3.5 Parking Rules, Hills, Parallel Parking, Highway Parking & Snow Emergencies

3.5 Parking Rules, Hills, Parallel Parking, Highway Parking & Snow Emergencies

Quick Answer: When you parallel park, the wheels closest to the road must be no more than 12 inches from the curb. Turn the front wheels toward the curb or shoulder, place the vehicle in park, and set the parking brake — so that if the vehicle slips out of park, it rolls toward the curb rather than into traffic. Minnesota bans parking within 20 feet of a crosswalk at an intersection, 30 feet of a flashing light, stop sign or signal, 50 feet of the nearest rail, and 10 feet of a fire hydrant. Parking on a highway at night requires a white or amber front light and a red taillight visible from 500 feet, with headlights on low beam.

Parking is tested twice on the road test — you must demonstrate parallel parking and parking on a hill — and it appears on the official DVS practice knowledge test in questions about highway parking and about leaving a parallel space.

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1. The Basic Parallel Parking Standard

Distance from the curb: when you parallel park, the wheels closest to the side of the road must be no more than 12 inches from the curb.

The securing sequence — and why it exists:

1. Turn the front wheels toward the curb or shoulder
2. Place the vehicle in park
3. Engage the parking brake

The manual gives the reason directly: if the vehicle comes out of park or the brakes fail, the turned wheels help it roll toward the curb or off the road, not into a traffic lane.

The Four-Step Parallel Parking Maneuver

On the road test, if your vehicle has parking assist, you may not use it for this maneuver.

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2. Parking on a Hill

This is a three-case rule, and the third case is the one people miss.

+-----------------------------------------------------------------------------+
|                        MINNESOTA PARKING ON A HILL                          |
|                                                                             |
|   FACING DOWNHILL (curb or no curb)                                         |
|      ==> Turn wheels TOWARD the curb or shoulder                            |
|                                                                             |
|   FACING UPHILL, WITH a curb                                                |
|      ==> Turn wheels AWAY from the curb                                     |
|          (the tire rolls back and catches on the curb)                      |
|                                                                             |
|   FACING UPHILL, NO curb                                                    |
|      ==> Turn wheels TOWARD the shoulder                                    |
|          (no curb to catch you, so aim off the road)                        |
+-----------------------------------------------------------------------------+

The logic is consistent: aim the vehicle where it will do the least harm if it rolls. With a curb available on an uphill grade, the curb is your backstop, so you point the wheels away from it and let the tire settle against it. In every other case there is no backstop, so you point the wheels off the roadway.

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3. Where Parking Is Not Allowed

Minnesota prohibits parking in all of the following places. The distance figures are the most heavily tested part of this list.

Also prohibited:

• Alongside or across the street from an excavation site or obstacle if your vehicle would obstruct traffic
• At the street end of a driveway
• On any bridge or within any highway tunnel
• On the traffic side of a vehicle already parked at a curb or highway edge — this is double parking
• Beside a curb painted yellow, or where official "No Parking" signs are posted
• In front of mailboxes (check city and local ordinances)

Memory aid for the distances: 10-20-30-50 — 10 hydrant, 20 crosswalk, 30 signal or stop sign, 50 railroad rail. The bigger the hazard's stopping requirement, the bigger the buffer.

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4. Exiting a Parked Vehicle

When you are stopped or parked at the side of a road, do not open any door until you have checked that it is safe and that the door will not interfere with other traffic. Look for vehicles, motorcycles, bicyclists and pedestrians approaching your vehicle.

Do not leave any door on the traffic side open longer than necessary to load or unload passengers.

This pairs with Minnesota's dooring rule covered in Section 5.2 — the practical technique is to reach across with your far hand, which naturally rotates your shoulders and eyes toward oncoming traffic.

Before You Pull Out of a Parallel Space

The official DVS practice test asks this directly: before leaving a space parallel to the curb, you should look for traffic by turning your head. An inside rearview mirror will not show you a cyclist or a car in your blind spot, and sounding the horn or switching on the four-way flashers does nothing to verify the lane is clear.

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5. Highway Parking

Parking on a state highway or freeway has its own rules, because a stationary vehicle on a high-speed road is a serious hazard.

• If you park on a state highway or freeway, you must move your vehicle away from the main part of the road
• If the vehicle cannot be moved, use visible markers or signals to prevent damage and harm to other drivers

Night Lighting Requirements

If you park on the highway at night — or any time lights are needed — your vehicle must display:

• At least one white or amber front light
• At least one red taillight
• Both must be visible from at least 500 feet

Use parking lights or hazard warning lights to alert other drivers, and set headlights on parked vehicles to low beam. The practice test frames this as: if you stop along the road at night, turn on your emergency flashers and leave your low beams on. Turning all lights off, or using parking lights alone, leaves you effectively invisible.

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6. Snow Emergencies

When a significant amount of snow accumulates, city officials may declare a snow emergency. Certain parking rules go into effect while snow is removed from streets — commonly restricting parking to particular sides of the street on particular days so plows can reach the curb line.

Obey snow emergency parking rules to avoid towing and fines. Rules vary by city, so check your municipality's declared route and day schedule; a legally parked car on Monday can be an illegally parked, towed car on Tuesday.