@@WRATHofanima Absolutely much safer to reverse in and drive out. Many companies I have visited have it as a condition of using their car park that you MUST reverse park. Every one I asked as to why I got similar answer front in parking lead to more minor accidents than reverse in. Another benefit of reverse in parking is that almost without exception getting away is a simple manoeuvre. In fact I would suggest to Ashly that reverse in parking reduces risk.
American here. I almost always back into a "bay," or drive forward into it and go through into the facing bay so I can drive forward out (yes, assuming there's no car there, lol). And, if the lot is mostly empty, I usually park a bit away where there's no cars next to me on either side, even if I have to walk a little farther.
I call this nosey parking! I never do it. I'd much rather reverse into a bay so as to avoid reversing out. I do go into a bay forward when there is a space directly in front [where the bays are painted as a double row], thus allowing me to drive out forwards without using reverse at all. The trouble with reversing out of a bay is managing good observation over your shoulders and keeping an eye on the rear view mirrors, but sometimes pedestrians seem to appear from blind spots. Best wishes from George
If you have bulky stuff to load into the rear of your care, then there's often little choice but to go in forwards as you can't get a supermarket or DIY trolley to the rear. Sometimes you can't even open the rear hatch.
That's fine, but clearly you don't have a wife who insists you park rear end out so you can fill the rear with shopping from the trolley at the supermarket. She has a point.
I still remember my shock when I returned to the test centre after finishing my test. As we’d done two manoeuvres during the test the examiner calmly said ‘pull forward into the bay and turn off the engine’. As I’d never done a forward bay park i instantly panicked… thankfully it was all good, but a shock at the time
When I did my test my instructor got me (and all his other pupils as well at test time) to drive into the bay at the test centre. That way it was a reverse out of the bay at the start of the test and, apparently, one manoeuvre done Not sure if that still is the case today as I am talking over 20 years ago
Good advice - reversing out is usually more tricky, giving it that quarter turn on the steering wheel first really helps - and it's all about practice! Thank you for sharing.
All well and good when there are no other vehicles parked each side of the bay you are entering or leaving. 1:40 - I think you would have clipped the vehicle in the bay to the left if it was taking up most of the bay. Great tips though for the situation you were showing. How about a follow up video on tips for entering a bay that is very tight due to vehicles both sides and opposite the bay you are entering or leaving? 😊
True that, I maneuver for existing space, I do not use a rote maneuver. I would like to believe that you would be impressed with the turn-around I did using reverse-angled spots in my Dr's office car park this morning. I was able to pull out forward through the pavement and into a tight road having very restricted visibility and medium traffic. Much safer than backing.
Just 2 nights ago I had to negotiate a forward bay park in a Glasgow street at a tight angle and the only space available, vehicles either side, and again ,was sqinty one way , reversed out carefully due to passing traffic, tried to straighten up, but sqinty the other way which I realised when I got out of car , so had to go back into car to repeat manoeuvre so I was a little less squinty. So yes , I will refer to these videos for future use, thanks . 🙂
Good job giving it another go, the number of times I see the “that’ll do” attitude making it impossible for anyone to enter the bay next to them, or worse making it impossible to exit the bay after they park next to you! Anyway, I think I said it before…your parking wasn’t squinty, the lines weren’t painted straight 😉
@@smilerbobI am conscious also that one would get the blame of bad parking having to park in a way to accommodate bad parking , then that bad parker leaving before one returns 🙄
What amazes me they still paint up the parking lines for 50-60-70's cars since then the modern car is wider by a foot at least leaving no room to comfortably open your door to get out. Hence why more n more people are taking two parking places to protect their cars and enable them to get in and out of their cars 😊
@@rogerkearns8094 try comparing a compact from 10-20 years ago with a "compact" from today, the same model (eg a Corsa or a Fiesta) will be significantly bigger. Main reason is all the safety technology, crumple zones etc that have been added over time to improve car safety. A few years ago I replaced my car (the original Mini Clubman from 2008) with the new model (Mini Clubman 2020). The size increase was significant.
