Seems to me what they're saying is that they pretty much can never find a place to do it during most road tests, which is certainly reasonable.

I know in Wisconsin, you only have to do it if the DMV tester sees a place for you to do it. I didn't have to, though I can parallel park just fine because I'm a man.

When I got my license over a decade ago, in Virginia, they weren't testing parallel parking then.

You don't have to parallel park in CT

To be fair, you could probably count the number of times I've parallel parked since getting my license on one hand.

The Pocket Ninja Driving Test:

1) Parallel park, backing in. You may shift out of reverse once to realign, but any more and you fail.
2) Regular parking, nose-in. You must pull your car into the spot in one fluid motion with no need to shift into reverse, and none of the tires on your vehicle may be touching either line.
3) Highway merging. You must merge onto a normal highway from a normal onramp without once touching your brakes or negatively impacting traffic flow on the highway.
4) Hill climbing. You must maintain your speed with no measurable slowdown while driving upgrade.
5) Wall affinity. You must demonstrate an ability to drive your vehicle beside a construction wall or other barrier without once edging away from it and into the neighboring lane.
6) Left turn ability. You must demonstrate at least three separate and consecutive left turns that involve no movement by your vehicle to the right.
7) Right turn ability. You must demonstrate at least three separate and consecutive right turns that involve no tires coming into contact with the curb.
8) Radar awareness. You must demonstrate an ability to drive past a police cruiser parked beside the highway without slamming on your brakes in blind reflex.
9) Passing competence. You must demonstrate an aversion to passing on the right in all but the most extreme circumstances. Right-hand passes undertaken during the test will likely result in failure.
10) Conversation competence. You must demonstrate an ongoing ability to converse with your passenger without averting your eyes from the road. Any need for more than a fleeting glance sideways will result in failure.
10)

I lived out in the burbs for the first five years of my license. Never once reversed park in the entire time I was there. Then I moved to the inner city and every single park for the next 10 years was a reverse park. I honed the skill so well I could reverse park on a 5c piece.

Then I bought a motorbike and the wife is the only one who uses the car now (mostly). I had to reverse park it yesterday, took me 3 attempts. Farking sad.

/true story

Phoenix_M: California stopped testing parallel parking years ago. I live in San Francisco you have to know how parallel park here.

Not to mention knowing the meaning of "curb your wheels"

I never got tested on parallel parking. Got my license around a decade ago, here in TN.

ArkAngel: Seems to me what they're saying is that they pretty much can never find a place to do it during most road tests, which is certainly reasonable.

I know in Wisconsin, you only have to do it if the DMV tester sees a place for you to do it. I didn't have to, though I can parallel park just fine because I'm a man.

Here in vegas they just put 2 metal poles in the DMV parking lot about 3 feet tall and with enough room to park between em. You can fail the driving test before you even leave the parking lot

I took my driving test in Maine and couldn't find two cars to park between. They made me park behind someone, but that's hardly difficult.

Tested twice, both in Massachusetts. No parallel parking required.

Pocket Ninja: The Pocket Ninja Driving Test:

1) Parallel park, backing in. You may shift out of reverse once to realign, but any more and you fail.
2) Regular parking, nose-in. You must pull your car into the spot in one fluid motion with no need to shift into reverse, and none of the tires on your vehicle may be touching either line.
3) Highway merging. You must merge onto a normal highway from a normal onramp without once touching your brakes or negatively impacting traffic flow on the highway.
4) Hill climbing. You must maintain your speed with no measurable slowdown while driving upgrade.
5) Wall affinity. You must demonstrate an ability to drive your vehicle beside a construction wall or other barrier without once edging away from it and into the neighboring lane.
6) Left turn ability. You must demonstrate at least three separate and consecutive left turns that involve no movement by your vehicle to the right.
7) Right turn ability. You must demonstrate at least three separate and consecutive right turns that involve no tires coming into contact with the curb.
8) Radar awareness. You must demonstrate an ability to drive past a police cruiser parked beside the highway without slamming on your brakes in blind reflex.
9) Passing competence. You must demonstrate an aversion to passing on the right in all but the most extreme circumstances. Right-hand passes undertaken during the test will likely result in failure.
10) Conversation competence. You must demonstrate an ongoing ability to converse with your passenger without averting your eyes from the road. Any need for more than a fleeting glance sideways will result in failure.
10)

Pretty basic rules. Now what was 10 the second?

jaylectricity: Pretty basic rules. Now what was 10 the second?

Style and poise.

Pocket Ninja: jaylectricity: Pretty basic rules. Now what was 10 the second?

Style and poise.

I was gonna say tact and subtlety.

ArkAngel: Seems to me what they're saying is that they pretty much can never find a place to do it during most road tests, which is certainly reasonable.

What fail. They used a portion of the DMV parking lot with cones when I took the test.

Advice from my driver's ed teacher: It's only worth 4 points on the test and if you hit the cones or jump the curb it's an automatic failure so if you aren't confident you can do it, don't even try.

I can do it, but in reality I almost never have to parallel park. I think it's been about 10 years since I had to fit into a single space. Usually the places I parallel park are open enough I just pull over to the curb.

ThatGuyFromTheInternet: Tested twice, both in Massachusetts. No parallel parking required.

nocturn: San Diego, 96, no parallel parking tests.

Thank god!

Took written test three times, got by on a technicality, but got 100% on driving. So nah!!

How the hell does anyone fail their driving test?

People who fail should not be allowed to take the test for another 6 months. We should also make the tests harder AND have a specialized track to test driving in bad weather conditions.

Pocket Ninja: jaylectricity: Pretty basic rules. Now what was 10 the second?

Style and poise.

How about spacial awareness.

At a random point in the test, after driving on the highway for at least 10 minutes, you have to be able to tell me, without looking, what cars are in what lanes around you, and if they are going faster or slower than you.

/Bonus points if you can tell color, make, and model.

beantowndog: I took my driving test in Maine and couldn't find two cars to park between. They made me park behind someone, but that's hardly difficult.

Same with me over 30 years ago. Had to parallel park but only behind a single car. Think the reason at that time was they didn't want you hitting other vehicles during the test. Kinda messes with their schedule.

ReapTheChaos: A lot of places have stopped doing this, mostly because it's just not done anymore in most places. Personally I cant remember needing to parallel park once in the last 20 years.

Doesn't matter if you need to parallel park or not (IMHO).

It is a basic test of your awareness of the dimensions of the vehicle you are driving, and its position relative to the cars around it.

The same skills are used when pulling around a car stuck in traffic, executing a 3 point turn, or just parking in a damned parking lot.

I just had to park in back of a car because the tester didn't see two cars to park between during the test. Living in Madison you quickly become proficient at parallel parking on both sides from all the one way streets downtown. Well, if you drive downtown and don't want to spend money on parking anyway.

noazark: optional solution:

[gallery.wonderart.us image 400x300]

If you can't manage that, just be sure to be caught on a sideways camera