Reverse bay park, 45 degree method

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 the examiner marks

Control, observation and accuracy. Control is the clutch, the steering and the kerb. Observation is what you looked at before you moved and while you were moving, not just the mirror. Accuracy is where the car finished. Pulling forward and having another go is not a fault; touching something is.

How it differs from the 90 degree method

In the 90 degree method the car makes one big swing from the stop point. Here you turn away from the bays first, going forward, so the car is already part of the way round when you reverse, and the reverse turn is only 45 degrees. The price is one more stop, and the nose swings out across the aisle, so it needs the far side of the aisle to be clear.

Reference points

Drive slowly down the aisle, close to the bay lines but not touching them. Stop when the first line of your bay is level with the front of your rear wheel. Look round, then full lock to the right and creep forward until the car is at about 45 degrees to the bay lines, half way between parallel and square. Stop, select reverse and check all round. Full lock to the left: the back of the car swings into the bay. When the bay lines look square behind you, stop, straighten the wheel and reverse back until the whole car is inside the lines.

Why those points

The car is a 4.04 m hatchback with a 2.49 m wheelbase and the bays are the standard 2.4 m by 4.8 m. Full lock puts the rear axle on a 3.56 m circle. Going forward through 45 degrees to the right and back through 45 degrees to the left moves the car 1.47 m along the aisle, so the right turn has to start about 1.5 m before the centre of your bay. That is just behind the first line, which is where the front of your rear wheel is when you stop. It is arithmetic, not a saying.

Common faults

Minor and serious follow the simulator's marking, which copies the examiner's grading. Minor: stopping too early or too late, so the car finishes crooked or clips the next bay. Fix: stop when the first line of your bay is level with the front of your rear wheel. Serious: swinging the nose into the cars on the other side of the aisle. Fix: stay close to the bay lines and look before you turn the wheel. Serious: reversing without all-round observation. Fix: both shoulders, the rear window and the blind spot before the car moves, then keep looking. Serious: touching a parked car, or finishing outside the lines, more than 35 cm off centre or more than 12 degrees out of square. Fix: straighten the wheel when the bay lines look square behind you. Minor, then serious: too many corrections (three, then six here). Fix: stop, look, then make one clean move instead of several small ones.

If it goes wrong

Stop. Look all round. Pull forward to straighten up in the aisle and start again from the angled position, or from the first line if you are well out. If the back of the car is heading for the car beside your bay, stop before anything touches. Never carry on hoping.

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. Steering only takes the pedals and gears off you, the way an instructor does on the first lesson: a mark on the wheel shows when to turn and how far. 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. 1Drive slowly down the aisle, close to the bay lines but not touching them. This method needs room on the far side to angle the car.
2. 2Stop when the first line of your bay is level with the front of your rear wheel.
3. 3Look around, then full lock to the right and creep forward until the car is at about 45 degrees to the bay lines.
4. 4About 45 degrees: half way between parallel and square to the bays. Stop here and select reverse.
5. 5Reverse gear. Check all round before you move: both shoulders, and out of the back window.
6. 6Full lock to the left: about one and a half turns.
7. 7Crawl it round. Keep looking over your left shoulder: the bay is coming in behind you.
8. 8The bay lines are square behind you. Stop and straighten the wheel.
9. 9Wheels straight. Reverse back until the whole car is inside the lines.
10. 10That's the bay. Stop here and tap Finished.

Common questions