Oklahoma · Handbook chapter 7 · 3 min read

Chapter 7: Parking

How to park in Oklahoma: leaving the car safely, highway parking, angle and parallel parking within 18 inches, parking on hills with and without a curb, disabled parking placards and the places you may not park.

Why this chapter matters

Parking questions are mostly distances and wheel directions. Learn the list of no-parking distances (15, 20, 30, 50 feet) and which way to turn the wheels on a hill.

Leaving your car

An improperly parked car can roll and kill someone. When you leave your vehicle:

• Set the parking brake.
• Put it in park, or in low or reverse gear.
• Turn off the engine, lock the ignition and take the key.

On a highway, signal, slow down and park completely off the pavement. If you break down, move off the road and turn on your hazard flashers.

Angle parking

Watch for vehicles and pedestrians, signal, make sure your rear will clear the parked car, steer sharply into the space and center the car. Backing out, check behind for carts and people, back slowly, tap the horn to warn pedestrians, and remember that the front of your car swings the opposite way from your turn.

Parallel parking

Unless signs or a yellow curb forbid it, you may park parallel to a curb within 18 inches of it.

1. Pick a space big enough. Signal and pull up even with the car ahead, about 2 feet out from it.
2. Turn the wheels fully right and back slowly toward the curb.
3. When your front wheels are even with the other car's rear bumper, turn the wheel fully left and keep backing.
4. Straighten the wheels and center the car in the space.

Parking on a hill

Park within 6 inches of the curb, set the parking brake and leave the car in park or a low or reverse gear.

To start on a hill: start the engine, select a gear, signal, look back, release the parking brake and pull out only when the lane is clear. Traffic already on the road has the right-of-way.

Disabled parking

Service Oklahoma issues a placard that hangs from the mirror for a physically disabled driver or passenger. A physician must complete the application. Misusing a placard or lying on the application is a misdemeanor.

Where you may not park

• On a sidewalk, in a crosswalk or within an intersection.
• In front of a public or private driveway.
• Within 15 feet of a fire hydrant.
• Within 20 feet of a crosswalk at an intersection.
• Within 30 feet of a flashing beacon, STOP sign or traffic signal at the roadside.
• Within 50 feet of the nearest rail of a railroad crossing.
• Within 20 feet of a fire station driveway, or 75 feet across the street from it when signs are posted.
• Beside a street excavation or obstruction if it would block traffic.
• Double parked on the street side of a parked vehicle.
• On a bridge, elevated structure or in a highway underpass.
• Anywhere signs prohibit stopping.