Parallel parking

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Parallel parking is a method of parking a vehicle in line with other parked cars. Cars parked in parallel are in one line, parallel to the curb, with the front bumper of each car facing the back bumper of an adjacent one. Since parallel parking is parallel to the curb of a road, roads that facilitate said parking have an extra lane or a large shoulder for parked cars. It is also employed anytime perpendicular parking facilities are not available or hard to come by—commonly, that's in large metropolitan areas where there is a high density of vehicles and few (or restricted) accommodations such as parking garages. Parallel parking is considered by many to be one of the hardest skills for new drivers to learn. In the early 21st century, car manufacturers are addressing this need by introducing automatic parking.

[edit] Procedure for entering a parking space

The animation displays parking on the right side of the road.

Signal into the space.
Ensure that your desired parking space is about 2 meters (~~6 feet) longer than your vehicle (although some highly skilled drivers are capable of parking in spaces that are within 0.3 m (one foot) of their vehicle length. A skilled driver can also park in space that the car barely fits, by going back and forth once the car's tail is in.)
Line up your vehicle beside the vehicle in front of the parking space.
Turn the steering wheel one turn towards the curb and put your car into reverse.
Back up the vehicle so that your rear bumper is first to enter the parking space.
Once the vehicle is at 45° to the parking spot, slow down and turn the steering wheel all the way, to the road side.
Continue backing up until the rear of the vehicle is near the curb.
Gradually turn the steering wheel towards the curb to curve your vehicle into a straight position.
Brake once your vehicle occupies the middle of the parking space.

It is generally considered to be rude, if not illegal, to not leave sufficient space for neighbouring vehicles to steer out of the parallel parking line, to park too far from the curb, or to leave too much space between you and the neighboring vehicles.

[edit] EZ-Park

see Advanced Parking Guidance System

In 2003, Toyota introduced a technology to assist drivers in parallel park their Toyota Prius hybrid car. Recently, the technology was offered in select luxury Lexus models in the United States under the trade name "EZ-Park." The technology, officially called the Advanced Parking Guidance System, was advertised on its commercials depicting a driver backing into two stacks of champagne glasses without knocking them down.