In Seattle, where I currently live, parking has become more and more scarce, meaning not a lot. With new business developments and more housing needed, a lot of parking spaces have been taken away. There are times I have no choice but go with my last option, which is to park in between two cars on the curb of a busy street. This is what we call "parallel parking." I'm not afraid to admit that parallel parking is definitely not one of my greatest strengths in life. I also start to stress out when I know there are several cars lined up behind me waiting and judging my parking skills! To relieve myself of the stress and embarrassment of parking, I would much rather walk when I can (or force my husband to drive).
There are three common ways we can park a car. It's important to know what these are called in case you see a sign that's marked "Angle Parking Only." You don't want to get an expensive ticket over a language misunderstanding.
There are three common ways we can park a car. It's important to know what these are called in case you see a sign that's marked "Angle Parking Only." You don't want to get an expensive ticket over a language misunderstanding.
Parallel Parking
As I talked about, parallel parking is parking in a straight line, usually next to a curb. This is exactly what the word 'parallel' means - a line with same distance apart. Think of a train track, these are parallel to each other. A sidewalk should also be parallel to the street.
Angle Parking
An angle is when two lines come together, they may have a degree to each other ( For example, 90° or 35°) You may have learned this before in your math class. So in this kind of parking situation, you park at a 'degree' greater than 90°. Your car will be slightly slanted. With angle parking, cars go one way.
Perpendicular Parking
This kind of parking is very similar to angle parking but instead, the parking spot is at 90° angle (the parking lines are 90° to the horizontal line). It's almost a rectangular box. Cars are parked perpendicular to each other.
Something extra that I wanted to point out is the difference between 'pull in' and 'back out.' We pull in when we drive our car straight into the space. When we pull into a space, we back out in order to exit the space.The diagram illustrates this quite well so I don't think any more explanations are needed!
As I talked about, parallel parking is parking in a straight line, usually next to a curb. This is exactly what the word 'parallel' means - a line with same distance apart. Think of a train track, these are parallel to each other. A sidewalk should also be parallel to the street.
Angle Parking
An angle is when two lines come together, they may have a degree to each other ( For example, 90° or 35°) You may have learned this before in your math class. So in this kind of parking situation, you park at a 'degree' greater than 90°. Your car will be slightly slanted. With angle parking, cars go one way.
Perpendicular Parking
This kind of parking is very similar to angle parking but instead, the parking spot is at 90° angle (the parking lines are 90° to the horizontal line). It's almost a rectangular box. Cars are parked perpendicular to each other.
Something extra that I wanted to point out is the difference between 'pull in' and 'back out.' We pull in when we drive our car straight into the space. When we pull into a space, we back out in order to exit the space.The diagram illustrates this quite well so I don't think any more explanations are needed!
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