You drive past a space because someone is waiting behind you. Or you choose a much longer walk because reverse parking still feels like a performance you would rather avoid. You may be comfortable driving across Perth but still feel rushed by the last few metres of the trip.
Parking becomes more manageable when you separate the decisions: choose a suitable space, set up before turning, watch the whole area your car will move through, and make slow, controlled adjustments. For reversing, our cue is simple: LOOK BACK and maintain 360-degree awareness every time you're reversing. A parking attempt is not over just because the first movement leaves you a little crooked.
Forward bays, reverse bays and reverse parallel parks use different paths, but they share those foundations. The aim is not to memorise a trick that works in one car. It is to understand where your vehicle is going and have time to respond if the situation changes.
Choose the space before committing to it
Start with whether the space is suitable and permitted, not just whether it is empty. Read the signs, time limits, bay markings and any restrictions before deciding to use it.
Think about the whole manoeuvre. Is there enough room to set up, turn and straighten? Can you open the doors without hitting the next vehicle? Can you leave safely later?
In a busy shopping-centre car park, include people with trolleys, children, other reversing vehicles and traffic moving along the aisle in your observations. A space further from the entrance may give you a simpler situation to work with. It is not automatically a poor choice because it means walking a little further.
The bay examples below concern ordinary right-angle bays where the chosen direction is permitted. Do not assume every angled roadside bay can be entered forwards or backwards: its angle, markings and applicable rules may determine how you must park. Follow site-specific parking requirements too, including any reverse-park-only rule.
Observation comes before steering accuracy
Before moving, check the whole area the car will travel through. That includes the space behind you, the sides and the area the front of the car may swing into.
LOOK BACK is not a one-off glance that clears the rest of the reverse. Look behind before reversing and keep checking the direction of travel, while also checking the other areas affected by the manoeuvre. If somebody moves into your path or you lose the view you need, stop.
Use mirrors and any fitted camera or sensors to help, not as permission to stop looking around. Watching a camera image does not tell you everything happening beside the car or around its front corners. A quiet sensor is not a reason to keep moving when you are unsure of the clearance.
If you need to look somewhere else long enough that you cannot monitor your movement properly, stop the car while you check. Steering neatly into a bay is not useful if you have stopped noticing the people around it.
In our low-speed parking coaching, we use hand-over-hand steering for the turning and straightening movements. The point is to control where the wheels are pointing, not to keep adding steering while the car moves somewhere you have not checked.
Forward bay parking: give yourself room to turn
A forward bay park can feel simple until the front enters the bay but the rest of the car is still at an awkward angle. The useful question is often whether the starting position gave you enough room, rather than whether you turned the wheel quickly enough.
Set up: Choose the bay early, use M.I.B. (Mirror, Indicate, Brake), communicate your intention and position the car so the turn is possible without cutting close to the next vehicle. Stay within the permitted traffic path; do not swing out into somebody else's space just to make the entry easier.
Guide the whole car: Move slowly into the bay while checking both front corners and the sides. The nose fitting between two parked cars does not mean the rest of the vehicle will clear them.
Straighten: As the car lines up with the bay, straighten the wheels and use the bay markings to judge the final position. Do not copy a neighbouring car that is parked across its own lines.
Finish or reset: Stop before the kerb, wheel stop or obstacle becomes your stopping signal. If you cannot finish comfortably within the bay, stop and make a safe adjustment rather than forcing the turn.
Think about leaving as well as arriving. If you will reverse out, you still need a clear view and a safe path into the aisle. The fact that you parked there does not reserve the space behind the car for your exit.
Reverse bay parking: plan the path, not just the final picture
Where reverse parking is permitted and suitable, it lets you leave the bay forwards rather than reverse out into the aisle. That does not make the entry or exit automatically safe: you still need to observe the area and manage both ends of the car. Reverse parking in car parks is my personal go-to where the space and rules allow it.
At Licence Link, we teach both the 3-line rule and the 45-degree, 1-line method, which we affectionately call the "real-world reverse park". These are different ways of setting up the reverse into a bay, not a reason to force the same starting position into every aisle. The 45 degrees describes the angled vehicle setup, not permission to reverse into every 45-degree roadside parking bay.
Choose a starting position: Allow room for the rear to move towards the bay and for the front to swing as you steer. The right setup depends on your vehicle and the available aisle, not a universal mark on the side window. You may start with a reference point checked for your car and seating position while you develop your judgment.
Stop and prepare: Approach using M.I.B., then bring the car to a stop before changing direction. Select reverse, then cancel the approach indicator used for the completed setup movement. Check the area again and LOOK BACK before moving. This cancels the completed approach signal, not any signal needed for the next movement.
Guide the rear while monitoring the front: Reverse slowly towards the bay. Keep checking the rearward path, the bay boundaries and the clearance around the front as it swings. Do not stare at one line while another part of the car approaches a vehicle or pedestrian.
Line up and finish: Straighten as the vehicle comes into line with the bay. Stop with the vehicle within the space, leaving suitable clearance rather than reversing until a sensor, kerb or neighbouring bumper tells you to stop.
If the angle is wrong, stop while you still have space to correct it. Pulling forward and trying again can be a controlled part of parking, provided you make fresh observations and the movement is safe. It is not a reason to rush through repeated changes of direction.
Reverse parallel parking: create the angle, then bring the car into line
Parallel parking becomes harder when you choose a space that leaves little room to manoeuvre. Start with somewhere legal and large enough for your car, with room to enter, straighten and later leave.
For an ordinary reverse parallel park on a two-way street, park facing the direction of traffic and as near as practicable to, and parallel with, the left kerb. One-way streets and signed parking arrangements can differ, so read the actual controls.
