Lessons · Vehicle control
Parallel Parking — The Mirror-to-Mirror Method
The standard mirror-to-mirror method of parallel parking, taught step by step with numbered steps and top-down diagrams.
What you'll learn
- Start 2–3 feet out, mirror to mirror with the lead car.
- Straighten when your front bumper clears the lead car's rear bumper.
- Wheel hard left to tuck in.
- Center in the space.
The Denning method
Mirror-to-mirror is the standard instructor method.
The handbook publishes no step-by-step entry sequence.
SEE → VERIFY → DECIDE → MOVE
The gate: if there is even a sliver of doubt, the move does not happen.
What instructors see
- Starting too far out or too close.
- Turning too early or too late.
- Hitting the curb.
- Finishing crooked or far from the curb.
Fix: Reset the start position and follow the reference points in order.
On the DMV test
- Check behind before entering.
- Look over the right shoulder.
- Back no faster than 10 mph.
- Park on the right except on one-way streets.
- Signal left when leaving.
Try it
Take the free, untimed NC permit practice test.
Start freeReferences
- Check behind before entering a space; look over the right shoulder; back no faster than 10 mph; park on the right except on one-way streets; signal left when leaving; no-parking places.Official NC Driver Handbook — see the DMV page
- Signals before starting, stopping, or turning, and do not back unless the movement can be made safely and without interfering with traffic.
Note: The handbook publishes no step-by-step parallel parking entry sequence; the mirror-to-mirror method in the video is the standard instructor method.
Transcript
Transcript coming soon.
Next lesson
More lessons coming.