When parking your vehicle parallel to the curb on a level street:
- Your front wheels must be turned toward the street.
- Your wheels must be within 18 inches of the curb. ✓
- One of your rear wheels must touch the curb.
Answer: B. Your wheels must be within 18 inches of the curb.
When you parallel park on a level street, your vehicle needs to end up parallel to and within 18 inches of the curb, so your wheels must be within 18 inches of the curb.
Why this is the answer
The handbook's parallel parking steps say to start turning the wheel away from the curb once your rear wheel is within 18 inches of the curb, and that when you finish, the vehicle should be parallel and within 18 inches of the curb. That distance is the measure of a completed parallel park. Nothing in the level-street parking steps asks you to angle the front wheels toward the street or to put a wheel against the curb.
Why the other answers are wrong
- A. Your front wheels must be turned toward the street. — Turning the front wheels toward the street is not part of parking on a level street; the handbook's wheel-direction rules are for parking on hills, where downhill means toward the curb and uphill means away from it.
- C. One of your rear wheels must touch the curb. — A rear wheel touching the curb is not required for parallel parking; the handbook mentions letting the wheel gently touch the curb only when you park headed uphill.
Remember it
Close to the curb, not on it: finish your parallel park within 18 inches and you're done.
Official handbook: California Driver Handbook (DL 600), Section 6: Navigating the Roads, p. 26