Parking on hills — Massachusetts Permit Test
Parking on hills on the Massachusetts permit test — 5 rules, each with the reason behind it and a question on it while it is fresh.
The rules
Parking on a hill with no curb means turning your wheels inward, toward the edge of the road.
With nothing to stop the car, the wheels have to point it off the road rather than into the traffic lane.
No Curb — Turn your wheels inward, toward the edge of the road.
Parking uphill against a curb means turning your wheels outward, toward the travel lane.
If the brakes fail the car rolls back and the rear wheel catches the curb. Pointing them the other way sends it into the road.
Uphill Against a Curb — Turn your wheels outward, toward the travel lane.
Parking downhill against a curb means turning your wheels inward, toward the curb.
The car rolls forward if the brake fails, and the front wheel needs to meet the curb rather than the road.
Downhill Against a Curb — Turn your wheels inward, toward the curb.
Always set the parking brake when parking on a hill, and leave a manual transmission in gear or an automatic in park.
The wheel direction is the backup. The brake and the gear are what actually hold the car.
If you have an automatic transmission, set your parking brake and shift into park.
You must turn your front wheels in the proper direction to stop the vehicle rolling downhill if the brake fails.
It is a fail-safe rather than a courtesy. The direction depends on which way the hill runs and whether there is a curb.
You must turn your front wheels in the proper direction to stop it from rolling downhill if the brake fails.
On the test
Which way do the front wheels point when parking on a hill with no curb?
Inward, toward the edge of the road. With nothing to stop the car, the wheels have to point it off the road rather than into the traffic lane. Massachusetts Driver's Manual, p.110: “No Curb — Turn your wheels inward, toward the edge of the road.”
How this works
Most practice tests hand you a bank of questions and leave the manual somewhere else. This one puts them together.
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Where these come from
Every rule here is checked against Massachusetts Driver's Manual, published by the Massachusetts Registry of Motor Vehicles, and against the state code itself. Last checked 2026-09-16.
- src/assets/drivers-manuals/MA.pdf (Massachusetts Driver's Manual, Revised April 2026, Massachusetts Registry of Motor Vehicles, retrieved 2026-09-14 from mass.gov)
- src/assets/drivers-manuals/MA.pages.txt (pdftotext -layout over that PDF; sha256 pinned in SOURCES.json)
- src/assets/drivers-manuals/SOURCES.json (sha256, folio offset 8, folioMarker, nonLawPages, signGalleryPages and the extraction flag, each with its measured basis)