A driving instructor has admitted many people get taught the wrong way to reverse bay park when they are learning to drive, as the method can’t be used in real life – but this one can
When many of us learn to drive we are taught a ‘wrong’ method from our driving instructors, according to someone who currently works as one.
Online driving instructor Francis caused a stir online when he uploaded a tutorial of a reverse bay park. While the method in itself made it clear how to park – many pointed out that Francis was parking between two empty bays. This isn’t always the case in real life, and if a car had been in one of them he would have hit it because he crossed one of the lines.
“So you can only park if there are two spare bays? You’d have hit the car if there was one in the bay to the left,” said one person. Francis responded to the comments in a video on his Driving School TV YouTube channel.
In the video, which is titled You Probably Didn’t Learn To Park Properly, Francis said: “The way they teach you to park on your driving test is stupid. It doesn’t work in real life. And if it doesn’t work in real life, why are you teaching me it for my driving test?” Francis explained that he realised this only after posting the clip to TikTok.
Instead, he showed a “perfect” method to reverse bay park which you can use in “real life”. First, Francis explained you should drive past the bay you want to park in until you are “level with the edge of the bay”.
“Then I’m going to take a sharp turn to the right until I’m about 45 degrees away. What I’m looking for in my mirror is the back of my car to line up with the line I just turned on. The ‘T-line’ on the bay, the back of my car is touching it.” Before continuing, Francis reminded people to “always” keep up observation by looking around you before reversing.
“Once I’m moving I’m going to take a turn to the left.” Francis keep an eye on the mirrors to make sure he is passing the correct side, at a safe distance, of the cars next to him. He continues reversing until he is “perfectly in the bay”.
According to Francis, each time you do this you will need to use your “judgement”, as you might not turn at the exact same angle each time. “Once you’re looking in the mirror all you’re looking for is for your car to pass on the correct side of your line, to not hit the car on your left, and then safely check, looking in the mirror on your right, making sure your car is clear of the car on your right,” he summed up.
