Manoeuvre – How to Reverse Bay Park

This is a manoeuvre may learners struggle with, fortunately, it’s also one of the least likely as many test centres do not have parking bays available. However, the examiner does have the option of driving to a nearby test centre to use their bay parking facilities. During this manoeuvre the examiner is assessing three key points which are:

1. Accuracy- to successfully park within the two lines of the parking bay
2. Control- by keeping the car under control by use of clutch control and steering
3. Observations- 360° observations should be undertaken throughout the whole process

How to Reverse Bay Park – Step 1- Positioning

Initially, your car should be positioned in the centre of the road, this is to give you sufficient distance from the bays and will make your turning circle wider and so easier to manoeuvre. Then, switch to reverse gear regardless of any pedestrians or vehicles are your reverse light will indicate your intentions. You will now need to reverse until you reach the point of turning, this point may be different from car to car so you should establish your own. It’s important to look out of the rear windscreen whilst reversing, you’ll fail the test if you don’t. You’ll need to be looking out for the reference point, whilst also looking in all directions for any obstacles.

A reference point which can be used to identify the point of turning is the bay parking lines. Choose one of these and line it up with the front passenger door. When you turn full left lock, it will lead you into the third bay from the line. It’s best if the car park is empty, however, if this isn’t the case, you’ll have to calculate which line to align the front door with.

How to Reverse Bay Park- Step 2- Turning

Once you’ve reached the reference point, steer the wheel quickly towards the left until you’ve reached full lock. Before you do this, it’s essential you perform observations around the car again. Also remembering to check the blind spot where the car will swing out too. Once you’re certain all is clear, look out of the rear window, begin reversing, and move the car slowly backwards and full lock.

How to Reverse Bay Park – Step 3- Observations

This section is often the most difficult, therefore it’s beneficial to keep the car at a crawling speed so you can make the most use of reference points. If you’re not sure where the car is moving towards, you can stop the car and re-evaluate your position on the road. At any point whilst reversing, if a pedestrian or other vehicle approaches, you should stop and wait until the hazard passes. Continuously perform 360° observations while moving backwards, and take quick glances at your left wing mirror. You should begin to see the white line appearing. Establish how close you are from this line using the left mirror. As you continue to reverse, looking at the right wing mirror should reveal the line of the other side of the bay. Using both of these simultaneously will allow you to move into the bay in the correct positioning.

How to Reverse Bay Park – Step 4- Adjusting

As soon as both of the lines on either side of the car seem parallel to you, straighten the wheel. Often it’s a turn and a half to the right. If you realise you’re too far away from the right or left side, steer towards the line to want to get closer. As a final reference point, your wing mirrors should line up with the end of the lines. Or alternatively, if there are other cars in the car park, line up your mirrors with theirs. This is to ensure you don’t continue to reverse and potentially hit the kerb behind you, which would also constitute a fail.

How to Reverse Bay Park – Tips

It’s important to remember the reference points described above are a guide, and they will need to be adjusted for your size of car and setting positions. The method described here is one particular method, yet there are many others which could also be utilized. As long as you do the manoeuvre slowly and safely whilst performing all around observations, you will pass this section.

The car park of the test centre will likely be the perfect place for you to perform this manoeuvre. Although it may become very busy, you should stay calm and never speed up the manoeuvre just because cars are waiting for you. Doing so is likely to cause you to make a mistake.

If during the exercise, you realise you have overshot a reference point and are too far to the left or right and will not be fully within the bay, explain to the examiner that you are going to pull forward and correct your mistake. If this is carried out safely, there will be no problem in doing this.

In conclusion, this is a manoeuvre which you’ll have to perfect for your test. It is also incredibly common in real-life driving situations, therefore, it’s preferable to perfect it to the best of your ability. The Team at DTC Driving Test Services wishes you well.