Bay Parking

Of all of the different components of the practical test, the one that seems to strike the most fear into the hearts of learners is the reversing manoeuvre they’ll need to complete. One of these is bay parking—both forward and reverse. If you’re still a bit unsure about the bay parking manoeuvre, we’ve got just what you need.

In this guide, we’re going to look at the bay parking manoeuvre: how to perform it, what the examiner is looking for and when it might be used in real-life conditions.

What is bay parking?

Added to the driving test in December 2017, the bay parking manoeuvre is probably one of the most important manoeuvres you’ll need to learn—considering you’ll need to be able use car parks on a day-to-day basis. As such, it’s absolutely vital that you get to grips with it.

There are two types of bay parking, so you could be asked to demonstrate either on your test:

– Forward bay parking: in which you drive into a parking bay and then reverse out. On your test, this can be performed in any car park—including the driving test centre car park.
– Reverse bay parking: in which you reverse into a parking bay and then drive out. Your examiner will usually only ask you to do this in the driving test centre car park.
There’s a 1-in-3 chance that you’ll be asked to complete the bay parking manoeuvre during your practical test.

What is the examiner looking for?

The examiner will be watching how well the candidate can control and manoeuvre the vehicle in a restricted space—carefully monitoring their use of the clutch, accelerator and handbrake. The learner will need to display good judgement with picking a parking space and positioning the vehicle. The examiner will also be keeping an eye out for the learner’s observations whilst driving forward and reversing out/reversing in and driving out.

Regardless of whether you’re asked to complete the forward or reverse bay parking manoeuvre, the examiner will be expecting you to demonstrate:

– All around checks and observations. Car parks attract pedestrians and a constant stream of traffic. As such, you’ll need to use your MSM routines and stay aware of your surroundings.
– Good judgement throughout the manoeuvre. It’s up to you to pick a suitable parking bay to accurately manoeuvre into—staying inside of the bay lines as you reverse in and drive out/drive in and reverse out.
– Control of the vehicle. You need to stay a low and controlled speed—not only because you’re in a car park but also because it makes manoeuvring easier—making careful use of the clutch, accelerator and brakes.

You could pick up driving test faults during your bay parking manoeuvre for lack of control, poor observations and mediocre planning.

How do I park in a bay?
Step-by-step: Forward bay parking

1. Pick a bay

The examiner will tell you to drive forward into a parking bay in the driving test centre car park or another car park of their choosing. It’s entirely up to you to choose a bay. Don’t panic and pick the first one you see—take your time and give yourself plenty of room to manoeuvre.

– When you enter the car park, keep an eye out for any arrows indicating a one-way system, or bays that you’re not allowed to park in.

– Whilst you can pick a bay on the left or right, it’s always easier to opt for the right. By doing so, you can give yourself plenty of room and avoid moving against the flow of traffic on the right.

– Depending on parking availability, you should try to pick a bay that doesn’t have vehicles on either side—it will make it easier to get within the lines and make observations.

– Slow and steady does it—keep your speed down and your eye out for any pedestrians and other vehicles.

2. Start to move and find your reference point

Once you’ve got a bay picked out, you need to give yourself enough room to turn and make constant observations to ensure you’re safe to carry out the manoeuvre.

– Move over to the left as far as you can to give yourself space to turn—as long as you’re not restricted in any way, such as by parked cars.

– If you’re driving into a bay on the left, you’ll want to move over to the right to give yourself enough room—pay attention to any oncoming traffic.

– Check your right/left-hand mirrors and your blindspot(s) for any pedestrians or vehicles, and then indicate to show your intention.

– As you move further towards your bay of choice, keep an eye out for your reference point/point of turn. Your instructor will have shown you this during your lessons. Though it depends on the car, this reference point is typically as the first line of the bay appears under your right/left-hand mirror.

3. Steer quickly and move at a slow pace

Once you’ve found your reference point, you’re almost ready to turn into your chosen parking bay. Remember, all-around checks are important here—don’t slip up!

