UK drivers find parallel parking as the most difficult driving manoeuvre according to a survey by the Accident Advice Helpline.

The tricky driving skill is ranked above reversing into a bay and reversing around a corner as one of the hardest to complete perfectly. The manoeuvre came out top of the poll when 2,000 UK motorists were asked to rank their least favourite driving technique, with many drivers admitting that they would rather park further away than necessary if parallel parking might be involved.

“Parallel parking has been a thorn in drivers’ sides since the invention of the motor car," David Carter from Accident Advice Helpline said.

“We’ve all felt the pressure of getting into a tight parking space on a busy street when there are others watching.

“So it’s no surprise that twice as many people said they dread parallel parking as the next most difficult manoeuvre.”

Driving manoeuvres are one of the key reasons that UK drivers fail their test, with almost a third of the population having failed due to not completing their manoeuvres properly.

The parallel park is proving so tricky that almost half of those surveyed said that they have given up and driven off when trying one that went horrendously wrong. One in four have even confessed that they have got out their car and let someone else complete the manoeuvre.

David Carter said: “The cliché of women being less confident drivers than men seems to have been borne out by this study, presuming that men answered honestly.

“Our results found this was particularly true when it comes to manoeuvres, with 56 per cent of women saying they struggled with them more than anything else, compared to 31 per cent of men.

“But of course, accidents can happen to anyone at any time, while a low speed bump when parking might not cause serious harm, accidents at roundabouts or when reversing around corners can be more dangerous”.

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