@@ArminGrewe _e.g. Corsa or Fiesta_ Coincidentally, I recently disposed of my seventeen years old, three-door Corsa (ahh!) and bought for myself a year 2021, five-door version. Yes, it's a bit wider than I'd been used to, but parking's still not too much of a squeeze. It wasn't really Corsas and Fiestas that I was talking about. ;) Cheers :)
A good way to think about parking is putting yourself in the shoes of a bus driver at a junction. The bus will drive STRAIGHT out of a junction UNTIL the bus passes a certain point of the junction, somewhere between the front wheel and the middle of the bus, and then they will begin to steer. This avoids the back wheels nipping the curb. If you can crack this mentality with your car then you'll realise how easy it actually is to park.
If you steer in to the right you have a wider turn. If you reverse out steering right you can resume the left hand side of the alleyway. If two way flow is allowed if only one way flow is marked you will resume to be pointing in the correct direction. On test try to head away from the supermarket's pedestrian entrance as more people park close to that. If you are requested to choose a bay on the way to the entrance an early decision will give a less congested parking bay.
Nice tips and nice teaching 👏 With regards to the 15 minutes on the wheel when reversing out, it is vitally important that your right arm doesn’t drop as you do your shoulder observations otherwise all sorts of trouble can occur…fixed by re-entering the bay straight and starting again 👍
I have come to feel reversing out of a space is a clear hazard best avoided. So I will reverse park into spaces or drive through if possible to then avoid the neef to reverse out. I can understand teaching this, but perhaps the better option is make reverse parking the norm?
Agreed, avoid reversing out of spaces just as you would avoid reversing out of a junction. When I took my test, they didn't teach this manoeuvre at all.
You do need to know how to do this though because there are always going to be situations outside of your control where you will find yourself having to do this. You see people trying to do it and they clearly aren’t practiced so the manoeuvre is stressful and sometimes impossible for them.
Tesco car park (other supermarket options are available), Saturday morning, 10am, not only is every bay full but every car is at a different angle in the bay 🤣
Well, you just need to adjust once. If you can't cross the neighboring line as shown in the video, go a bit further, steer hard and reverse once before you hit the other car. That's usually enough for most cars unless you are really driving a huge beast that is too long for the bay anyway. Depends of course on other factors like how the other cars are parked and the total width to the opposite bays, but usually that should be minimum 5m in most places. If it's more narrow, just adjust a second time if you really want to still squeeze in. You can essentially turn every vehicle on a circle whose diameter is around 0.5m larger than your total vehicle length given enough time and patience.
@@Bob_Burton Well, true, but as you pointed out, the video is unrealistic and doesn't really help someone who has little experience in parking. Everyone can park if all the bays are empty. I also see the point though that learners can't take in too many information and simple instructions (at first) might be more useful. My advice to beginners would be anyway to stay away from parking tight in between other cars and behave as if they selected a urinal on a public toilet. :)
the other way to use the mirrors is to look and see how the rear wheels are aligned with the dividing lines. addendum: every driver should learn how wide their car is in relation to the usual places they will go, so they can position the near side correctly and have faith that the far side will be positioned accordingly. if your driver's side rear tire is where it belongs, then the passenger side has to land where it belongs, too.
my daily is notorious for being able to go around anything but a corner. so it is a more complicated process. I pull about 5 feet past my "turn point" on the far side of the lane, then go to full lock. proceed until I'm as close as I dare to the car in the adjacent bay. then go to full lock the other way. reverse until I'm as close as I dare to the car opposite, then back to full lock and into the bay. if I have a wide enough lane, and the cars adjacent are properly in their bays, I can usually do it with just those three moves, but normally, I then have to back fully out, and pull back in to be able to get the rear wheels in the correct spot. - or as close as the person parked hanging over the line in one of the adjacent bays allows. but I can still usually back out and swing away just as you showed.
@@kenbrown2808 If you can't move in forward in one motion, then you can't reverse out in one motion. You either have no room to steer enough or no room to move out straight enough in one go. Going reverse doesn't magically alter the dimensions and turning circle of your car. :)
@@Asto508 if you think really hard about the dynamics of going into a bay and going out of a bay, you'll figure it out. Hint. I'm not backing up the lane to get in position to get into the bay. Another hint: I'm also not backing up the lane when i leave the bay.
