ALT-1 Tips for Parking your Car on a Hill
Important Tips for Safely Parking on a Hill
1. Turn your front wheels towards the curb
Whether you are facing uphill or downhill, you want to prevent your vehicle from rolling into traffic. You can accomplish this by always turning your steering wheel towards the curb. If your vehicle were to roll backward, you want the back wheels to hit the curbing so it will stop. If your vehicle were to roll forward, you want the front wheels to hit the curbing so it will stop. In the event that there is no curbing, turn your steering wheel in the direction that will send your vehicle away from traffic should it start to roll.
2. Fully engage your parking or hand brake
This is common sense really. You should always engage your parking or hand brake whenever you park your vehicle, and this is even more important when parking on a hill. Parking brakes will almost always prevent your vehicle from rolling away but brake failures do happen, so this takes us to #3 on the list.
3. Leave your vehicle in gear
In the event that your parking or hand brake fails, your transmission may keep your vehicle from rolling away. If you have a manual transmission and are facing uphill, leave your vehicle in first or second gear. This should prevent it from rolling backward. If you are facing downhill, leave your vehicle in reverse. This should prevent it from rolling forward. If you have an automatic transmission, simply leave your vehicle in Park, as this will usually keep it from moving in any direction.
4. Chock all of your wheels
This is the best method for keeping any vehicle from rolling up or down a hill when it is parked. Place wheel chocks behind your tires if you are facing uphill, and in front of your tires if you are facing downhill. If you don't have wheel chocks, you can use small blocks of wood instead. If you don't have either of these items in your trunk, then some large stones you might find by the road will work better than nothing.
5. Rope or chain your vehicle to a solid structure
Okay, this last method should be used when parking on hills that are extremely slippery due to ice or mud, or if there is a great likelihood that your vehicle will roll or slide away even if you follow tips 1 - 4. Using heavy gauge rope or strong metal chain, attach one end to the frame of your vehicle and the other end to an immovable object such as a large tree or a fire hydrant. This should prevent your vehicle from going anywhere even in the worst of conditions but if a tornado comes through, well... you're just out of luck.
Thanks for reading!
