My parents insisted I learn on a manual, and while I didn’t appreciate it at the time, I do now.
The regional DMV office where I took my driving exam had the most notorious parallel parking setup in the state. It was two traffic cones next to a very large, 3 1/2 foot diameter log (representing the curb) and was on the side of a circular cul-de-sac. So not only did you have to account for the curvature, if you got too close to the “curb”, you were gonna have a very bad day lol.
If you’re wondering: I nailed it (they let you practice after hours which helped).
Nothing other than increasing the difficulty for a novice driver. Mostly it’s me going on a tangent and reminiscing about defeating that fucking log lol.
If you don’t have control over the finer movements of your car, parallel park is a pretty good way to weed it out. And if they don’t, you’re gonna fuck up harder in a place that actually matters.
Fuck up when it doesn’t matter so you don’t fuck up when it matters.
AFAIK, it’s mostly due to how the driving exams are structured.
First you have to pass the written exam. If you fail that, you don’t continue.
After the written exam is the parallel parking test. That’s done on-site. If you don’t pass that part, you don’t continue to the road test.
The road test is last; it’s up to the instructor where you go for that, but it usually is a route that covers various scenarios that were on the exam (4-way stops, crosswalks, speed transition zones, school zones, etc).
I’d guess it’s setup that way because of how many people fail the parallel parking test; best to do that in a controlled environment where there’s no risk to regular people’s cars out in the wild.
Edit: This probably varies state-by-state, too. I’m just describing how it was here.
My parents insisted I learn on a manual, and while I didn’t appreciate it at the time, I do now.
The regional DMV office where I took my driving exam had the most notorious parallel parking setup in the state. It was two traffic cones next to a very large, 3 1/2 foot diameter log (representing the curb) and was on the side of a circular cul-de-sac. So not only did you have to account for the curvature, if you got too close to the “curb”, you were gonna have a very bad day lol.
If you’re wondering: I nailed it (they let you practice after hours which helped).
What does manual transmission have to do with parallel parking?
Nothing other than increasing the difficulty for a novice driver. Mostly it’s me going on a tangent and reminiscing about defeating that fucking log lol.
From my experience it’s a lot easier to drive slowly just woth the clutch instead of the gas pedam
Absolutely. Clutch control is super useful.
What’s wrong with just driving through the nearby streets and searching for a fitting spot for parking?
If you don’t have control over the finer movements of your car, parallel park is a pretty good way to weed it out. And if they don’t, you’re gonna fuck up harder in a place that actually matters.
Fuck up when it doesn’t matter so you don’t fuck up when it matters.
AFAIK, it’s mostly due to how the driving exams are structured.
First you have to pass the written exam. If you fail that, you don’t continue.
After the written exam is the parallel parking test. That’s done on-site. If you don’t pass that part, you don’t continue to the road test.
The road test is last; it’s up to the instructor where you go for that, but it usually is a route that covers various scenarios that were on the exam (4-way stops, crosswalks, speed transition zones, school zones, etc).
I’d guess it’s setup that way because of how many people fail the parallel parking test; best to do that in a controlled environment where there’s no risk to regular people’s cars out in the wild.
Edit: This probably varies state-by-state, too. I’m just describing how it was here.