Thank you, I've been somewhat having difficulty with reversing out. Although I proceed cautiously, It's rather uncomfortable. Looking forward to trying it this way next :)
An excellent tutorial which also shows how damned small parking bays are. Imagine doing this in a bigger car, one reason why I try where possible to go for end bays. Also, I do the '15 minutes' (never analysed it that way) but then straighten up fairly quickly. In tight spots, I have to do this to avoid contacting the car on my left. This sets me up so I am exiting at an angle and the distance between my nearside front wing and the car to the left is increasing as I edge out - allowing a full lock turn once I know I can get away with that. Obviously, it all depends on the size of the car, the width of the bay and the passage you are backing out into. I know people say it's always best to reverse in but with an estate car and a trolley full of shopping, reversing in can cause real problems with having to slide between two cars while holding bags of shopping, especially if like me, you have a glass back. Of course, sod's law says that no matter where you park and how, the vehicle that is on the side that traffic is coming from will be an SUV or van.
rather than the "15 minutes" I give the wheel a decent amount of turn, and then watch my front corner, adjusting my steering as it comes close, to maintain the same gap as I back out. this means my steering starts strong, straightens and the gradually increases as I get to the end of the bay.
Personally, i think parking spaces need to be updated and made bigger. For example, look at a car from the 90s and even early 00s, and compare the size of old cars to new cars, the size difference is huge.
Greetings all. Will watch this and comment as soon as I can. Currently at the Deal / Bettshanger classic car show in Kent. Bumped into the folks at the IAM Roadsmart stand for the umpteenth time in so many years...and they keep asking me when I'm going to sign up for their courses and take the Advanced test. One of these days I might actually be brave enough to go for it.
Excellent guidance regarding the use of the mirrors as wings with the white line across the bay, but what do you advise if most of the spaces are occupied or you are driving in to a space against a wall, like multi-story car parks?
I like the camera from the roof. I guess you put a pipe and the camera LoL. Ashley what software are you using for show the green colour over the car parking spaces etc. Good video. The rear camera on the roof ,brilliant
I’ve always reverse bay parked, i didnt practice forward bay parking before my test, and was asked to do so during my test, i basically just went off of a couple of your previous videos and managed it just fine, though i personally hate forward bay parking, and think that reverse bay parking should be the natural thing to do purely because its easier to leave, you can just get in and go, plus its a lot easier to make observations and you don’t have to keep stopping every 2 seconds because of other cars turning in and being too impatient to wait lol, great video though, as with the previous on this subject! 😊
The only time I've ever parked in forward (nosey parking - term stolen from another comment) is on my driving lesson. It's been 6 years, and I always reverse park, it's just much easier and reduces any liability/risk
I wait until my side mirror is 1/4 of a way in the bay that I want to go into then put on full lock and I normally end up in the bay! I still find these videos helpful though!
I note that the car was parked into an empty bay in an empty sector of the car park, which is hardly a common experience. mostly there are other cars around and parked in the bays. The entry manoeuvre as shown would probably have resulted in damage to a car in the LH adjacent bay, similarly on exit as entry. The other issue is relying on external mirrors for reversing. I have found that modern car wing (door) mirrors give a false view due to clever optics giving them enhanced views for approaching traffic from the rear. Reverse an older car with plain or even convex mirrors and reversing is more accurate. Ideally, you should reverse into parking bays as this gives much better manoeuvrability into the bay and significantly better sightlines leaving the bay. The only issue for the shopper is that the boot is at the wrong end for loading except when reversing into a bay with a footpath behind
Reversing into a bay is a moot point as that's a different video. This video is all about learning the front bay park which is one of the three _mandatory_ manoeuvres (four if you count the two bay park variants separately), one of which you will be required to do during the current UK driving test. Also, no way would he have hit a car parked on the left - trip to the optician's for you I think.
@@ianmason. I would guess that the majority of viewers on here already hold a license and therefore conduct parking manoeuvres regularly, so its a moot point that its mandatory in the UK test. Reversing is a better manoeuvre in most circumstances. I gauge that the front of the car passed over the LH white line but the distortion of the wide angle camera could have given both results. I think that the bay width is no more than 2.4m although, many retail parking areas are often less than that and the Golf is 1.8m wide giving at best 300mm each side. Also, the aisle width is probably 6.00m that often means that a shunting manoeuvre is required for access especially in a forward direction. Ashley made the manoeuvre in one motion, which gave me further suspicion that the adjacent bay was broached.
