K53 Driver's Licence Test
How to Parallel Park on the Right: A Step-by-Step Guide for Your K53 Test
Parallel parking is one of the manoeuvres that worries learners most — but once you understand the reference points, it becomes a simple, repeatable sequence. Right-side parallel parking (reversing into a bay on your right) catches a lot of people out simply because it’s less practised than the left. Here’s how to get it right, plus a video where I walk through the whole thing.
Watch the full demonstration
In this short clip I take you through a right-side parallel park from start to finish, so you can see exactly where to look and when to turn.
Step by step
The key to parallel parking is doing it slowly and using fixed reference points rather than guessing. Here’s the basic sequence:
- Position alongside. Pull up roughly level with the vehicle you’ll be parking behind, leaving about half a metre between you. Signal so other road users know your intention.
- Check all around. Before reversing, check your mirrors and blind spots and look over your shoulder. Pedestrian and traffic observation is heavily marked on the K53 test.
- Reverse and turn in. Begin reversing slowly. When your reference point lines up, turn the steering toward the kerb to bring the back of the car into the bay.
- Straighten up. As the car swings in, straighten the wheels and continue reversing until the car sits parallel and evenly spaced from the kerb.
- Adjust if needed. A small correction forward or back to centre yourself in the bay is perfectly acceptable — it’s better than ending up on the kerb or the line.
Common mistakes that fail people
Most parallel-parking failures come down to a handful of repeat errors: going too fast so there’s no time to react, forgetting to do proper observation before and during the manoeuvre, turning the steering too early or too late, and touching the kerb or a marker. Slowing right down fixes almost all of these.
Practise with an instructor
Watching a video is a great start, but parallel parking really clicks once you’ve done it a few times with someone guiding you on the reference points for your specific car. At My Driving School we cover parallel parking, alley docking and three-point turns as part of our driving lesson packages in Pretoria and Centurion.
Ready to master it? Register for a lesson online or call us on 082 895 6503.
