At any point during your practical driving assessment, your examiner will ask you to perform one of four driving test manoeuvres. These include:
- Parallel Park
- Forward Bay Park
- Reverse Bay Park
- Pull up on the right and reverse two car lengths
Luckily, our award-winning driving instructors can help you get to the point where you can successfully perform these manoeuvres with your eyes closed (not literally, please do not drive with your eyes closed).
The important thing to know about mastering driving manoeuvres is that there is not only one correct way of completing such manoeuvres, so if these guides do not work for you, there will be other methods that you find work better for you.
Drivers all have their preferred way of completing manoeuvres, so the way you’re most comfortable doing it may be different to another driver.
With that being said, let’s dive straight into the first manoeuvre, the parallel park…
Parallel Parking
To many learner drivers, the parallel park is the most daunting. But, once broken down into a few simple steps, it’s nothing to worry about!
It involves parking your car in a space that is parallel to the road, and it’s a very handy skill to have.
Let’s break down how you can become a pro at parallel parking!
How To Complete a Parallel Park
The first step to completing a parallel park is getting into the car.
Alright, we’ll not bore you with the obvious steps.
As you’re approaching an empty parking space, check your mirrors and blind spots thoroughly to ensure it’s safe to stop.
If the coast is clear and it’s safe to stop, pop on your indicator (if necessary) and stop your vehicle so that it is parallel to the car that’s parked in front of the space you’re going to reverse into.
Your vehicle wants to be roughly 1m (about the width of a car door) away from the other vehicle.
Then reverse back slightly so the back of your car is slightly behind the back of the vehicle you’re parallel to.
If there’s oncoming traffic, then you’ll need to wait for traffic to pass before beginning the manoeuvre.
Next, make final observations by checking your mirrors and blind spots.
It’s crucial that you check your mirrors and blind spots at this next stage during the manoeuvre, as the front of your car will be moving out into the road.
If safe to do so and there is no oncoming traffic, put the car into reverse and start reversing slowly.
You’ll then need to turn the steering wheel one full rotation anti-clockwise (assuming you’re parking on the left side of the road). Providing you’ve given yourself enough room, this should be enough steering to avoid the other vehicle.
The next reference point is often when the front-left corner of your car is aligned with the back-right corner of the parked car in front of the space (it may be different if you’ve established your own reference points with your instructor).
The next step is to turn the steering wheel clockwise until it fully locks.
Reverse slowly until your car is parallel to the curb. Remember to continue checking your mirrors and blind spots thoroughly whilst performing the manoeuvre.
Once happy with your position, straighten up the steering wheel and stop. That’s it.
If you touch the curb at any point during the manoeuvre, you’ll be given a driver fault.
If you mount the kerb, the fault will be classed as either serious or dangerous and you will fail your test, so take your time and readjust if necessary.
And remember to take it slow and to take your time throughout this manoeuvre.
Bay Parking
Because this manoeuvre can be performed by either going in forward or backward, there’s a 50% chance that you’ll be asked to perform one of these manoeuvres on your driving test.
Simply put, it’s a manoeuvre that involves you driving into a parking bay.
Let’s first dive into how you can learn to perform a Forward Bay Park.
How To Complete A Forward Bay Park
The first thing to consider when looking to complete a Forward Bay Park is finding an appropriate space.
Whilst you can park on either side, we believe it’s best to find a space on your right, allowing you more space to complete the manoeuvre.
Once you’ve found a space (we’re assuming on the right), check your rear-view mirror, right door mirror, and blind spots.
If necessary, pop on your right indicator and slowly move over to the left to give yourself enough space to complete the manoeuvre.
The first reference point for this manoeuvre is often when the first line of the empty parking bay is beneath your right door mirror.
If there is no oncoming traffic, turn the steering wheel clockwise until it locks and move slowly towards the bay.
Keep moving until the car is facing straight ahead in the bay.
Once straight, move forward until your vehicle is fully in the bay.
Under test conditions, you’re still allowed to readjust, so make sure you take your time with the manoeuvre and pop your car into neutral with the handbrake on when you’re happy.
Simple as that.
Reverse Bay Parking
The Reverse Bay Park is a manoeuvre that many shy away from, but once mastered, it’s largely considered to be one of the safest and easiest manoeuvres.
We prefer this manoeuvre to the forward bay park, as it is safer and easier to pull out of the bay when leaving.
How To Complete the Reverse Bay Park Manoeuvre
On the day of your driving test, if asked to perform this manoeuvre, your examiner will usually tell you which side of the road to manoeuvre on. For this short guide, we’ll assume that your chosen bay is on the left side of the road.
Once you’ve found your bay, stick on your left indicator if necessary and check your mirrors and blind spots to ensure it’s safe to continue with the manoeuvre.
Drive roughly two car lengths past the bay, lining up the centre of your passenger-side door with the white bay line that’s two along from your desired bay.
Make observations again, put your car into the reverse gear, and prepare to start reversing slowly.
Turn the steering wheel anticlockwise until it fully locks, (continuing to check your mirrors and blind spots thoroughly throughout the manoeuvre) and begin reversing slowly.
The bay lines will begin to appear in your side mirrors, and you should be straightening your steering wheel once you become parallel with the bay lines.
Keep slowly reversing until your vehicle is in the bay, put your car in neutral with your handbrake on, and you’re done!
Again, you can adjust throughout the manoeuvre if you need to, just take your time and ensure you’re checking your mirrors and blind spots thoroughly.
Pulling Up on The Right
This final manoeuvre is arguably the easiest.
At any point in the test, the examiner will ask you to pull up on the right and reverse two car lengths.
Before completing the manoeuvre, check your mirrors, indicate, and ensure there is no oncoming traffic.
Once safe to do so, move over to the right side of the road until your car is parallel to the curb (avoid making contact with the curb or you’ll receive a fault).
After pulling up on the right, put your handbrake on, turn off your indicator, and check your mirrors and blind spots before continuing with the second part of this manoeuvre.
Start reversing slowly, keeping your car straight (using your mirrors to ensure you don’t make contact with the curb).
Whilst reversing, you should constantly check mirrors and look over your shoulder so you can be aware of any approaching people or vehicles.
Reverse approximately 2 car lengths and stop.
To complete this manoeuvre, you need to re-join the traffic. You will need to indicate left and creep out if necessary, making sure that it is safe ahead and behind before proceeding.
Don’t forget that your blind spot is over your left shoulder, so check this before re-joining the traffic.
Easy as that, now you can head into your driving test with confidence and ready to take on any manoeuvre!
