Why are we taught that to parallel park you must back in to the space?

It’s simpler, that’s all. Fewer maneuvers. You can go forward into a space big enough but if it’s tight then you’ll be cranking the wheel and scooching forward and back more times if you want a straight park.

They are training us for the worst case senario i.e. tightest spaces. I would say that a lot of people have a hard time with parallel parking.

Backing in is the most efficient.

When you back in, you can turn the front wheels to get them closer to the curb, but when you pull in front-ways, you can’t turn the back wheels to get them closer to the curb, so you’re left with your back wheels far away.

I have no Idea. I mean, there are a few ways to park that are more efficient.
Like these three here:
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@jca Ah…there’s my answer. Thank you.

@ragingloli LOVED those! Thank you!

My seventeen year old daughter is better at parallel parking than I am. That’s sad, isn’t it?

@Dutchess_III
It is so easy even a child can do it.

Would anyone like to learn the trick?

Position your car so the rear bumper of the car you are trying to park behind is at the halfway mark of your car, and be as close next to that car as possible. Turn your wheel all the way to the inside and shift into reverse. Look out your back window, and reverse just until you have backed enough so that the car parked behind passes out of the field of vision of the rear window. Then stop moving and turn the wheel all the way to the outside. Continue reversing and you will line up perfectly in the space, little or no reshuffling needed.

Piece of cake. I can parallel park my Odyssey minivan in under a minute with this method.

I know how to do it. As I said in the details, I was taught in Driver’s Ed.

@Dutchess_III Very cool, I didn’t know that general Driver’s Ed classes taught this method. Whenever I show people, they seem amazed, so I think it’s a helpful thing to share in general. I tried to find a YouTube video to show you my halfway-lineup-method but it seems like all of the teaching aides recommend lining up fully with the car in front and then freely maneuvering your way carefully into the space backwards, which sounds really difficult to me. Lining up the way I described and then turning your wheel one way and the the other at a particular point makes the whole procedure utterly automatic, and works with every car I’ve tried it with.

You seem upset, possibly, that I have not bothered to answer your question directly? Or that by my answer I seemed to imply that I didn’t read your details, or that I ignored them? I hoped you would not interpret my response this way, but I thought I’d share some helpful info since this question is posted in the Social section. I did not direct my comment only to you, but specifically stated that it was directed to anyone. The people I had in mind were ragingloli and augustlan, actually, because they both mentioned their lack of proficiency.

It was back in the 70’s when Driver’s Ed was part of the regular school curriculum.

@Dutchess_III Gotcha. I wish it still was; it seems like this would be a boon for students who can’t afford outside instruction. I wonder why they took it out of the curriculum.

It really, really should be. I guess they took it out to save money. Knowing how to drive isn’t as important as PE, I guess.