Parallel parking steps — Arizona Permit Test

Parallel parking steps on the Arizona permit test — 5 rules, each with the reason behind it and a question on it while it is fresh.

The rules

To parallel park, back up slowly while looking over your right shoulder and turning the wheel sharply to the right.

Turning right first swings the back of the car in toward the curb. Looking over your right shoulder shows you the curb and the car behind.

While looking over your right shoulder, back up slowly while turning the wheel sharply to the right.
Arizona Driver License Manual and Customer Service Guide, p.30

When parallel parking, stop alongside the forward car with about two feet between you, when your back bumper lines up with its back bumper.

Pull up too close and you scrape the other car as you swing in. Pull up too far away and you end up well out from the curb.

Leave approximately two feet between you and the forward car.
Arizona Driver License Manual and Customer Service Guide, p.30

When parallel parking, stop when your car’s back bumper lines up with the back bumper of the parked car ahead of the space.

Start backing too early or too late and the car will not fit into the gap in one go.

Stop when you are alongside the forward car and your car’s back bumper lines up with the back bumper of the parked vehicle.
Arizona Driver License Manual and Customer Service Guide, p.30

When parallel parking, once your front bumper passes the rear bumper of the forward car, turn the wheel sharply to the left and keep backing until parallel to the curb.

Keep the wheel to the right too long and the back wheel hits the curb. Turning left swings the front of the car in behind it.

When your front bumper passes the rear bumper of the forward car, turn the wheel sharply to the left.
Arizona Driver License Manual and Customer Service Guide, p.30

When parallel parking, keep checking for oncoming traffic the whole time.

You are moving slowly and sticking out into the lane. A car coming up may not expect you to swing out the front of your car.

When parallel parking, be sure to continually check for oncoming traffic.
Arizona Driver License Manual and Customer Service Guide, p.30

On the test

When you first back into a parallel parking space on the right, which way do you turn the wheel?

Sharply to the right. Turning right first swings the back of the car in toward the curb. Looking over your right shoulder shows you the curb and the car behind. Arizona Driver License Manual and Customer Service Guide, p.30: “While looking over your right shoulder, back up slowly while turning the wheel sharply to the right.”

How this works

Most practice tests hand you a bank of questions and leave the manual somewhere else. This one puts them together.

You read one law and the reason behind it, then answer a question on that law while it is still fresh. Get it right and you move on; get it wrong and you have found the gap while it is cheap to fix, not on the morning of the exam.

Learning one rule at a time, and proving it immediately, is what turns a manual you skimmed into something you actually know — and it makes studying feel like getting somewhere rather than like waiting to find out.

What it costs

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Where these come from

Every rule here is checked against Arizona Driver License Manual and Customer Service Guide, published by the Arizona Department of Transportation, and against the state code itself. Last checked 2026-09-28.