– Before you make your right/left turn, it’s time to check your interior and right/left-hand mirror and blindspot. If it’s clear, you’re good to go. If it’s not, pause and wait for the pedestrian(s) or vehicle(s) to move.

– Slowly start to move off—keeping a firm control of your clutch and accelerator—and quickly steer with a full right/left lock.

– As you turn into the bay, you need to straighten up your vehicle—it helps if you keep an eye on your dashboard and take note of when it’s in line with the horizon or fence.

Stop the car once you’ve reached your next reference point, e.g., when the bay line reaches under your door mirror. If you’re not within the lines, take your time and adjust. Once you’re happy, select neutral and apply your handbrake.

4. Reverse out of the bay

Now that you’re in the bay, there’s only one step left in the manoeuvre: reversing out. Again, observations are important here—whilst your reverse lights should warn pedestrians of your intentions, they might simply ignore them. As such, it’s your responsibility to stay aware of your surroundings.

– Start by selecting the reverse gear and have your hand ready to release the handbrake. Do your all-around checks—looking at the road you’ll be reversing into—and begin to slowly move out. You need to be prepared to stop at any point for other vehicles.

– Once you reach your reference point (i.e., the start of the bay line lining up with your side door), it’s time to half turn your wheel to either the left or right—depending on the direction you want to drive off in.

– When you’re clear of any nearby vehicles, it’s time to turn your wheel full lock and stop once you’ve got enough room to drive off.

– Select first gear and then check your blindspot and mirrors for any other road users. Once you’re clear, you’re good to go and drive out of the car park.

And now onto the reverse bay parking manoeuvre…

Step-by-step: Reverse bay parking

1. Pick a bay

The examiner will tell you to reverse into a parking bay in the driving test centre car park (on rare occasions, they may decide to do this manoeuvre in a car park of their choosing). It’s your choice as to which bay you reverse into. Take your surroundings into consideration as you pick—try for one that will give you plenty of room.

– When you’re picking a parking bay, try to find one that doesn’t have vehicles on either side. The more space you have, the less you’ve got to worry about when reversing into the bay.

– You need to position your vehicle closer to the centre of the road—this will make turning easier and give you a better chance of getting between the lines. If you’re too close to the bays, you’ll have less space to manoeuvre.

– Keep your speed nice and slow—not just because you’re in a car park with other road users, but also because rushing often leads to mistakes.

– Once you’ve picked out a bay, you need to pull up around two car lengths past it and get ready to reverse to your point of turn.

2. Find your point of turn and steer quickly

You’ll now have to reverse your car up to your point of turn. Although it varies with each car, this reference point is roughly found when the 3rd line from the bay you’re targeting lines up with your side door.

– Once you’ve got your point of turn lined up with the side of your door, it’s time to prepare to reverse into the parking bay.

– You don’t have to apply the handbrake or stop, but it does help to break up the manoeuvre and slow you down enough to maintain complete control.

– Before you even start turning to the left or right, you need to take a good look around the car park and make sure you’re clear to go ahead. All-around checks are vital—don’t forget your blind spots and the rear windscreen.

– When you’re ready to turn, you need to steer quickly and full-lock to the left (or right, if you’re reversing into a bay on the right).

3. Get into the bay and adjust

Now it’s time to reverse your car into the bay and adjust as you go along to get the vehicle between the lines. Slowly does it—if you move slowly enough, you’ll be able to make adjustments as you go along. If you move too quickly, you’ll end up needing to drive forwards and reverse back in to make any changes.

– As you’re reversing into the bay, you need to keep looking around in all directions—including your blind spot and rear windows. If you encounter any pedestrians or vehicles, stop the car and wait for them to pass you by.

– Soon enough, you’ll start to see the first line of the bay in your left-hand (or right-hand) mirror. Keep an eye on this—you’ll be able to gauge how close or far you are.

– As you get further into the bay, the second line will begin to line up with your right-hand (or left-hand) mirror. You’ll be able to tell instantly whether you’re inside the lines or not.