@@clivewilliams3661 You're kinda missing the point, this is a series for learners so any licenced drivers watching are a very secondary consideration. Anyway, I bet he got in in one, without any notional contact. I do regularly so down Tescos, Sainsburys, and Morrisons (who have very mean parking spaces) with a bigger car, and I suspect Ash is more skilled than I am.
@@ianmason. I think that by default this series is viewed mostly by experienced drivers as suggested by most of the comments. I wonder how many learner/newly qualified drivers watch these videos, perhaps Ashley would like to run a survey? These videos are useful in the context that they are a source of ongoing tuition and discussion that is much more informed than that given down the pub.
@@clivewilliams3661 No, *_comment_* ,and *_watch_* are two different things, you can't infer something about one from the other without first proving a connection.
When the bay on the far side is empty, why do some people not either pull through to park, or not drive forward through the empty bay? When driving forward, visibility is much better.
@@keith6400 Yah, I believe it was frowned on during my training for my German Driver's license. This strikes me as conflicting information. As an older driver, I have been taught to avoid reversing. And I hate backing without good reason, in any case. By pulling through, I have much better awareness. I see no good reason to not pull through. Perhaps you are aware of something I am not (honest question, I am well aware that there is lots of good information I do not know.) Thanks for taking the time to reply.
here's a poor driving story for you. in the US, we have angled parking in some car parks - the bays are angled at about 30 degrees, to make it easier to do a forward bay park. I was backing out, of a bay that was very close to the entrance to the store, when another driver barged past behind me. (and by backing out, I mean almost completely clear of the bay) the driver then as I observed as I went to the exit of the car park, looped around, to get a parking bay close to the entrance. - which they could have had the first time if they'd just waited a few seconds for me to get clear.
now show us when there are cars/ suv's parked either side of the bays, like you would in a busy supermarket, not so easy then 😝 ( having just watched the latest reverse into bay)
@@DirigiblePlum69 Yes, because the car is way more maneuverable in reverse and you can readjust your position whenever you want. If you want to get into a tight space forward, I find that steering very late so that the front of your car is aligned to the car next to your space, then reversing with the wheel to the opposite direction until your car is lined up straight with the empty bay and then going forward, is a safer method that doesn't take any skill.
How things change . Always been taught to wherever possible reverse into a bay so it's safer when pulling out .
You need to learn both for the test these days as you may be asked to do either - but yes agreed, reversing is more convenient.
@@WRATHofanima Absolutely much safer to reverse in and drive out. Many companies I have visited have it as a condition of using their car park that you MUST reverse park. Every one I asked as to why I got similar answer front in parking lead to more minor accidents than reverse in. Another benefit of reverse in parking is that almost without exception getting away is a simple manoeuvre. In fact I would suggest to Ashly that reverse in parking reduces risk.
@@malcolm6951 i drive mobility car, wav, i have to drive in to get wheelchair out
American here. I almost always back into a "bay," or drive forward into it and go through into the facing bay so I can drive forward out (yes, assuming there's no car there, lol).
And, if the lot is mostly empty, I usually park a bit away where there's no cars next to me on either side, even if I have to walk a little farther.
You need to pull in forward to get to your boot in a supermarket car park though.
I call this nosey parking!
I never do it. I'd much rather reverse into a bay so as to avoid reversing out. I do go into a bay forward when there is a space directly in front [where the bays are painted as a double row], thus allowing me to drive out forwards without using reverse at all. The trouble with reversing out of a bay is managing good observation over your shoulders and keeping an eye on the rear view mirrors, but sometimes pedestrians seem to appear from blind spots.
Best wishes from George
_nosey parking_
That's a clever description! I use an anatomical name for them when they reverse out in front of me, too! ;)
Trouble is generally you will be coming back with a trolley full of shopping and the boot won't be accessible.
@@Species1571
It's a hard life, ain't it. ;)
If you have bulky stuff to load into the rear of your care, then there's often little choice but to go in forwards as you can't get a supermarket or DIY trolley to the rear. Sometimes you can't even open the rear hatch.
That's fine, but clearly you don't have a wife who insists you park rear end out so you can fill the rear with shopping from the trolley at the supermarket. She has a point.
