Should I park my car with wheels straightened ?

[anhtho]

Some people park their cars with wheels turned and other do not. I myself like the straight wheels while parking. But technically, are there any problems if I park not straight ?

 

[Greg Bernhardt]

Some people park their cars with wheels turned and other do not. I myself like the straight wheels while parking. But technically, are there any problems if I park not straight ?

It's important if you are parking up or down hill.

 

[Jack21222]

Just remember what direction your wheels are pointed when you start driving again.

 

[drizzle]

Just remember what direction your wheels are pointed when you start driving again.

Isn't it enough to look at them before getting in the car?

It's important if you are parking up or down hill.

I'm learning stuff, thanks Greg.

 

[Evo]

Remember you want to turn your wheels so that if the car rolls, it rolls into the curb, not into the road. Parking downhill, tires toward the curb, uphill, tires away from the curb.

http://www.dmv.ca.gov/pubs/hdbk/parking.htm

 

[zoobyshoe]

What if you're on a flat, level surface? Doesn't neatness count anymore?

 

[AnTiFreeze3]

Remember you want to turn your wheels so that if the car rolls, it rolls into the curb, not into the road. Parking downhill, tires toward the curb, uphill, tires away from the curb.

http://www.dmv.ca.gov/pubs/hdbk/parking.htm

That's what they taught us in driver's ed. It's mainly just so that, if your brakes give out, or your car is hit, it doesn't go flying off into the middle of the road, but goes into the curb.

 

[russ_watters]

Just remember what direction your wheels are pointed when you start driving again.

My car actually warns me if they are not.

 

[Jimmy Snyder]

Recently I had the pleasure of parking my car on Stewart St. right in front of Pike Place Market in Seattle. If you know that area, you know that there is a relatively steep hill between 1st St and the market. I parked there with my wheel pointed to the curb and nothing eventful happened. The guy in front of me parked with the wheels straight and nothing eventful happened to his car either. The car was a rental from an agency in the Seattle area so I guess that's why there was a special device on the driver's side for straightening out the wheels.

 

[Evo]

there was a special device on the driver's side for straightening out the wheels.

Lol, was it big and round and between you and the dashboard?

 

[Jimmy Snyder]

You're a lucky guesser.

 

[xxChrisxx]

My car actually warns me if they are not.

Strangely this rages me almost as much as electric handbrakes. Anyone not being able to tell if their steering wheel isn't straight by one full turn should have their driving license thrown on a fire.

Then again I still leave my car in gear on a hill.

 

[russ_watters]

Strangely this rages me almost as much as electric handbrakes.

Yeah, about that...

 

[turbo]

Around here, we don't have "curbs" unless you wander off to the big cities. We have ditches and (in season) snowbanks. It's possible to make rational choices, but some of those are seasonal and not universal.

 

[256bits]

When they get that talking lady on GPS ( she already blabs about going over the speed limit ) to tell you whether your wheels are correctly pointed in or out , then we have made it as a species.

 

[Borek]

if the car rolls, it rolls into the curb

Some cars always roll into the curb.

Ask Drizzle.

 

[Borek]

Then again I still leave my car in gear on a hill.

I leave it always this way, slope or not.

But then I drive a stick.

 

[Pythagorean]

When they get that talking lady on GPS ( she already blabs about going over the speed limit ) to tell you whether your wheels are correctly pointed in or out , then we have made it as a species.

That should be fairly simple. An accelerometer will tell you if the nose of the car is pointed up or down, and a feedback system can tell the car where the wheels are relative to straight. You only have nine possible cases (if you include straight wheels and flat parking spot) and can handle each accordingly.

 

[drizzle]

Some cars always roll into the curb.

Ask Drizzle.

That is temporarily true.