Driver's License... What Vehicle did you use?

[Jstpssng]

Just for the record, backing up to an empty dock in an empty parking lot isn't the easiest thing to do. Especially if there are no lines on the pavement. Nothing to judge distance by!
I use the backup camera in Wife's car simply to make sure there is nothing directly behind the car before I start moving, but otherwise use side mirrors.
The hardest trailer to back up is a cement mixer! The shorter the trailer, the harder it is to backup! The big ones just take more real estate, which has its own issues!

Are you saying that things look different when looking in the mirror, if the end of your trailer is 48 feet away?
I used to drive a C-65 with a 20'(?) rack body, with a hay mulcher on back. Trying to back that up was a challenge, to say the least. The body was 8 feet wide, usually loaded with hay; the mulcher was about 8 feet long and 5 1/2 feet wide. By the time that it showed up in the mirrors it would be jackknifed... and the forewoman on back would be screaming at me.

Actually she only did that once... scream at me and I scream right back.

 

[sandman2234]

Shorter trailers react quicker! A long wheelbased pickup with a short cement mixer almost can't react in time to prevent jack-knife! Most new tractor trailer drivers don't wait long enough for the trailer to react, causing people to start counting how many times they have to pull up to fix it!

 

[k0ua]

Pretty certain when I had to parallel park, it was at the state testing station, and I had to deal with cones along with a curb. I believe I ended up hitting a cone. Fail.

Now my boys are amazed that I can drive reverse down our entire driveway the full length with no problem LOL

Here in Missouri they use "sticks" with weights on the bottom so you can see them over the trunk of a car. They set these up on a quiet street each stick to represent a parked car and you are supposed to parallel park between them. Certainly not the easiest thing in the world to do.

That may have been one of the things I got docked on. It has only been 50 years ago, so some of the details might be a bit fuzzy. As I remember it, I passed, but it was a barely thing.

I can drive in reverse quite well, and have had to drive down my gravel hill for a few hundred feet in reverse because I "dwadled" coming up the hill and didn't have traction. You cannot make it up my driveway unless you come up the hill "smartly" or you have a 4 WD vehicle.

 

[k0ua]

I use the backup camera in Wife's car simply to make sure there is nothing directly behind the car before I start moving, but otherwise use side mirrors.

Same here. The backup camera saved a little girl that had managed to get out of her mothers sight as I was backing out of a parking space. Without the backup camera I would have never seen her. She wasn't tall enough to show up in the back window of the minivan or in any mirror.

 

[JethroB]

My mom’s 1972 Olds Cutlass. Every soon-to-be 16 year old boy knew the testing schedule hours of every State Troopers office within 50 miles. Freedom baby. I had a 54 Willys jeep waiting for me back home.

At 18 I went back for a motorcycle endorsement. I asked the trooper if he was going to ride on the back for the driving test. Uh No. He watched me circle the parking lot.

 

[Jstpssng]

My mom’s 1972 Olds Cutlass. Every soon-to-be 16 year old boy knew the testing schedule hours of every State Troopers office within 50 miles. Freedom baby. I had a 54 Willys jeep waiting for me back home.

At 18 I went back for a motorcycle endorsement. I asked the trooper if he was going to ride on the back for the driving test. Uh No. He watched me circle the parking lot.

When I took my test they would follow in their vehicle, using the horn to tell us what to do. 1 tap = right, 2 taps = left, 3 = pull over and stop.

One long blast meant "Stop in place!" (You doofus! )

 

[sandman2234]

Same here. The backup camera saved a little girl that had managed to get out of her mothers sight as I was backing out of a parking space. Without the backup camera I would have never seen her. She wasn't tall enough to show up in the back window of the minivan or in any mirror.

A couple we used to hang out with years ago lost a child because he didn't see him behind the car when he started backing up. That was hard on him, and the whole family!

 

[Jstpssng]

A couple we used to hang out with years ago lost a child because he didn't see him behind the car when he started backing up. That was hard on him, and the whole family!

I can't imagine that. About 10 years ago I gave a washing machine to a friend, backing across the lawn to her deck to unload it. We brought it inside and hooked it up, then I went back out to my truck for something. I noticed movement up by my front bumper, upon examination saw her 2 YO grandson laying in the grass playing with his trucks, just as he always did. Even though I wasn't going to move the truck, that gave me nightmares for a long time afterward just thinking what could have happened.

 

[Semper Paratus]

73 Caprice Station Wagon. Had to parallel park the beast after arguing with the tester about wearing a seat belt. If I hadn't insisted I would have lost my new license for a month. Momma's rules

 

[shooterdon]

1968 Buick Electra 225