I still remember my shock when I returned to the test centre after finishing my test. As we’d done two manoeuvres during the test the examiner calmly said ‘pull forward into the bay and turn off the engine’. As I’d never done a forward bay park i instantly panicked… thankfully it was all good, but a shock at the time
When I did my test my instructor got me (and all his other pupils as well at test time) to drive into the bay at the test centre. That way it was a reverse out of the bay at the start of the test and, apparently, one manoeuvre done
Not sure if that still is the case today as I am talking over 20 years ago
Good advice - reversing out is usually more tricky, giving it that quarter turn on the steering wheel first really helps - and it's all about practice! Thank you for sharing.
All well and good when there are no other vehicles parked each side of the bay you are entering or leaving. 1:40 - I think you would have clipped the vehicle in the bay to the left if it was taking up most of the bay. Great tips though for the situation you were showing. How about a follow up video on tips for entering a bay that is very tight due to vehicles both sides and opposite the bay you are entering or leaving? 😊
True that, I maneuver for existing space, I do not use a rote maneuver. I would like to believe that you would be impressed with the turn-around I did using reverse-angled spots in my Dr's office car park this morning. I was able to pull out forward through the pavement and into a tight road having very restricted visibility and medium traffic. Much safer than backing.
Just 2 nights ago I had to negotiate a forward bay park in a Glasgow street at a tight angle and the only space available, vehicles either side, and again ,was sqinty one way , reversed out carefully due to passing traffic, tried to straighten up, but sqinty the other way which I realised when I got out of car , so had to go back into car to repeat manoeuvre so I was a little less squinty. So yes , I will refer to these videos for future use, thanks . 🙂
Good job giving it another go, the number of times I see the “that’ll do” attitude making it impossible for anyone to enter the bay next to them, or worse making it impossible to exit the bay after they park next to you!
Anyway, I think I said it before…your parking wasn’t squinty, the lines weren’t painted straight 😉
@@smilerbobI am conscious also that one would get the blame of bad parking having to park in a way to accommodate bad parking , then that bad parker leaving before one returns 🙄
What amazes me they still paint up the parking lines for 50-60-70's cars since then the modern car is wider by a foot at least leaving no room to comfortably open your door to get out. Hence why more n more people are taking two parking places to protect their cars and enable them to get in and out of their cars 😊
Hmm. How many people really need a car that's too big to park easily, I wonder.
@@rogerkearns8094 try comparing a compact from 10-20 years ago with a "compact" from today, the same model (eg a Corsa or a Fiesta) will be significantly bigger. Main reason is all the safety technology, crumple zones etc that have been added over time to improve car safety. A few years ago I replaced my car (the original Mini Clubman from 2008) with the new model (Mini Clubman 2020). The size increase was significant.
@@ArminGrewe
_e.g. Corsa or Fiesta_
Coincidentally, I recently disposed of my seventeen years old, three-door Corsa (ahh!) and bought for myself a year 2021, five-door version. Yes, it's a bit wider than I'd been used to, but parking's still not too much of a squeeze.
It wasn't really Corsas and Fiestas that I was talking about. ;)
Cheers :)
Not a problem when you like classic cars!
Source: I drive a classic morris mini.
@@theone_funyt3878
Cool.
A good way to think about parking is putting yourself in the shoes of a bus driver at a junction. The bus will drive STRAIGHT out of a junction UNTIL the bus passes a certain point of the junction, somewhere between the front wheel and the middle of the bus, and then they will begin to steer. This avoids the back wheels nipping the curb. If you can crack this mentality with your car then you'll realise how easy it actually is to park.
If you steer in to the right you have a wider turn. If you reverse out steering right you can resume the left hand side of the alleyway. If two way flow is allowed if only one way flow is marked you will resume to be pointing in the correct direction. On test try to head away from the supermarket's pedestrian entrance as more people park close to that. If you are requested to choose a bay on the way to the entrance an early decision will give a less congested parking bay.
Nice tips and nice teaching 👏
With regards to the 15 minutes on the wheel when reversing out, it is vitally important that your right arm doesn’t drop as you do your shoulder observations otherwise all sorts of trouble can occur…fixed by re-entering the bay straight and starting again 👍
I have come to feel reversing out of a space is a clear hazard best avoided. So I will reverse park into spaces or drive through if possible to then avoid the neef to reverse out. I can understand teaching this, but perhaps the better option is make reverse parking the norm?