4. Finish and move off

Now it’s time to straighten up and make any necessary adjustments to get between the bay lines. Once you’re ready, the examiner will tell you when you need to move off.

– Keep checking your side mirrors—once the bay lines are parallel, it’s time for you to straighten the wheel—around one and a half turns should do it.

– A bit outside of the lines? You’re allowed to make adjustments. Steer towards the line you need to get closer to, or drive forwards and reverse back in.

– Hitting the kerb is an instant fail, so keep it slow. Once you’re happy, stop the car, apply your handbrake and select the neutral gear.

– When you’re given the go-ahead by the examiner, you’ll move to first gear, indicate to the left or right and turn the car out of the parking bay.

When would this be used in real life?

The question should really be, “When wouldn’t you need to bay park in real life?”. As soon as you’ve got your hands on your driving licence, you’ll undoubtedly be flexing your newfound skills on the roads around the UK—maybe even planning a road trip or two. An essential part of real life driving, however, is being able to park safely. Whether you’re making a quick stop at your local shop or parking up at work, you need to know how to forward or reverse bay park.

If you can, you might be better off using the reverse bay park manoeuvre rather than the forward bay park. That’s because driving forward out of a parking bay is usually a lot safer—and easier—than reversing out of one (though if you’ve mastered both, it should be a piece of cake!).

Need extra help?

Why don’t you check out our series of videos below where we break down each step of bay parking?

Bay Parking – Intro

In this lesson, you’ll be learning how to park in car park bays, usually referred to as bay parking.

There are different methods of approaching bay parking and the method you choose will depend on your circumstances. At the time, you might be asked to do this manoeuvre during your driving test. The aim of this lesson is to make sure that you fully understand how to park appropriately and safely.

During this lesson, you’ll learn about the following things:

– Deciding how to park
– Reversing into bays
– Driving into bays
– Skills checkpoint
– Bay parking on your driving test

Bay Parking – Deciding

Because there are different ways to manoeuvre into parking bays, your first job is to take a moment to consider which is best for both convenience and safety.

The first decision is whether to reverse in or drive in. Both can have their benefits. When you have mastery of the skill, reversing will often be easier and will also make life easier when it comes to leaving the bay, but depending on your reason for parking, it might be better to drive into the bay. For example, if you are shopping, driving in might make it easier to load the boot or hatchback. In some places, this will be difficult or impossible if you have reversed into the space.

If you decide to reverse in, you will need to consider whether this is from the left or the right and whether to reverse in form a 90 degree angle into the space, or from a different position. In the following video, we look at each of the options and how to do them safely.

The key points for this are:

– You can reverse or drive into a bay
– Both reversing and driving in have their benefits
– Reversing will usually be easier
– You can reverse from the left or right
– You can reverse from 90 degrees or a different angle

Bay Parking – Reversing into Bays

You can reverse into parking bays from either the left or the right. Often reversing from the right will be easier especially in the early stages of learning to park because you will be able to judge your position more accurately by looking over your right shoulder at the bay markings or any parked cars, however the information in this video can be applied to both right and left approaches.

In car parks, where there is not a lot of space, you might have to reverse in from a 90° angle to the bay. Although this car park is empty, you can see by the markings that there is limited room to manoeuvre. If the car park was busy, the driver would almost certainly have to reverse from 90° as shown here.

Start by checking all around as you approach the bay that you wish to park in check your mirrors and look for other people who might be affected by your manoeuvre. Remember that car parks are used by pedestrians. Pedestrians can approach from any angle in a car park and might not be paying attention to the traffic.

Make sure that the bay is clear and that that the space is large enough to allow room for you to get out of the car after parking. Reverse very slowly using clutch control. If the car park is busy you might need to pause two or three times to double check that the area around your car is clear. The point at which you steer will depend on the size and steering of your car. The best way to develop your accuracy is to practice in an empty car park.

Aim to park your car in the centre of the bay. Here we can see the manoeuvre with the car reversing from the left. Notice how much the driver keeps checking to make sure that it is safe to proceed. Where there is more space to manoeuvre in a car park it is normally easier to position your car at an angle to the bay before reversing.

