in this video we're going to learn how to know where your vehicle is located
in relation to the space you're in or to the objects you're about to park close
to. for example have you ever pulled into a parking space and thought did i pull in
far enough. or as you were pulling in did you think i'm not sure where to stop
because you weren't sure where the front of your vehicle was in relation to the end of the parking
space or to the car that's parked in front of you or to the wall that's there. we're going to look
at those situations and others. and i'm going to make a simple marker that you can make too
that's very inexpensive. and it can help you with your parking practice. if you bump this marker
it'll move and no damage will be done to you or the marker. and all you need is a jug of water
a driveway marker and some duct tape. the jug of water costs 94 cents, the reflector was 78 cents,
the price will vary on the duct tape but you can find it anywhere and you may already even
have it. so all i'm going to do is duct tape that marker to the side of this water jug.
and here's what i ended up with. pretty simple but it's sturdy enough. and if you bump it it'll
give and bounce right back. you can also practice this using cardboard boxes. i'm going to put it in
the middle of the parking spot. and i'm going to move it out. so from the pole to the back of the
parking space is about 12 inches right there. and this pole is 4 feet tall so you should be able to
see it well over your hood. or if you're backing and you put it behind you, you should be able to
see it out your rear view mirror. and here's my view from the driver's seat as i approach
the marker. i'm going to ease up really slowly to it. and stop as soon as i see any movement at all.
i'm going to stop there and, then i'm going to back off just a few inches. and i'd advise you
to go ahead and get out of your vehicle and take a look at it. so i backed off maybe four inches from
where i first hit it and that leaves me a decent amount of room between my car and the end of the
parking space. you're parked in the right spot. so now you're going to want to look how your vehicle
is situated in relation to this spot. we're going to look at reference points on our vehicle that
will help us park like this every time. with my seat adjusted correctly for how tall i am, when
i look to the left the extended back line of the parking spaces is right under my left mirror. and
when i look over to the right it's basically the same. so if i'm driving this car and i can see the
extended lines, then if i stop my vehicle right about when the lines are underneath my mirrors
on either side i'm in a good spot. but along with checking my right or left mirrors i also
need to get used to how it looks over my hood in this car. i can kind of mentally draw a line
across and match it up with the end of the parking spaces. but that takes practice and that's what
you'll need to do. get a marker like this or have someone outside your vehicle to let you know when
you're far enough in the parking space and you should stop. and that is kind of nice to have some
actual feedback from another person. it takes some practice to get used to how it should look over
your hood when you're in the right spot in your parking space. reference points like this can be
really helpful if you're driving the same vehicle all the time and if you have a clear line of sight
of the end of the parking spaces which you may not always have. especially if there are vehicles
on both sides of you. if you have at least one side that's open and your view isn't blocked
then you'll probably be able to see that line. but reference points can vary depending on the vehicle
or the person. if i was shorter this might be my view and i couldn't use my mirrors as a reference
point. instead i might use when the front lines of the parking spaces appear to line up with the end
of my right door handle. some vehicles are higher than this one, some are lower, some are wider,
some are skinnier. your height makes a difference, your seat adjustment makes a difference, so you'll
have to make adjustments when you're driving something different. but after a lot of practice
this will become second nature to you. and when in doubt stop too soon. you can get out and take a
look if you want to and then move closer, but it's too late to do anything about going too far and
hitting another vehicle that might be parked in front of you. if you pull into a parking stall and
you can't see the parking lines clearly enough to use them as a reference point, then check out the
vehicles parked next to you. the one on my left is about the same length as my car or a little longer
and it appears to be parked correctly. so i'm going to stop when my mirrors line up with theirs.
you can also try to line up with their bumper. but lining up with their mirrors will probably
be easier. you can also do the same thing with the vehicle on your right as long as it's also
a similar size as what you're driving or longer. be sure and keep an eye on what's in front of
you so you don't accidentally hit something. keep looking forward and to the side as you're
lining the mirrors up. if you're parked by a much shorter vehicle and your view of the parking lines
in front are blocked, you can't line up with their mirrors. there's too much of a size mismatch and
your front end could end up sticking pretty far out past theirs. in that case try lining up with
their bumper as best you can. if you're backing into a spot use your backup camera if you have one
to let you know when to stop. if you don't have one, line your front bumper up with their bumper
if they're a similar size or larger vehicle. if it's a smaller vehicle try to match your
rear bumper up with their bumper. all this gets easier with practice and getting used
to the vehicle you're in. you can also practice this using a marker like the one i made or using
cardboard boxes. this will help you get a better feel for how far back the rear of your vehicle
is. you can actually use your headlights to help you park close to an object. i set up my marker
about 15 inches away in front of the garage door. and i'm going to move my car forward until i hit
the marker and then back off a little bit. when i park near something i want my car to be 12 to 18
inches away from it. if you'd like a little more you can say 12 to 24 inches one to two feet. but
i say the 12 to 18 inch distance is good. that way you're not too close to something so that if you
make a mistake you'll hit it, and you're not too far away from it so that the end of your vehicle
would be sticking out and obstructing other vehicles going behind you. so i'm going to hit the
pole and then back off a little. okay i hit it. so that would be closer than 15 inches. so i'm going
to back up a little. there we go. and i'm going to check my distance now. i'm about 16 and a half
inches away from the garage door so that's fine. so i'm going to make this my reference location.
i removed the marker. kept my car in the same place. got in my seat put my seat belt on and made
sure my seat was adjusted like it normally would be when i'm driving. now i want to take note of
what my headlights look like against this garage door. especially my driver's side light. that's
the one i can see the best. as you get closer to an object you'll see less of your headlights
and that's a way to help you gauge how close you are to something. and what i want to do is try
to get it in my mind about what my headlights look like when i'm 15 to 18 inches away from an object.
in this case the garage door. mainly how much of that light can i see over the edge of my hood.
from here it looks like i can see maybe an inch or two of the right side of that light.
so i'm going to try to duplicate that. i'm just going to try to go by memory and then with
practice that'll get easier. so i'm going to back up and then pull f.orward and see how close i get.
i think i've got maybe an inch or two of that light showing over the edge of my hood so i'm
going to stop and get out and measure it. i ended up about 16 inches away so that was pretty close.
of course i have practiced this a few times and the more you practice it the better you'll
get at it. of course where i'm parking is in the shade a little bit. but this will also work on a
sunny day against a bright object. but what you'll have to do more than likely is use your brights.
low beam. high beam. and your bright lights will flare a little more at the top.
but what you want to do is still look at the main part
of that light and make sure you can see a good part of that over the top of your hood.
i'm going to move a little bit closer and you'll see the closer i get the less of my lights i'll
see. if it gets to where i can't hardly see any of my light over the hood, then i'm too close.
so i'm going to stop right there. and if you have automatic always on headlights, it may
not allow you to put your bright lights on during the daytime. so in cars like that like, on mine,
you'll have to pull that lever back and hold it in order to get the high beams to come on during
the daytime. i hope this video helps somebody, but what always helps the most is practice.
practice any driving skill and you'll get better at it. thanks for watching and have a great day.