
Adjust the rearview mirror slightly downward, and the reference point on the windshield should be observed earlier. First, when the rearview mirror aligns exactly with the yellow line, turn the steering wheel fully to the right. Then, check the rearview mirror. When you see that the garage corner and the door handle do not cross the line, straighten the steering wheel. When the left front door handle aligns with the left garage line, turn the steering wheel fully to the right again. When you see the corner of the garage at the bottom line, start to straighten the steering wheel. Stop when the rearview mirror coincides with the edge of the garage corner, and this is the correct aligned position.

When I first passed the third driving test, the most challenging part was mastering the reference points for reverse parking. The trick my instructor taught me was: turn the steering wheel fully to the right as soon as your shoulder passes the corner of the parking space, and keep a close eye on the right rearview mirror to observe the angle between the car body and the parking line. Once the car body is parallel to the parking line, immediately straighten the steering wheel. At this point, you need to go slow—keep the clutch depressed to avoid stalling. When the lower edge of the left rearview mirror covers the front line of the parking space, hit the brakes. Finally, don’t forget to shift to neutral and pull the handbrake. During practice, I noticed that setting the seat too high can affect your judgment of the parking space corner position, so this is something to pay special attention to.

Our driving school instructors always emphasize three key points: slow speed, quick steering, and accurate reference points. When reversing into the right parking space, the critical adjustment window is when the car body is about 30 centimeters from the corner of the parking space. Turning the steering wheel too early may cause the rear of the car to brush against the line, while turning too late may result in hitting the corner. When you see the rear door handle align with the corner in the rearview mirror, you should turn the steering wheel half a turn. If the rear of the car is too narrow, adjust the steering to the left. After stopping, don’t panic if the distances on both sides are uneven—as long as you don’t cross the line, it’s considered passing. Avoid repeated adjustments to save time.

I passed the parking test in driving test subject three by rigidly memorizing reference points. Stop when the front wheels cross the control line, shift to reverse gear, turn the steering wheel fully right when the lower edge of the left rearview mirror touches the dashed line, then slowly release the clutch. Watch for the appearance of the parking space corner in the right rearview mirror, and straighten the wheels when the car body is two fingers' width from the corner. When the corner disappears from the rearview mirror, turn fully right again until the car body is parallel and then straighten. Immediately stop when the rear wheel touches the front end of the parking space line in the left rearview mirror. Although this method is mechanical, it has a high success rate.


