🅿️ Parallel parking
Massachusetts still tests parallel parking, usually between cones or parked vehicles, and contact with either ends the test. The good news is that it's the most mechanical part of the exam: the same five movements work every time, and the whole thing is decided by how well you set up before you start reversing.
What the examiner is watching for
- ✓You set up parallel to the front vehicle at a sensible distance before reversing
- ✓You look behind you while reversing rather than relying on the mirrors or camera
- ✓The car finishes within about twelve inches of the curb, straight and inside the space
- ✓Nothing is touched — not a cone, not a bumper, not the curb
Step by step
- 1Signal right, pull alongside the front vehicle about two feet away, and line your rear bumpers up level.
- 2Check mirrors and over your shoulder, then reverse slowly with the wheel turned fully right until the car sits at roughly forty-five degrees.
- 3Straighten the wheel and keep reversing until your front bumper clears the other car's rear bumper.
- 4Turn the wheel fully left while still reversing so the nose swings in toward the curb.
- 5Pull forward slightly, straighten the wheels, and stop within about twelve inches of the curb.
Mistakes that cost points
- ✗Rushing the setup — a bad starting position cannot be recovered later in the maneuver
- ✗Reversing while looking only at the mirrors or the backup camera
- ✗Touching a cone or the curb, which ends the test immediately
- ✗Finishing at an angle or too far from the curb because you stopped correcting too early
The other 5 skills MA grades
FullPass is an independent study aid. Road-test guidance is written from official RMV test requirements; your examiner and the Registry of Motor Vehicles remain the final authority.