How to Steer the Wheel for 30cm Reverse Parking?
3 Answers
Turn the steering wheel fully to one side and continue reversing, observing the right rearview mirror. Once the far right line becomes visible, consistently maintain a 30cm distance between the car body and the parking space corner. Return the steering wheel halfway, continue reversing, and when the parking space corner disappears below the lower edge of the right rearview mirror, turn the steering wheel fully to the right again. When observing that the parking space line is parallel to the car body in the right rearview mirror, quickly straighten the steering wheel, adjust the car body, and reverse into the parking space while making adjustments.
As a veteran driver with nearly 10 years of experience, my favorite method for judging the 30cm distance during reverse parking is using the rearview mirror technique. When the rear of the car slowly approaches the parking space corner, pay attention to the distance between the door handle and the parking line in the right rearview mirror. When this gap narrows to about the width of three fingers held together, that's approximately 30cm. At this moment, turn the steering wheel quickly, accurately, and decisively to the right while simultaneously checking the left rearview mirror to observe the parallel relationship between the car body and the left parking line. If the rear appears too wide, slightly adjust the steering wheel back; if it's too narrow, compensate by turning right a bit more. The key points are maintaining a snail's pace speed, turning the steering wheel more sharply than usual, and practicing until muscle memory is formed.
Last month, my daughter who just passed the Subject 2 test asked me to coach her on reverse parking. We came up with a simple trick for the 30-centimeter mark. We placed a bottle of mineral water on the right side of the garage as a marker. When reversing, as soon as the lower edge of the right rearview mirror just covered the bottle, she would immediately turn the steering wheel all the way to the right. At this point, the distance between the car body and the garage corner would be roughly 30 centimeters. Her eyes had to dart back and forth between the left and right rearview mirrors like a spinning drum: checking if the car body was aligned on the left and making sure the tires didn’t hit the corner on the right. I remember one time she panicked and turned the wheel to the left instead, causing the car’s rear to climb onto the curb—it was hilarious.
