Reverse parking can be tricky, so if you’ve got a fellow passenger it’s often tempting to ask them to guide you from outside the car. But there’s definitely a right and a wrong way to do it.
We started discussing reverse parking in the Allure offices this morning after Mark over at Kotaku posted a story about a Sydney student Gibson Hu, who rigged up an automated reverse parking assistance device using a Kinect. Some cars also include reverse parking cameras, but most drivers rely on their own skills and occasional assistance. (Regular readers will know I don’t drive myself, but this was a point absolutely everyone agreed on.)
There was also broad agreement amongst Allure’s drivers that the least useful thing to do is to circle your hands in a vague accelerating gesture, and then suddenly yell and scream loudly when you think the person is too close. Mark was particularly vocal about this: “It’s completely useless. You see their hands spinning so you think you need to accelerate, then suddenly they’re screaming like a lunatic.”
A better approach is to use your hands to show the estimated space the car has left before it will bump into the next vehicle (or the kerb). Elly (the voice of common sense around here) definitely supports this method.
What method do you prefer? And what tricks do you use to ensure reverse parking works? Share your thoughts in the comments, and we’ll bring the best together in a future post.
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