After checking your mirrors, steer away from the bay as you drive past. The angle you reversed from will depend on the space that is available. Again reverse slowly, checking all around for pedestrians and vehicles and aiming to park in the centre of the bay.

The key points are:
– Check that the bay is clear and that there is enough space
– You can reverse in from the left or the right
– Reversing from the right will often be easier
– You can reverse from an angle depending on the space of available
– Keep a constant lookout for pedestrians they might not be paying attention to traffic

Bay Parking – From Left

In this lesson, you will learn how to reverse into a parking Bay from the left.

The key points are:

– Why reversing in can be safer
– Observation to stay safe
– Start position and control
– Car security

The benefits of reversing into a bay include the facts that makes it easier to exit the bay and offers more personal security. In the event of personal danger, you could exit more quickly. It’s also easier to reverse in than to reverse out. Whenever practical reversing in is usually the best choice.

Car parks can be hazardous with moving vehicles and pedestrians in close proximity. Be prepared to give way to other vehicles waiting for them to pass if necessary before starting your manoeuvre. Keep a constant lookout for pedestrians, especially small children who might be harder to see. While you will have to look behind to see where you are going you also need to make frequent glances to the front and sides to make sure it is safe to continue and, if necessary, pausing to glance around. You can use your mirrors to check your position as you reverse but do not rely on mirrors alone. If you rely on your mirrors alone you will not see what is going on around you.

As you approach the parking bay glance in to make sure that it is wide enough and that there are no obstructions. Looking out of the back window, aim for the middle of the space, it’s okay if you don’t line up correctly first time. You can pull forward to reposition. Use clutch control to keep your speed down to walking pace as a maximum, the slower the better.

Secure the car with a parking brake as soon as you have stopped. Finally, always lock your car and make sure any valuables are out of sight when leaving your car unattended.

Bay Parking – From Right

In this lesson, you will learn how to reverse into a parking Bay from the right.

The key points are:

– Why reversing in can be safer
– Observation to stay safe
– Start position and control
– Car security

The benefits of reversing into a bay include the facts that makes it easier to exit the bay and offers more personal security. In the event of personal danger, you could exit more quickly. It’s also easier to reverse in than to reverse out. Whenever practical reversing in is usually the best choice.

Car parks can be hazardous with moving vehicles and pedestrians in close proximity. Be prepared to give way to other vehicles waiting for them to pass if necessary before starting your manoeuvre. Keep a constant lookout for pedestrians, especially small children who might be harder to see. While you will have to look behind to see where you are going you also need to make frequent glances to the front and sides to make sure it is safe to continue and, if necessary, pausing to glance around. You can use your mirrors to check your position as you reverse but do not rely on mirrors alone. If you rely on your mirrors alone you will not see what is going on around you.

As you approach the parking bay glance in to make sure that it is wide enough and that there are no obstructions. Steer slightly to the left. This will angle your car so that it is easier to see into and steer into the bay. Use clutch control to keep your speed down to walking pace or less. The slower the better.

Looking out of the back window, aim for the middle of the space, it’s okay if you don’t line up correctly first time. You can pull forward to reposition. Secure the car with a parking brake as soon as you have stopped. Finally, always lock your car and make sure any valuables are out of sight when leaving your car unattended.

Bay Parking – Angle

In this lesson, you will learn how to reverse into a parking bay from an angle.

The key points are:

– Why reversing in can be safer
– Observation to stay safe
– Start position and control
– Car security

The benefits of reversing into a bay include the facts that it makes it easier to exit the bay and offers more personal security. In the event of personal danger, you could exit more quickly. It’s also easier to reverse in than to reverse out. Whenever practical reversing in is usually the best choice.

Car parks can be hazardous with moving vehicles and pedestrians in close proximity. Be prepared to give way to other vehicles waiting for them to pass if necessary before starting your manoeuvre. Keep a constant lookout for pedestrians, especially small children who might be harder to see. While you will have to look behind to see where you are going you also need to make frequent glances to the front and sides to make sure it is safe to continue and, if necessary, pausing to glance around. You can use your mirrors to check your position as you reverse but do not rely on mirrors alone. Simply take quick glances.

