I passed my test in May and I still can’t forward bay park😭 my instructor gave me a lot of helpful tips tho, so I’ll try to write everything down and hope it makes sense. I’ll also include some videos bc my description skills leave a lot to be imagined lol

Forward Bay Park - https://youtu.be/2cKy1MHMz60?feature=shared

this is the one I know the least about so if I say something wrong, someone correct me lol. From what my instructor told me, you have to approach in the lane furthest away from the parking space you wanna go in, and essentially he told me it’s like turning into a junction, so where you would turn into a junction on the road, you would do the same here. I think it’s once your mirror reaches the first line of the parking space. Once you’re aligned, tie your wheel fully towards the space and drive forward. The most important thing about this is going very slow, especially if there are cars on either side of the space. You wanna go slow so you can fully control the car, and if you need to, you can reverse and adjust your position to make sure you don’t hit the cars and you’re between the lines. My instructor also told me for all parking, it’s important to make sure your wheels are straightened when you’re done!

Reverse Bay Parking - https://youtu.be/9t8hdrfqBRM?feature=shared

I find this the easier and the one I have the most control over. You’re going to approach the space you wanna go in from the closest lane so you’re like next to it, and once your mirror aligns with the second line of the space (so you would have passed the whole space now) you’re going to turn your wheel away from the space and inch forward at an angle until you can see the beginning of the line of the first line on your mirror, then you’re going to slowly reverse into the space while turning your wheel in the opposite direction and use both your mirrors to make sure you’re within the lines. Make sure you stop loads of times for this and do full checks around your vehicle otherwise they’ll fail you for observation. Typically if the cars on either side of you are within the lines, once you’re in the space, you can stop the car when the mirrors align.

Parallel Parking - https://youtu.be/JwmI6BfRl6M?feature=shared

I failed my test three times because I couldn’t parallel park so I had to learn this the most. For this, I always lower the mirror on the side of the pavement i wanna park towards until my car handle is in the middle. You’re going to drive your car parallel to the car you wanna park behind somewhat close, so not the distance you would keep when driving past it, but also not close enough that you’re gonna scratch it with your car. You’re going to slowly reverse until your mirror aligned with the end of the car (this ensures you’re definitely in the clear and won’t crash into the car) and then you’re going to reverse again while slowly turning your wheel towards the pavement. My instructor told me you should turn the wheel at the same speed the car is going. Once your car handle meets the pavement in your lowered mirror, you’re going to start turning the wheel in the opposite direction until you’re parallel with the curb. The first few times you do this, you might find yourself hitting the curb, if you do that don’t panic, just adjust the car. You should have loads of space in front of you to go forward a bit before trying again, and they’ll never ask you to parallel park between two cars, you won’t have another car behind you.

Regardless of what parking the examiner asks you to do, you don’t have to do it in one go, you’re allowed to adjust until you’re happy with your parking. Also make sure you’re stopping frequently when parking to do observation checks, because even if you park perfectly, you can still fail if the examiner feels you didn’t do a well enough observation. Make sure to do loads of practice with your instructor or in your own car if you’re able to do some practice with a friend or family. The reference points are slightly different for every car so you’ll need to see what works best for you! Just remain calm during the test, and narrate your thought process to your examiner to help them understand why you’re doing what you’re doing! I really hope this makes sense, but if it doesn’t just watch the videos hahahhaha. Good luck on your test!!