Prepare alongside the space: Use M.I.B. to signal your intention and establish a starting position with suitable clearance from the parked vehicle. Our "bumper to bumper" setup cue means lining up the rear bumpers while alongside. Check traffic and people before changing direction; do not assume the driver behind understands what you intend to do.
Bring the rear towards the kerb: LOOK BACK and reverse slowly, using a controlled, approximately 45-degree angle into the space. Monitor the front of the car as it swings towards the traffic side.
Bring the front into the space: As the rear moves into position, adjust the steering to bring the vehicle into line with the kerb. Check that the front clears the vehicle ahead and that the rear is not getting too close to the vehicle behind.
Finish parallel: Straighten and adjust safely if needed. Leave the required clearance from other vehicles and enough room to get out of the space later.
Do not keep reversing simply because you have not completed a memorised sequence. If the car is approaching the kerb or another vehicle, stop and assess the actual position.
When parallel parking a car on the road outside a marked bay, leave at least one metre from another vehicle, as required by WA's ordinary parallel-parking rule. Parking within a marked bay has its own requirements; being inside the lines does not remove the need to avoid contact or obstruction.
A correction needs its own observations
The view you had before the first movement may no longer be current. Someone can walk behind the car or drive into the aisle while you are concentrating on straightening.
Stop before changing direction, work out what you need to correct and check the new path before moving. If you are reversing again, LOOK BACK again. If you are moving forwards, check the space ahead and the sides the car will move towards.
If you cannot judge the clearance, do not use the bumper or kerb to find it. Secure the vehicle and check from outside only where it is safe to get out, or choose another suitable space. After returning to the driving seat, check again before moving.
The purpose of an adjustment is to improve a specific position. If each correction leaves you more confused, stop and reset rather than adding more steering without a plan.
Leaving the park is part of the manoeuvre
Before moving out, use M.I.L.O. (Mirror, Indicate, Look Over) and check the path for pedestrians, bicycles and vehicles. A signal communicates your intention; it does not require other people to create a gap for you.
When joining traffic from a stationary position at the side of a WA carriageway, signal continuously for at least five seconds before pulling out. Check the relevant blind spot and give way as required. Do not turn that specific requirement into a claim that every movement within every car park uses the same fixed timing.
Our MILO and MIB guide explains the preparation for planned slowing, turns and sideways movement. In both cues, "Mirror" means the interior rear-view mirror; the full parking manoeuvre still needs the wider observations described here.
Read MILO and MIB: Simple Checks for Safer Everyday Driving →
If you have finished parking and are leaving the car, secure it properly, including applying the parking brake and using the appropriate transmission procedure for the type of vehicle. Check for people and traffic before opening a door. Parking is not complete if the next movement puts someone beside the car at risk.
Common parking questions
Is reverse parking always the better choice?
No single method suits every space. Consider the bay direction, signs, available room and what you will be able to see when entering and leaving.
A reverse bay park lets you leave forwards rather than reverse out into the aisle, but it still requires a safe reverse entry and careful observations before leaving. A forward park is not automatically wrong, and a reverse park is not permission to ignore a bay's required orientation.
Should I use a fixed reference point?
A reference point can help when it has been checked for your car and seating position. It should support your observations, not replace them.
For example, our teaching for a forward park to the right includes lining up the right mirror with the right-hand line of the chosen bay. That is a reference to establish and practise in the vehicle being used, with suitable clearance and observations, not a promise that the same view produces the same result in every car.
Changing cars, seat height or the shape of the space can change what you see and where the vehicle travels. If a remembered reference point sends you towards an obstacle, stop and reassess rather than finishing the instruction regardless.
What if someone is waiting behind me?
Communicate clearly and keep watching what they actually do. Do not let their presence turn a controlled manoeuvre into a hurried one.
If the situation no longer gives you room to park safely, use another suitable space or reposition when safe. You do not need to complete that particular park to prove you can do it.
Practise the part you are avoiding
Choose a suitable, lawful place with enough room and a quieter time to work on one parking type. A shopping-centre car park is not a closed training area simply because there are few cars in it.
Start by understanding the setup and the path. Then practise observing and making a controlled adjustment, rather than treating every attempt as a test of whether you can finish in one movement. Build towards more demanding spaces as your control and judgment improve.
One way we build the movement for parallel parking is a guided bay-to-bay exercise: reversing diagonally from one bay to another, then moving forwards into the next. That needs a suitable clear practice area and careful observation, not a busy row of parked cars. It lets you work on the change of direction and straightening before adding the tighter roadside space.
Once safely parked, note one useful detail: "My starting position was too close, so I had little room to turn." That gives the next attempt a purpose. "I'm bad at parking" does not tell you what to change.
Build a clearer approach to parking
You do not have to wait until you feel completely confident before asking for support. A useful starting point is knowing which part of your driving feels rushed or unclear and working on the observation, timing and decisions behind it.
The Licence Link Defensive Driving Course is a three-hour, face-to-face course for $297, with automatic and manual options. It is for licensed drivers, from red and green P-platers through to full licence holders who want to improve their skills or confidence.
The session includes briefing, practical coaching and debriefing, with priorities shaped around the areas you want to improve and the driving observed during the session. Freeway merging, lane changes and multi-lane planning are possible focus areas, or maybe parking is still something you avoid doing.
Drivers from across the Perth metropolitan area are welcome. Participants travel to our Bull Creek meeting point, south of the river. Bull Creek is where we meet, as it provides close access to all driving environments including the City, freeways right through to heavy industrial areas.
Your included resources are a personal digital feedback form and relevant digital cheat sheets. No subscription is needed. The aim is to leave with clearer priorities for your driving, not a guarantee that one session will remove every difficult moment.
Explore the Defensive Driving Course if you want practical help making parking feel more controlled and less rushed.