Agreed, avoid reversing out of spaces just as you would avoid reversing out of a junction. When I took my test, they didn't teach this manoeuvre at all.
You do need to know how to do this though because there are always going to be situations outside of your control where you will find yourself having to do this. You see people trying to do it and they clearly aren’t practiced so the manoeuvre is stressful and sometimes impossible for them.
I agree, but occasionally parking spaces are angled acutely, for some reason, in a way which pretty well forces one to go in nose first.
I always reverse into a space, but the driving test may _require_ you to do a front bay park - so it _has_ to be taught and learned, hence this video.
Do you have any tips for when the 'nearside' bay is occupied, so you can't maneuver into it, like you are at 01:43?
I would be interested to see the same thing but with vehicles in every bay except the one you are going into
Tesco car park (other supermarket options are available), Saturday morning, 10am, not only is every bay full but every car is at a different angle in the bay 🤣
Well, you just need to adjust once. If you can't cross the neighboring line as shown in the video, go a bit further, steer hard and reverse once before you hit the other car.
That's usually enough for most cars unless you are really driving a huge beast that is too long for the bay anyway. Depends of course on other factors like how the other cars are parked and the total width to the opposite bays, but usually that should be minimum 5m in most places.
If it's more narrow, just adjust a second time if you really want to still squeeze in.
You can essentially turn every vehicle on a circle whose diameter is around 0.5m larger than your total vehicle length given enough time and patience.
@@Asto508 All good advice but, of course, that completely changes most of the advice about positioning as shown in the original video
@@Bob_Burton Well, true, but as you pointed out, the video is unrealistic and doesn't really help someone who has little experience in parking.
Everyone can park if all the bays are empty.
I also see the point though that learners can't take in too many information and simple instructions (at first) might be more useful. My advice to beginners would be anyway to stay away from parking tight in between other cars and behave as if they selected a urinal on a public toilet. :)
Excellent tip there. Thank you for sharing it.
I love the 15-minute idea. Maybe I have done it unwittingly in the past. I'll start doing it on purpose and teaching it. Thanks.
the other way to use the mirrors is to look and see how the rear wheels are aligned with the dividing lines.
addendum: every driver should learn how wide their car is in relation to the usual places they will go, so they can position the near side correctly and have faith that the far side will be positioned accordingly. if your driver's side rear tire is where it belongs, then the passenger side has to land where it belongs, too.
my daily is notorious for being able to go around anything but a corner. so it is a more complicated process. I pull about 5 feet past my "turn point" on the far side of the lane, then go to full lock. proceed until I'm as close as I dare to the car in the adjacent bay. then go to full lock the other way. reverse until I'm as close as I dare to the car opposite, then back to full lock and into the bay. if I have a wide enough lane, and the cars adjacent are properly in their bays, I can usually do it with just those three moves, but normally, I then have to back fully out, and pull back in to be able to get the rear wheels in the correct spot. - or as close as the person parked hanging over the line in one of the adjacent bays allows.
but I can still usually back out and swing away just as you showed.
Yes, it's done like this. The problem is that you likely have to reverse out in the same way and that can be very annoying on a busy parking lot.
@@Asto508 you missed that I can usually reverse out in one motion. and reversing into a bay with another car directly behind is problematic.
@@kenbrown2808 If you can't move in forward in one motion, then you can't reverse out in one motion.
You either have no room to steer enough or no room to move out straight enough in one go.
Going reverse doesn't magically alter the dimensions and turning circle of your car. :)
@@Asto508 if you think really hard about the dynamics of going into a bay and going out of a bay, you'll figure it out. Hint. I'm not backing up the lane to get in position to get into the bay.
Another hint: I'm also not backing up the lane when i leave the bay.
