My driving test is soon (whenever the NJ DMV reopen), and I have a problem.

I suck at parallel parking. In my partner's Compass with its nifty parking camera, no issue. In the Cherokee, cones had better beware and let's not even talk about the potential for damage to my tyres (I'm a British expat so excuse the spelling!) I just can't get it right (I learned to park in the UK in a Nissan Micra, so there is a huge difference in size and temperament.)

Bearing in mind that this is going to be my Daily Driver, is it worth installing an aftermarket parking camera for quality-of-life/ease of parking? Or should I save myself the cash and just remind myself that other cards are easier to see than cones?

Obviously I'm going to keep practicing, I just wanted an opinion from more knowledgeable folks with more experience driving (and parking) these things!

 

Learn to walk? Or use a wheelchair? Hmmm..... decisions, decisions.....

If you are incapacitated, of course you use a wheelchair. But using a wheelchair when you are NOT incapacitated will eventually result in being incapacitated due to muscle atrophy.

 

Seems like right now you should have TONS of time to practice.................

 

Use the Compass to pass your driving test.

 

That's an interesting way to look at it. Not sure I agree with your analogy, this is more like using reading glasses when I don't need to, but I see your point.

Especially now that NJ has pushed back the DMV re-opening until Memorial Day...

That was always the plan, but that's my partner's daily driver, and won't help me day-to-day :P

 

No, the ability to park a vehicle is more like walking vs. not walking than seeing better versus seeing less well.

 

pull up along side the car/cone, till the cone is center in your rear passenger window. then cut the wheel (fast and fully) as you slowly reverse till your car is 45*, then cut the wheel again all the way the other way, and back right in. if done right, it will set you perfectly in the spot in regards to the curb, then pull forward to center your car in the spot.
this may take a bit of practice, but you will hit it bang on every time once you get comfortable at it. i learned this way long before back up cameras. i can parallel a lincoln or a micra using the same technique every time. even on both sides of a one way street. i have even parallel parked 18 wheelers with a bit of practice. but it was my job as a shunt driver. but like anything. practice makes perfect.

now get out there and borrow your partners compass and pass the exam. then worry about practicing in your jeep after you get your license.

 

You know what, you're right. Though I think the backup camera on the Compass is a lifesaver, it occurs to me that if that were ever to fail I'd be up a creek without a paddle. Fortunately, I think I've figured out how to get it right 90% of the time without hitting the curb or a cone.

It's a matter of confidence more than tech.

It's now just a case of finding that sweet spot of being between "too far away" from the curb and "on the curb"; hitting it is an auto-fail, and I'm still extremely self-conscious of that fact.

That's what I've been doing. I'm not getting it every time, but I'm getting there. The Cherokee is a vastly different beast than the Compass or the Micra I learned on.

I've actually been practising in an old parking lot with the cones two bay-widths apart (about 25 feet). It's not going to help on the test, but if I get the *** across the middle line before I straighten the car out and then am sitting on the line in, I'm in a decent spot.

I just need to get closer to the pavement, as I'm self-conscious (terrified) of hitting it and auto-failing the test.

 

Now you begin to understand, grasshopper.


Remember, repetition is the mother of skill.