How to bay park

Bay parking is one of the 4 manoeuvres you will need to learn in order to take your driving test. There are various ways to bay park, this outlines just one example.

A. When positioning the car for the manoeuvre, give yourself plenty of room from the bays you are reversing into. This will make the parking easier. Also making sure you leave enough room to your right as your car front will swing out. Position the car so that the passenger door has a bay line half way through it as in diagram A. This technique will guide the car 3 bays (the yellow lines) away from the line you positioned with the car door.

Once stopped, apply the handbrake and select first gear.

B. Before you move the car, take a good look around to make sure there are no oncoming vehicles, cyclist or pedestrians. Look out the rear windscreen and if all clear very slowly move the car backwards, turning the wheel briskly to full left lock. Ensure you keep the car at a very slow walking pace throughout using clutch control as you need to consistently look around. Also take frequent glances in your left wing mirror as you will see line A appear. You will be able to use line A as a reference point to how you are entering the bay. If too close take off half a turn of the steer to the right. This will widen your turning circle putting you closer to line B.

If for what ever reason things aren't looking too good at this point, the examiner will be perfectly happy for you to pull forward slightly to readjust. Providing you do this safely.

C. As you start to enter the bay, line B will come into view in your right hand wing mirror. You will then be able to assess both line A and B in your mirrors to establish an equal distance from both. Providing you keep the car very slow, you will be able to constantly look around and make frequent adjustments.

Don't forget to keep looking out the rear windscreen too!

If at any point during this manoeuvre a car, pedestrian, cyclist etc approaches, stop the car. Either let them go past or if they stop to let you carry on then continue with the exercise.