These videos are extremely helpful! I have my ADI part 2 test in a few weeks, and manoeuvres are the main thing I'm worried about
Glad they help. Good luck 🤞
Good luck for your ADI Part 2, you can do it 👊
Thank you, I've been somewhat having difficulty with reversing out. Although I proceed cautiously, It's rather uncomfortable. Looking forward to trying it this way next :)
An excellent tutorial which also shows how damned small parking bays are. Imagine doing this in a bigger car, one reason why I try where possible to go for end bays. Also, I do the '15 minutes' (never analysed it that way) but then straighten up fairly quickly. In tight spots, I have to do this to avoid contacting the car on my left. This sets me up so I am exiting at an angle and the distance between my nearside front wing and the car to the left is increasing as I edge out - allowing a full lock turn once I know I can get away with that. Obviously, it all depends on the size of the car, the width of the bay and the passage you are backing out into.
I know people say it's always best to reverse in but with an estate car and a trolley full of shopping, reversing in can cause real problems with having to slide between two cars while holding bags of shopping, especially if like me, you have a glass back. Of course, sod's law says that no matter where you park and how, the vehicle that is on the side that traffic is coming from will be an SUV or van.
rather than the "15 minutes" I give the wheel a decent amount of turn, and then watch my front corner, adjusting my steering as it comes close, to maintain the same gap as I back out. this means my steering starts strong, straightens and the gradually increases as I get to the end of the bay.
Personally, i think parking spaces need to be updated and made bigger. For example, look at a car from the 90s and even early 00s, and compare the size of old cars to new cars, the size difference is huge.
This is exactly why you should always reverse into a space where possible. It’s so much easier, not to mention the fact you can drive straight out.
Greetings all. Will watch this and comment as soon as I can. Currently at the Deal / Bettshanger classic car show in Kent. Bumped into the folks at the IAM Roadsmart stand for the umpteenth time in so many years...and they keep asking me when I'm going to sign up for their courses and take the Advanced test. One of these days I might actually be brave enough to go for it.
Do it. These people are volunteers. They _want_ you to succeed. They wouldn't volunteer their time otherwise.
Excellent guidance regarding the use of the mirrors as wings with the white line across the bay, but what do you advise if most of the spaces are occupied or you are driving in to a space against a wall, like multi-story car parks?
I like the camera from the roof. I guess you put a pipe and the camera LoL. Ashley what software are you using for show the green colour over the car parking spaces etc. Good video. The rear camera on the roof ,brilliant
I use Final Cut for my video editing. The coloured areas are just another video layer with a mask and colour filter applied 👍
I’ve always reverse bay parked, i didnt practice forward bay parking before my test, and was asked to do so during my test, i basically just went off of a couple of your previous videos and managed it just fine, though i personally hate forward bay parking, and think that reverse bay parking should be the natural thing to do purely because its easier to leave, you can just get in and go, plus its a lot easier to make observations and you don’t have to keep stopping every 2 seconds because of other cars turning in and being too impatient to wait lol, great video though, as with the previous on this subject! 😊
The only time I've ever parked in forward (nosey parking - term stolen from another comment) is on my driving lesson.
It's been 6 years, and I always reverse park, it's just much easier and reduces any liability/risk
Surprisingly I never-ending once done that, I just drive in without think. I basically treat it like turning into a tight road
Same deal here, just get used to the feel of my car and you can subconciously turn it into any space that you can deem as available
I wait until my side mirror is 1/4 of a way in the bay that I want to go into then put on full lock and I normally end up in the bay! I still find these videos helpful though!
I note that the car was parked into an empty bay in an empty sector of the car park, which is hardly a common experience. mostly there are other cars around and parked in the bays. The entry manoeuvre as shown would probably have resulted in damage to a car in the LH adjacent bay, similarly on exit as entry. The other issue is relying on external mirrors for reversing. I have found that modern car wing (door) mirrors give a false view due to clever optics giving them enhanced views for approaching traffic from the rear. Reverse an older car with plain or even convex mirrors and reversing is more accurate. Ideally, you should reverse into parking bays as this gives much better manoeuvrability into the bay and significantly better sightlines leaving the bay. The only issue for the shopper is that the boot is at the wrong end for loading except when reversing into a bay with a footpath behind
Reversing into a bay is a moot point as that's a different video. This video is all about learning the front bay park which is one of the three _mandatory_ manoeuvres (four if you count the two bay park variants separately), one of which you will be required to do during the current UK driving test. Also, no way would he have hit a car parked on the left - trip to the optician's for you I think.
