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not resolvedDid anyone else see this on twitter?
"Turn your wheels away from the kerb when parking facing uphill. Turn them towards the kerb when parking facing downhill #HighwayCode 252"
How bizarre. I was always taught to straighten wheels while parking. Then you can use turned wheels as a sign that car may be pulling in/out, and prepare to take evasive action if needed. Had no idea drivers over here were actually told to leave wheels turned when parked. is it just me that thinks this is loony?
Maybe handbrakes used to be less secure than they are now. I was taught the wheel/slope thing and to leave the car in the wrong gear for the direction the car might want to roll in when parking on a slope. As almost no-one does the wheel-slope thing it's still a good indicator of someone manoeuvring into or out of a parking space, though turning wheels are better than simply turnèd wheels. My handbrake-paranoia has not been helped by breaking a friend's car's handbrake cable (albeit in an old and crappy car) and being told to not put the handbrake on so hard by my wife so that she's able to release it.
Actually makes a lot of sense if you think about it - if handbrake slips I would rather a car rolled to a stop against a kerp than out into traffic. Besides - if we are following the Highway Code, then drivers will indicate before pulling into traffic, right?
IIRC from my recent trip to San Fransisco, it is the law there that you MUST park like this, rather than being advisory (and anyone who has climbed Lombard street in SF will appreciate why...)
It's to stop the car rolling down the hill.
Similarly if you look at police or AA/RAC vehicles on the motorway hard shoulder their front wheels will be turned in so that a rear end shunt will push them off the road not into the carriageway.
If you're in a car waiting to turn right you shouldn't have the wheels turned. You don't want shunted into the on coming traffic.
Yep, as above says, means if the handbrake goes (and I've had this happen on a new car which rolled into a rock after parking up outside a cottage on Lewis) that the car will roll into the kerb and not out into traffic. I also do as wingpig and leave the car parked in gear, in a forward or reverse gear opposing the slope.
As BenN says, then a driver 'should' indicate to pull out as well, but I have to admit I do pay attention to wheel direction as a hint a car is about to pull out (as well as looking for the presence of a driver and slight clutch-slip movements).
IIRC from my recent trip to San Fransisco, it is the law there that you MUST park like this
Yes, it's called "kerbing" the wheels. It means the car won't roll out into the road if hand(foot)brake was to fail (it's just a cable after all) or someone shunts the car. It just rolls into the kerb and stops. Most american cars automatic anyway so you can leave them in park and the gearbox also acts as a brake.
I recall there being signs on the steeper streets in SF advising you have to do this on pain of a fine.
It's good practice, and not just for "old" cars, it's not that ling ago that citroen had to issue a recall due to parking brake failures on one of their cars.
In many cities (paris for example) locals would giggle if you parked with wheels straight - its so jampacked that everyone parks with wheels in a position to allow you a teensy wee angle to start the manoeuvring out of the space - well, that and that they ram the bumpers half a dozen times.
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