Parking on a hill — California Permit Test

Parking on a hill on the California permit test — 5 rules, each with the reason behind it and a question on it while it is fresh.

The rules

When you park on a hill, set the parking brake and leave the vehicle in park, or in gear for a manual transmission, because the vehicle could roll if the equipment fails.

The wheels are a second line of defense. The brake and the gear are the first.

When you park on a hill, your vehicle could roll due to equipment failure.
California Driver’s Handbook, p.27

Headed downhill at a curb, turn your front wheels into the curb.

If the car creeps forward, the front tire catches the curb instead of rolling into the street.

Downhill: turn the wheels toward the curb.
California Driver’s Handbook, p.27

Headed uphill at a curb, turn your front wheels away from the curb and let the vehicle roll back a few inches so the wheel gently touches the curb.

Rolling backward is the way a car parked uphill moves, so the tire is set to catch on the way back.

Uphill: turn the wheels away from the curb.
California Driver’s Handbook, p.27

Headed either uphill or downhill where there is no curb, turn the wheels to the right so the vehicle would roll away from the center of the road if the brakes failed.

With no curb to catch the car, the only safe direction is off the road rather than into traffic.

Headed either uphill or downhill when there is no curb: Turn the wheels to the right so the vehicle will roll away from the center of the road if the brakes fail.
California Driver’s Handbook, p.27

On a sloping driveway, turn the wheels so the vehicle will not roll into the street, leave it in park and set the parking brake.

A driveway points at the road, so a car that rolls goes straight into moving traffic.

Turn the wheels so the vehicle will not roll into the street, leave the vehicle in park and set the parking brake.
California Driver’s Handbook, p.27

On the test

What do you do besides turning the wheels when parking on a hill?

Set the parking brake and leave it in park. The wheels are a second line of defense. The brake and the gear are the first. California Driver’s Handbook, p.27: “When you park on a hill, your vehicle could roll due to equipment failure.”

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.

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Where these come from

Every rule here is checked against California Driver’s Handbook, published by the California Department of Motor Vehicles, and against the state code itself. Last checked 2026-09-21.