor Grandma too. She was on the wagon waiting for us to finish a delivery one afternoon and the a one of those fancy automobiles came by and spooked the horse and it came untied from the hitchin post and took off. Guess she is still out there in a run a way laundry wagon somewhere. We sho miss her..

 

[foraloysius]

From the Netherlands

Yes!

And it's the only way to park in the street where I live. Either on the left or on the right side.

 

[maytagbear]

When I got my license

back in '76, Ohio did have a parallel parking test, which I passed with rather higher points than the driving portion.

However, it has been replaced with something called "maneuverability," which contains parallel parking, and several other aspects.

I stopped driving in 2003, and if I were to take it up again, the maneuverability portion might be my downfall.

You meant this as a comedy bit, correct, Laundress dear? If so, you are a gifted comedienne, in the Fannie Brice mode.

Lawrence/Maytagbear

 

[polkanut]

Whenever I go downtown here in Wausau, I sometimes need to paralell park the Chrysler Town & Country minivan.

 

[toggleswitch2]

Why do we park in the driveway and drive on the parkway?

I learned how to drive in daddy's Carpice Classic in the 1980s. Big, boxy, line down the center of the hood (bonnet=> UK), and a hood ornament. Driving lessons were after school in the Union Square area of Manhattan.

Could parallel park that big ole thang on a dime. My current vehicle that has a hood and a trunk (boot=> UK) that appear to slope down from the driver's persepctive; not as easy.

Worked with a young lady from Brooklyn who had an out-of-town guest. Guest could not imagine parking in "such a small spot" My coworker had to park the car.

And they wonder what that huge barrel of KY is in the trunk ..JEEZ!

 

[toggleswitch2]

Parallel parking?

That requires turning one's head and looking as well as:

1- Stopping the texting
2- Putting down the telephone
3- Turning off the television
4- Putting down the cocktail and/or the cigarette
5- Stopping personal grooming- bra-strap adjustment, makeup, shaving (for men!)
6- Putting down the newspaper.

....and concentrating.

 

[thomasortega]

I don't know what happens to me...

... and how I passed the tests when I got my driver's license...
I can do paralel parking to the right in seconds and the space can be only a few inches bigger than the car, no matter what car, even if it's the first time i'm driving it. The car will be perfectly parked only a few inches from the sidewalk and I never hit the tires on it.

But to the left (most people say it's much easier) I can find an empty block, with a car parked on each corner and if I decide to park right in the middle of the block I can be sure i'm going to hit both cars on each corner, climb the sidewalk and maybe crash against a store window.

when it's done (after 40 minutes or more and dozens of people watching and laughing) i'll say "it fitted as a glove" and the car will be "so close" to the sidewalk that the street's left lane will be blocked.

Of course I'll leave the car using a Monalisa's smile or wear my sunglasses like Miranda Priestly.

About the video... Well, I think I've found someone that can park to the left much better than I do.

I hate sedans but my next car should be a Lexus.... LOL

 

[logixx]

Am curious do persons living say out in the country or some such place where the thing rarely is used, have to learn parallel parking?

Can Americans still teach themselves - more or less - how to drive? In Germany, and I think all of Europe, one most attend driving school to get the driver's license. And there are lots of things to learn: pulling/reversing into a parking space, parallel parking, driving at night, driving on the "Autobahn" (freeway), emergency stop (extreme braking), checking the oil level etc, etc... And then there are the theoretical lessons, of course, where they teach you all the street signs, all the rules, all the potential dangers - everything.

You won't get your license unless you passed both the theoretical and practical test - and paid about 2000 Euros (approx. $3000).

Alex

 

[norgeway]

no big deal...

My mom was the best at getting a big car...usually a 88 Olds,or LTD into a small space,so I learned all the tricks at an early age,just one thing,it is much easier to park a big old car, you can see all four corners of,than anything built today,I had a 63 Olds Starfire in 81 -83, when you start driving in something like that,as a teenager,you have no problems,because you can see what you are doing,now with this junk we drive you have to guess.