Agreat many Nottingham drivers feel they are not confident when it comes to parking their car. A greater proportion of motorists who have difficulty manoeuvring in confined spaces are female,. What can driving instructors offer to motorists to help them improve their skills?

The problem of parking is so acute with some drivers that they will actually avoid certain streets if they do not believe they have thenecessary skills to reverse into a confined space. Other drivers will even avoid some car parks if they find that the bays are too cramped with insufficient room to manoeuvre. The need to avoid these areas stems from a fear of damaging other people's vehicles or damaging their own by coming into contact with street furniture.

Some motorists will even change plans at the last minute if parking proves too difficult. Cancelling a trip to town may simply be an inconvenience but if the trip is necessary, such as visiting a hospital or parking at the workplace then the issue needs to be addressed. Skills quickly degrade if they are not used regularly so if people do not need to reverse park then they will soon lose the ability to do so. Reasons for losing manoeuvring skill include having their own driveway to park on or simply taking a prolonged break from driving.

There have been calls to remove the parking manoeuvres from the driving test but this would be a mistake. They are essential skills used throughout people's driving career. Both the bay park and the parallel park have been requirements of the driving test for some years now. The parallel park does not have to be done into a space though, rather the candidate is only required to park behind one car finishing within two car lengths. This hardly prepares new drivers for the real world. The bay park will not be covered at all if the local test centre does not have it's own car park. Driver training does not have to end on passing the test and bespoke post test tuition is an area that could have many benefits.

Those giving driver training Nottingham could provide training in parkingfor those who require it. Brushing up on the key skills of control and observation would benefit other areas of driving and save money on repairs to car bodywork, making such training a wise investment. Manoeuvres could be reinforced as part of the pass plus course Nottingham area, especially if the bay park was not learned previously.