Pull up behind a parked car

Watch it, then drive it

1. 1

   Watch the official video

   DVSA's short guide to the four manoeuvre skills the examiner looks for.

   

   From the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency on YouTube. Free to watch.

   More videos on YouTube↗
2. 2

   Drive it with the coach

   Guided mode puts the reference points on screen and stops you the moment you drift.

   Practise this in the simulator
3. 3

   Test yourself

   Test mode says nothing and marks you in the examiner's words. Three clean runs in a row and it is learnt.

What is marked here

Not on the driving test, so there is no examiner's box. The simulator marks it the way it marks the test manoeuvres: control, observation and accuracy, with the same grades. A clip of the kerb or a rough finish is minor; touching something or finishing outside the target is serious.

Why it needs a method

It is the parking you do every day, and the one where the kerb gets scuffed. It is two small steers, in and then out, and knowing where to stop. Too far out and you block the road; too close to the car in front and you cannot get out without reversing.

Reference points

Check your mirrors, then signal left. Steer gently left, about half a turn, and head for the kerb well behind the parked car. Hold that angle. As the kerb comes close in your left mirror, steer back to the right. When the car is parallel with the kerb, straighten the wheel and creep forward. Stop where you can still see the rear tyres of the car in front touching the road: that leaves room to pull out. Cancel your signal.

Common faults

Minor and serious follow the simulator's marking, which copies the examiner's grading. Serious: mounting the kerb. Fix: take the second steer back to the right as soon as the kerb is close in the left mirror. Minor: clipping the kerb with a tyre. Fix: the same steering mounts it if you carry on; ease off and straighten. Minor: stopping more than 45 cm from the kerb. Fix: leave the first steer on a little longer, then straighten. Serious: stopping too close to the car in front, or crooked by more than 10 degrees. Fix: stop where you can see its rear tyres on the road. Minor, serious if someone has to react: no mirror check or signal before pulling in. Fix: mirrors, signal, then steer, every time.

If it goes wrong

If you are crooked or too far out, check your mirrors, signal and drive on, then pull in again from further back. If you stopped too close to the car in front, check behind and reverse a short way straight back before you move off. Do not squeeze past by steering sharply out at the last moment.

How you practise it here

Watch drives it for you with the commentary running, so you see the whole thing once before you touch anything. Guided puts the reference points on screen and stops you the moment you drift. Test says nothing and marks you in the words the examiner uses. Three clean Test runs in a row counts as learned, and it comes back two days, a week and three weeks later so it is still there on the day.

Step by step

These are the words the simulator says to you, in order, the same commentary you would get from the passenger seat.

1. 1Pull up on the left, behind the parked car ahead. Check your mirrors, then signal left.
2. 2Steer gently to the left, about half a turn, and head for the kerb well behind the parked car.
3. 3Hold that angle. As the kerb comes close in your left mirror, steer back to the right.
4. 4Parallel with the kerb. Straighten the wheel and creep forward.
5. 5Stop where you can still see the rear tyres of the car in front touching the road. That leaves room to pull out.
6. 6Close to the kerb with room to pull out. Cancel your signal, stop here and tap Finished.

Common questions