Ten Tips for Car Parking

Hey!

I'm becoming increasingly frustrated about the lack of good or cheap (when I say cheap, I mean free...) parking in the places I need to park. So to help you with your own parking frustrations, I thought I would share my top ten tips for car parking. That being said, if you have a motorbike, or a bus, or a truck... this most likely applies to you too.

1. Never pay for parking. Why? Well, where I live, free parking was given to everyone until approximately 3 years ago. When I got my licence. So now, since all on street parking is paid, I do not park in town unless it is after 4:30pm, when parking once again becomes free.
"It's only a dollar an hour," you say, "how cheap can you possibly be? Are you employed?"
Yes, I am. I'm also a believer in discipline. A child has a toy, he does something bad, you take it off him, he learns a lesson. Catch my drift?

*DISCLAIMER: This being said, if you are going to park in a paid parking zone, I would strongly encourage you to pay. But walk... it's good for you.

2. Always read signs in car parking stations. You know those multi story stations with boom gates? Don't even get me started on boom gates.
A week after I acquired my first licence, I parked in a multi story car park and after shopping, I came back and I read a sign that said "1 to 3 hours, $3.50" (I do realise that I have broken rule number 1. by paying for parking). So I got out my $3.50, and I arrived at the boom gate, with my ticket. Now surely you pay at the gate, right? Not right.
So here I am with the money in one hand and the ticket in the other, too far from the ticket machine, which has no money slot anyway. There's 3 cars behind me. At this point I can't back out and, there's a boom gate in front of me. As my boyfriend said, it was "classic." Apparently you pay somewhere else?
This resulted in security having to come and help us manoeuvre my car out so that I could pay and come back. We made the same mistake again.

3. If you go to uni, or any educational institution - never park there. University's are full of very smart people who think that tens of thousands of people can fit into 500 parking spots. Thanks goes to the Mathematics and Science faculties for that lovely contribution.

4. Learn how to reverse park. I have lots of friends who would rather park 6 blocks away than learn how to do a decent reverse park. Now understandably, if you are attempting to park between a 1900's Rolls Royce and a High-End BMW, walk 6 blocks. But for your average everyday reverse park, do it lots, get really good, have good insurance, and avoid exercise. Just kidding, walking's great. But reverse parking's fun too!

5. When you park in a big car park, don't lock the door before you get out of the car. Obvious? Maybe. But my little car, (who is called Sylvester if you're wondering) has a habit of freaking out when I lock the door, try to open it, unlock it, shut it, and lock it again. The alarm goes off and if you're as inconspicuous as I am, people will almost definitely stare at you. I'm yet to master the art of turning off this annoying alarm, which results in me frantically hitting buttons on my keys to stop it, and then walking away like nothing ever happened.

6. Don't park on speed bumps. You may forget that you did this when you go back to your car and proceed to start it, and wonder why your accelerator is suddenly doing almost nothing. In most cases, you shouldn't park on speed bumps at all... it's just that I have strange specimens near my house that go all the way across the road, often leaving me no choice in the matter. Truly weird.

7. Make note of where you park. You'll lose your car. I do this often...

8. Park near exits. Yes, these are often not near to the shop doors - but in big car parks, I've found that it is quicker to walk than to navigate a difficult car park when exiting with other cars. Cars are bigger than people... and far more restricted. Go figure?

9. Buy a hatch back! Tiny cars are GREAT for parking.

10. Last but not least - avoid parking altogether. Buy a bike.  No petrol, no insurance, no registration, no licence, no parking fees, no nothing!

Thanks for reading! Feel free to comment - I'd love to hear your horror stories about parking, or your biking success stories.

Written for you by TenTipsToday :)