Parallel Parking - Another Lost Tradition

Parallel parking has been the arch nemesis of young drivers for as long as I can remember. But, in Maryland, that's about to change. The decision has been made to phase out parallel parking from the driver's test. The big question is: Why?

The "official" answer from Maryland's MVA is that there's is no reason to test for parallel parking skills anymore because the "reverse two-point turn-round maneuver" essentially covers the same set of skills. I have to admit, although I've been driving for over 30 years, I had never heard of the reverse two-point turn-around maneuver until now. When I first heard the term, I assumed that it was a new basketball move.

Let's be honest here, hardly anyone looks forward to the parking portion of their driver's test. I can remember taking my driver's test at 16 years old. As I approached the ominous sticks with the triangular orange flags, I could feel the beads of sweat beginning to form. With a MVA rep sitting in the passenger seay with clipboard in hand, I backed my mom's large Ford LTD in and out of the "parking space". After a few minutes, I heard the words that I didn't want to hear: "Ok, put the car in park and change seats with me." It was humiliating to sit there while the MVA rep drove me off the course. It bruised my ego even more to have my Dad call me a dumbass. But you know what? It made me practice parallel parking over and over to the point where I could eventually put that 12 foot LTD into a 13 foot parking space. The next time I took my driver's test, I passed easily and my ego was restored.

According to a MVA spokesperson, during a period between July 2014 and April 2015, roughly 154,000 driving tests were administered in Maryland. Out of all those tests, roughly half of the applicants (47%) failed the parallel parking portion.

So, is the the real reason for dropping the parking test because half the people fail it? Is this just another example of "giving everyone a prize"? We've seen this before. If people can't pass it, we'll just "dumb things down" and eliminate it. The growing trend of giving our younger generation "the path of least resistance" continues. The next thing you know Maryland will probably want to give licenses to illegal immigrants. Oh wait a minute, they already do? My bad...

There's clearly a financial benefit for the state to license as many drivers as possible. New drivers generate revenue for the state in the form of licensing fees. registration fees, gas taxes, tolls, etc. All things usually boil down to money and this case is probably no different.

Bu while the state makes money, the insurance companies will likely be paying out more as new drivers inevitably learn their parking skills at the expense of other people's cars. Yeah, you might want to think twice about leaving that nice BMW parked curbside anymore....

kw