This car is reversing from the left, but you can do this from either the right or left. As you approach the parking bay, glance in to make sure that it is wide enough and that there are no obstructions. Be prepared to stop and give way to other vehicles.

Here, the driver is positioning at an angle to the bay. When there is enough space to do this, it will make it much easier to see into the bay.

Looking out of the back window, aim for the middle of the space, it’s okay if you don’t line up correctly first time. You can pull forward to reposition. Secure the car with a parking brake as soon as you have stopped. Finally, always lock your car and make sure any valuables are out of sight when leaving your car unattended.

Bay Parking – Driving In

When you have mastered the skill, reversing into bays will normally be easier and often be safer than driving in and reversing out. However, there will be times when driving in is appropriate. For example, if you need access to the boot.

Sometimes, you will get an opportunity to drive through one space, to park in another. This is often the best parking option as it doesn’t involve any reversing, either in or out.

When driving into a bay, you will need to line the car up with the space. If approaching from the left, this means that you will normally have to move across to the right before steering in. Take special care to make sure are that other vehicles are not trying to pass on your left. Signal left to let others know you are turning into the bay.

When approaching from the right, entering the bay is similar to turning right from a main road into a side road. Whether driving in from the left or right, always be prepared to give way to other vehicles and pedestrians. Check your mirrors and blind spots before steering in.

Unless a vehicle in front has moved, you will have to reverse out after driving forwards into car park bay.

Always take special care when reversing out, because other vehicles and pedestrians might be hard to see, especially in poorly lit, multi-storey car parks. It is often a good idea to get a passenger to stand behind and guide you out. Reverse very slowly, looking to the rear. You will also need to make quick glances to the front to make sure that the front of your car is not too close to the vehicles parked beside you.

You will normally have to reverse in a straight line for at least half a car length before you start to steer, because there will not be much room for manoeuvring.

The key points are:

– It will normally be easier and safer to reverse into a bay
– Look for a drive-through space when possible
– Driving into bays is useful if you need to access the boot
– Be prepared to give way to others when driving in
– Get a passenger to guide you out if possible
– Reverse out very slowly checking all around

Bay Parking – Driving In & Reversing Out

In this lesson, you will learn how to safely drive into and reverse out of a parking bay on the left.

The key points are:

– Making the choice to drive in
– Driving in safely
– Leaving the parking bay

Reversing into bays will often be easier and safer than driving in and reversing out, however, there will be times when driving in is appropriate. For example, if you need access to the boot when parking against a wall or in a car park where there is not a lot of spaces.

Entering a parking bay on the left is similar to turning left into a side road, however the space is much narrower and so you’ll have to swing out to line up with the bay when the space around you is clear. Move across to the right in order to get enough space to steer into the bay.

Be prepared to give way to any vehicles that are coming towards you or who might try to pass on your left.

Here, the driver signals left to inform others of his intended actions. Keep looking all around as you steer in, aim for the centre of the bay and drive in slowly using clutch control. Secure the car with a handbrake.

In very tight spaces, you might need to shunt back and forwards to line up with the bay. If this is the case, make sure that you take full precautions before reversing. You must be aware of what is happening all around the car.

Keep a constant lookout for pedestrians, especially small children who might be hard to see. Here, the driver waits until the pedestrian is clear of his car before starting to reverse.

Car parks can be hazardous with moving vehicles and pedestrians in close proximity. You must always be prepared to give ways to other vehicles, waiting for them to pass if necessary, before you start to reverse.

While you have to look behind to see where you are going, you need to make frequent glances to the front and sides to make sure it is safe to continue, pausing if necessary as you glance around.

Here, the driver stops to look around when about halfway out of the bay. Remember, you must always be prepared to give way to pedestrians and other car park users.

Finally, when parking in car parks, always lock your car and make sure any valuables are out of sight when leaving your car unattended.