🅿️ Parallel parking
Parallel parking is required on the MVC road test, and the manual is unusually specific about how to practice it: set flags or markers 25 feet apart, and if you hit them, you're not ready for real cars. The finished park must leave your tires no more than 6 inches from the curb.
What the examiner is watching for
- ✓A controlled setup — signaling for the stop, then pulling parallel 2 to 4 feet from the front vehicle
- ✓Backing slowly with your body turned to see out the rear window, both hands on the wheel
- ✓Checking the angle when your front clears the other car's rear bumper
- ✓Finishing centered, without touching the vehicle behind, tires within 6 inches of the curb
Step by step
- 1Find a space large enough, signal for a stop, then signal right to show you'll back to the right.
- 2Pull alongside the vehicle in front, parallel, about 2 to 4 feet away.
- 3Turn and check behind, then back up slowly about 2 feet while turning the wheel all the way right.
- 4When your front clears the other car's rear bumper, stop and check your angle — and that your right rear wheel hasn't hit the curb.
- 5Turn the wheel all the way left while backing slowly, watching your rear clearance.
- 6Stop before the car behind, straighten the wheels, and center — no more than 6 inches from the curb.
Mistakes that cost points
- ✗Rushing the setup — a bad start position can't be recovered mid-maneuver
- ✗One-handed palming of the wheel while reversing, which can fail the test
- ✗Letting the right rear wheel strike the curb on the way in
- ✗Finishing angled or more than 6 inches out from the curb
The other 5 skills NJ grades
FullPass is an independent study aid. Road-test guidance is written from official MVC test requirements; your examiner and the Motor Vehicle Commission remain the final authority.