Parallel parking — District of Columbia Permit Test
Parallel parking on the District of Columbia permit test — 5 rules, each with the reason behind it and a question on it while it is fresh.
The rules
When parallel parking on a two-way street, you must park parallel to and within 12 inches of the curb.
A car parked far from the curb sticks into the travel lane where passing cars and cyclists can hit it.
When parallel parking on a two-way street, make sure the space is large enough for your vehicle and you must park parallel to and within 12 inches of the curb.
If the vehicle behind you is following too closely as you approach a parking space, do not stop suddenly; continue driving and find another space.
A sudden stop with a car right on your bumper is how rear-end crashes happen.
However, if the vehicle behind you is following too closely, do not stop suddenly, continue driving and find another space.
To begin parallel parking, move forward past the space until you are lined up directly parallel to the vehicle parked in front, 2–5 feet away.
Too close and you will scrape the other car as you swing in; too far and the back of your car will not reach the space.
Move forward past the space until lined up directly parallel to the vehicle parked in front, 2–5 feet away.
When backing into a parallel space, back up slowly and make an S turn, turning first right and then left.
Turning right first swings the rear toward the curb, and turning left then brings the front in after it.
Release the brake, start backing up slowly, and start to make an “S” turn, turning first right and then left.
When moving a vehicle from a parked position on a street, you must signal, yield the right-of-way and pull into the street when it is safe.
Traffic in the lane does not expect a parked car to move, so it is your job to wait for a gap.
When moving a vehicle from a parked position on a street, you must signal, yield the right-of-way and pull into the street when it is safe to do so.
On the test
When parallel parking, within how many inches of the curb must your vehicle be?
12 inches. A car parked far from the curb sticks into the travel lane where passing cars and cyclists can hit it. DC Driver Manual, p.75: “When parallel parking on a two-way street, make sure the space is large enough for your vehicle and you must park parallel to and within 12 inches of the curb.”
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
- One payment, once — not a subscription. Nothing renews and there is nothing to cancel, for an exam you sit one time.
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All District of Columbia permit topics
Where these come from
Every rule here is checked against DC Driver Manual, published by the District of Columbia Department of Motor Vehicles, and against the state code itself. Last checked 2026-10-05.
- src/assets/drivers-manuals/DC.pdf (DC Driver Manual (English), Rev. 7/29/2021, District of Columbia Department of Motor Vehicles, fetched 2026-10-05 from the Wayback Machine's original-bytes capture of dmv.dc.gov; sha256 pinned in SOURCES.json)
- src/assets/drivers-manuals/DC.pages.txt (the plain pdftotext fixture every citation here was cut from and verified against; sha256 pinned in SOURCES.json)
- https://dmv.dc.gov/publication/dc-dmv-automobile-driver-manual (read 2026-10-05; links only the 2023 Issuu flipbooks)
- https://issuu.com/dcdmv/docs/dc_dmv_driver_manual_english_revised_final (the current 2023 edition, read 2026-10-05 from its public page images to diff against the pinned edition; not pinnable)
- https://dmv.dc.gov/service/knowledge-tests (read 2026-10-05; states no count or mark for the knowledge test)
- https://dcregs.dc.gov/Common/DCMR/RuleList.aspx?ChapterNum=18-1 (18 DCMR chapter 1, sections 100-114, read 2026-10-05; section 104 sets what the examination covers and states no figure)
- https://code.dccouncil.gov/us/dc/council/code/sections/50-1401.01 (D.C. Code 50-1401.01, read 2026-10-05; requires a knowledge examination and states no figure)