A woman documented an acute bout of performance anxiety she experienced while attempting to parallel park her vehicle. TikTok user Vanessa Sosa (@vanessa_sosa_95) posted a viral clip of her attempting to get her vehicle into a vacant space situated between two other cars.
As she did so, a group of men sat at an outdoor table in front of an eatery. They watched her struggle to perform the parking maneuver, which prompted her to panic. She can be heard off-camera stating, "I’m so embarrassed!" as she places her car into reverse for another try.
She summed up the brief, nerve-wracking experience with a text overlay appended to her social media video. "Nothing more humbling than trying to parallel park while a group of men watch you," she wrote.
It appears that her brief social media video resonated with many other users on the application. More than a few people said that they would’ve asked one of the men sitting outside the restaurant for assistance. "I would legit get out and ask for help," one stated. Another replied, "Y’all better than me, I’d get out and ask them to park it for me."
Others said that the shame from the experience would’ve ultimately caused them to give up on the endeavor. "I would drive away," one said.
Why Do Some People Have Trouble With Parallel Parking?
Regarding the perceived difficulty of this task, commenters were split. One commenter said, "I’m so good at parallel parking that I’d get out of the car and I would be looking back and say ‘can you park better?’" Whereas another remarked that they would do anything to avoid parallel parking their vehicle. "I will park on the moon before parallel parking," they said.
In 2024, The Zebra reported that "nearly half of Americans have ‘parallelophobia.’" According to the outlet, 1,000 surveyed drivers reported that 49% were scared to attempt to parallel park.
These fears primarily stem from the pressure of holding up other commuters in cars behind them. Others stated that they’re worried about accidentally hitting other cars while parking their cars sideways.
And the data sets from this study yielded interesting correlations, suggesting that environmental factors play a big part in whether someone feels comfortable with the practice. According to the survey, 61% of all drivers who are confident in their parallel parking skills reside in the Northeast. Conversely, only 46% of folks in the Midwest said they felt comfortable parallel parking.
Parallel Parking Fears
The same article did mention that 11% of those who said they were afraid of parallel parking listed being watched or judged as a fear associated with the act. Others mentioned "getting blocked in" and being unable to leave their parking spot (12%) or hitting a curb (7%) as reasons why they’re not stoked about adjacent parking protocols.
The research went on to show that practice makes perfect, and those who are routinely expected to parallel park have exhibited greater confidence in doing so. Northeastern states typically have cities that were planned/structured before the advent of the automobile. Subsequently, parking situations tend to be tighter. This means that if you’re a driver regularly commuting through these places (Boston, Philadelphia, New York City, Jersey City, etc.), you’ll probably have to parallel park more frequently.
Scientific American published an index of major U.S. cities and the percentage of land they have dedicated to parking. Utilizing data aggregated by the Parking Reform Network, the outlet highlights how cities in the Sunbelt typically have the most spots reserved for people to leave their cars. Baton Rouge, Louisiana, for instance, has 30% of its land mass available for parking. Atlanta, Dallas, and Houston also have many designated parking spots for drivers.
Phoenix, which has 22% of its surface area paved over for parking areas, clocked record-breaking heat waves. And the outlet believes these lots are contributing to rising temperatures because the black asphalt absorbs solar energy.
How To Parallel Park
There’s no shortage of tutorials online that’ll show you how to parallel park your car like an ace on the first try. This one, shared to Reddit’s r/coolguides sub, breaks it down in an easy-to-understand manner, with clear illustrations. First, locate an empty spot longer than your car; many recommend at least 1.5 times the length of your car. You can determine this by driving adjacent to the spot and determining if your ride will fit.
Next, drive up to the car in front of the spot so that your bumpers are aligned. Following this, turn your car wheel all the way to the right (if the spot’s on the right side; do the left if the spot’s on the left) so that your tires are pointed right, and the back of the tires is angled left. Then place your car in reverse and back up until it is at a 45-degree angle.
Once it is, straighten your wheel until your tires are pointed straight toward the front of your car. Then, reverse into the vacant spot. Once your right headlight (or left, depending on which side you’re parallel parking on) is aligned with the front car’s back bumper, then turn your wheel all the way to the left so that your tires are facing left and the back is turned right. Next, continue reversing into the spot.
Once in, adjust your car, straighten your tires, and, congratulations, you’ve parallel parked.
Motor1 has reached out to Sosa via TikTok direct message for further comment. We will update this story if she responds.
@vanessa_sosa_95 “You’re doing great sweetie” 🥹😭 #parallelparking #justagirl #fyp ♬ original sound - Vanessa Sosa 🍓