@@ianmason. I would guess that the majority of viewers on here already hold a license and therefore conduct parking manoeuvres regularly, so its a moot point that its mandatory in the UK test. Reversing is a better manoeuvre in most circumstances. I gauge that the front of the car passed over the LH white line but the distortion of the wide angle camera could have given both results. I think that the bay width is no more than 2.4m although, many retail parking areas are often less than that and the Golf is 1.8m wide giving at best 300mm each side. Also, the aisle width is probably 6.00m that often means that a shunting manoeuvre is required for access especially in a forward direction. Ashley made the manoeuvre in one motion, which gave me further suspicion that the adjacent bay was broached.
@@clivewilliams3661 You're kinda missing the point, this is a series for learners so any licenced drivers watching are a very secondary consideration. Anyway, I bet he got in in one, without any notional contact. I do regularly so down Tescos, Sainsburys, and Morrisons (who have very mean parking spaces) with a bigger car, and I suspect Ash is more skilled than I am.
@@ianmason. I think that by default this series is viewed mostly by experienced drivers as suggested by most of the comments. I wonder how many learner/newly qualified drivers watch these videos, perhaps Ashley would like to run a survey? These videos are useful in the context that they are a source of ongoing tuition and discussion that is much more informed than that given down the pub.
@@clivewilliams3661 No, *_comment_* ,and *_watch_* are two different things, you can't infer something about one from the other without first proving a connection.
When the bay on the far side is empty, why do some people not either pull through to park, or not drive forward through the empty bay? When driving forward, visibility is much better.
I think many drivers do this but it is not acceptable on a Driving Test.
@@keith6400 Yah, I believe it was frowned on during my training for my German Driver's license. This strikes me as conflicting information. As an older driver, I have been taught to avoid reversing. And I hate backing without good reason, in any case. By pulling through, I have much better awareness. I see no good reason to not pull through. Perhaps you are aware of something I am not (honest question, I am well aware that there is lots of good information I do not know.) Thanks for taking the time to reply.
How is the sports exhaust?
Was it worth the investment?
here's a poor driving story for you. in the US, we have angled parking in some car parks - the bays are angled at about 30 degrees, to make it easier to do a forward bay park. I was backing out, of a bay that was very close to the entrance to the store, when another driver barged past behind me. (and by backing out, I mean almost completely clear of the bay) the driver then as I observed as I went to the exit of the car park, looped around, to get a parking bay close to the entrance. - which they could have had the first time if they'd just waited a few seconds for me to get clear.
its a bit difficult to look at it from a new driver's perspective, but this seems like a great video
Thank you
now show us when there are cars/ suv's parked either side of the bays, like you would in a busy supermarket, not so easy then 😝 ( having just watched the latest reverse into bay)
It's exactly the same as shown in the video. The cars either side shouldn't be an issue!
@@ashley_neal What if they are badly parked with their rears swinged to your parking space, thats an issue.
I find it easier to reverse park in a bay when there are cars either side but that's just me.
But I usually just swing it in forward 🙂
@@DirigiblePlum69 Yes, because the car is way more maneuverable in reverse and you can readjust your position whenever you want.
If you want to get into a tight space forward, I find that steering very late so that the front of your car is aligned to the car next to your space, then reversing with the wheel to the opposite direction until your car is lined up straight with the empty bay and then going forward, is a safer method that doesn't take any skill.
these parking bays look kinda tight.
Just imagine if someone parked right next to you. You cant get back in then.
I don't know why they don't adopt the American system of having angled drive bays. They're so much easier to drive in to and out of.
Fantastic car park! If you take the last space you can’t get out of your car.
Ashley Neal looks like the type of man who would headbutt someone in a fight.
ok and now do it in a packed car park with people waiting for you to finish
Wrong! Either cross over to the opposite bay, or reverse in. You're always better off driving out than reversing out
I don't agree with this forward bay parking & parking on right side of road. Crazy rules by MPs who know nothing about driving instruction etc.
Can’t you use auto park?
Surely - whenever possible you would advise parking to avoid reversing out. Seen so many close scrapes and congestion unnecessarily. !
Great till you in a van reversing out doing 1 mph and people skim you by 2 feet with no manners or patience or common sense !!