Driver's License Test Prep
Texas Practice Parking

According to the Texas manual, a parallel-parked vehicle should not be more than what distance from the curb or edge of the road?

  1. A.
    12 inches
  2. B.
    18 inches Correct
  3. C.
    2 feet
  4. D.
    6 inches
The Why

The answer is "18 inches"

The Texas manual caps the parallel-parking distance from the curb at eighteen inches. Six inches is the trap: the manual names six inches in the sentence just before as the target position ('you should be about six inches from the curb'), and a driver who fixed on the ideal reads it as the ceiling rather than as the goal.

Why the others miss

The traps in the wrong answers

A. 12 inches

Twelve inches is not a distance the manual sets for parallel parking. A round one-foot figure gets slotted in as a plausible-sounding compromise.

C. 2 feet

Two feet is the standoff position the manual gives before you begin backing in. The initial two-foot standoff from the street gets swapped for the final distance to the curb.

D. 6 inches

Six inches is the target position the manual names, not the maximum. The ideal target gets read as if it were the outer limit.

The Rule

This question tests your knowledge of Parking in Texas. Source: Texas Driver Manual, "Parallel Parking," p.43..

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