Originally published at: https://boingboing.net/2019/10/08/incredible-feat-of-parallel-pa.html
…
7 Likes
I don’t need that spot that badly.
13 Likes
And then comes getting the car out
6 Likes
That’s just your basic 15 point turn.
19 Likes
That’s likely from Paris - where parking spaces are at extreme premium, even though everything is paid.
Sometimes you can circle blocks for a very long time before you find a space. Any space! Also expect that bumpers are used for their intended purpose and not only as a fragile decoration (as was certainly demonstrated in this video too) - having the car jostled around by someone parking or leaving is completely normal there. Keep your expensive lambo or oversized SUV at home, there are some good reasons why the locals drive small beaten up cars in Paris!
19 Likes
Fairly impressive. Now that I have a backup camera, I can parallel park without turning my head, and without losing the paint on my bumpers.
5 Likes
If this is from Paris as I suspect it is, then that spot is very likely the only free one in several blocks radius. Especially in the city center it is next to impossible to find a free place. That guy likely wouldn’t have done this if he had other options neither.
6 Likes
I recall reading that it was customary to leave parked cars in neutral with the parking brake off in Paris so they could be nudged a bit via the bumpers when parallel parking. Makes sense to me.
3 Likes
The fact that I’m not impressed must mean that I’ve come a very long way since that time in front of Matthews Arena when a horrified/sympathetic passerby offered to parallel park my car for me, and I let her.
9 Likes
When i was learning how to drive, my mom (we are Amercian) said she would use the “bump and feel” method of parking. Just back up until you feel the bump, then go forward until you feel the bump…etc…
Of course she drove a station wagon that was a tank and had metal bumpers covered in rubber, as they should be, not a thin layer of plastic covering Styrofoam.
5 Likes
Let me just roll your car away for you. That would be a very bad idea.
5 Likes
It doesn’t even have to be Paris to make it worth the while. I lived in a medium/small city centre in France, and have definitely parked in spots like that rather than keep circling around (the street spots were paid, but as a resident it was only 15€ a month).
Just as much fun is arriving to your car the next day to find that the cars in front of and behind you have parked that close.
Basically, you shouldn’t park on the street if you don’t want people tapping your bumpers.
2 Likes
As they say, “rubbin’ is racing”. Basically the same thing applies in France.
Hence the 24 Heurs du Mans, which started out as a race to get a parking spot.
7 Likes
They make and sell after-market bumper covers for your bumper. No word on bumpers for your bumper bumper…
(say “bumper” too many times and it sounds really weird BTW).
8 Likes
I saw blocks and blocks of cars parked like this in Paris.
1 Like
3 Likes
Deserves a round of applause. 
It is indeed in Paris: 11 rue Vaugirard in the 6th arrondissement.
Fun fact: that street has been on the french Monopoly game since 1948.
4 Likes
Meh, try it in any US college town, where onstreet parking is usually at a premium. That’s how I learned to parallel park, with a stick. I get shocked looks when I zip into a space several others have passed by.
3 Likes
Pretty sure my wife could do this. Parallel parking is one of her superpowers. (Finding things I’ve lost is the other.)
6 Likes
