quote:

Originally posted by wrightd:
Parking vehicles like regular cars, SUVs, mid size and full size LD trucks, I'm not very good with backing up into a tight parking spot, nor parallel parking, nor getting around in very tight streets in older parts of town etc.

I remember being a better driver, with much better parking skills. How does this happen?
Sometimes I look at my parking job before heading into the store and just shake my head. Good lord !

What happened ? Could it be things will improve after I get my cataracts replaced ? What gives?

Your getting cataracts corrected is a clear indicator of your age. Which means that it's very likely the cars you were driving when you were younger were much smaller that what is on the road today. My first car was a 1970 Beetle. A car that is tiny compared to my current daily driver, a Ford Fiesta ST.

Point here is that the reason why you are so poor at parking is simple, you have fallen into the Trap of thinking bigger is better. Get yourself out of that giant energy hog you are driving and your wallet will be thicker and you will find parking much easier. BTW get yourself a used Fiesta ST and you will find a truly excellent Sports Car masquerading as a small grocery getter.

Could be the vehicle turning radius. I can park a lot of vehicles on a dime. But not my F150. I need a 40 acre field.

Drive an 18 wheeler for 40 plus years. If there's one thing in my life that I'm better than most is backing up a trailer.
A feat to be proud of. It's really not that hard.

My hand me down was a 83 Dodge full size van. Not the best for high school kid with the ladies but it was free and ran. I could get that thing anywhere. And nobody complained when I could haul 8 people or move somebody. A few times I got inside the lines on a stall and had to get out the back cargo doors. A dick move to the people next to me but I didn’t paint the lines on the stalls.

Parallel was no worries either. And that was without a back up camera. Now my kid who’s been driving 6 months and has a F150 long bed still can’t get the grasp of where his vehicle is. When I drive him he gets nervous because he thinks I’m going to clip the front end. I tell him he needs to know his car and get some depth perception.

quote:

Originally posted by ElToro:
Now my kid who’s been driving 6 months and has a F150 long bed still can’t get the grasp of where his vehicle is.

I could be wrong here, but I thing a great tool for parents (or others) teaching someone to drive is to put them on a riding mower or a go-kart. Why? Because the driver can see all four wheels and corners easily, and can immediately see the impact of a particular steering input with greatly reduced opportunity for damage.

quote:

Originally posted by vthoky:

I could be wrong here, but I thing a great tool for parents (or others) teaching someone to drive is to put them on a riding mower or a go-kart. Why? Because the driver can see all four wheels and corners easily, and can immediately see the impact of a particular steering input with greatly reduced opportunity for damage.

Not to mention, get the yard mowed!

quote:

Originally posted by HRK:
Not to mention, get the yard mowed!

Bonus!!

I've always found parallel parking to be easy. I'm good at using my mirrors, and the back up camera on my truck helps, but (slowly) driving by Braille works too.

I've almost always driven big boats or trucks, so I'm used to getting big things into small places. It just takes practice...like anything.

My Jeep has grid lines that pop up in the rear view camera when you put it into reverse. After buying it, I spent some time looking at the grid lines to see where they were indicating the corners of the Jeep actually were. They are quite accurate! I can now back right into most spots and be perfectly parked. One the few high tech features on cars these days that are actually worthwhile!

quote:

Originally posted by Gustofer:
the back up camera on my truck helps

I learned to parallel park using a 1979 Mercury Grand Marquis. Got a nice compliment from the WV state trooper who rode with me for my driver's test, sliding that beast in between the prescribed barrels. A few years later, I taught someone to parallel park using a '73 Plymouth Fury. (What a boat!)

The new Toyota in our garage has the backup camera. I'm slowly getting used to it. The thing I suddenly loved about it a couple of weeks ago was its assistance in backing up to a trailer! Oh, my goodness, that was great!

In the last year or two I've become terrible at judging how close I am to the car or whatever behind me, when backing into a spot. Even when I think I'm dangerously close, I get out and find I'm nowhere near it. I don't know why, perhaps I've just become more afraid of hitting someone else's car. (which I've never done)

quote:

Originally posted by egregore:
In the late 1970s I had a car, a 1966 Chrysler Newport, similar to this.



It was nearly 20 feet long, got 10 mpg and was an electrical nightmare that left me walking a number of times, but look at the tall roofline with the huge expanse of glass and the flat hood and deck lid with sharp corners. I could actually see out of it and know exactly where the corners were. It occurred to me that that may be the last time I actually parallel-parked.

My first car was a 64 Newport