DMV Permit · General

On a two-way street, in which direction should your wheels be turned when parking uphill WITH a curb?

Correct answer

Turn wheels LEFT (away from the curb) — if your parking brake fails or the car rolls, the front wheel will catch the curb and stop the car from rolling into traffic

  1. A Straight ahead
  2. B Turn wheels LEFT (away from the curb) — if your parking brake fails or the car rolls, the front wheel will catch the curb and stop the car from rolling into traffic
  3. C Turn wheels RIGHT (toward the curb)
  4. D It doesn't matter for uphill parking

Why this is the answer

HILL PARKING — the four scenarios: UPHILL + CURB: Turn wheels LEFT (away from curb); if car rolls backward, the right rear will drift left and the front wheels will catch the curb. DOWNHILL + CURB: Turn wheels RIGHT (toward curb); if car rolls forward, the front wheels will hit the curb. UPHILL, NO CURB: Turn wheels RIGHT (toward the shoulder/edge of road); if car rolls backward, it will drift toward the edge rather than into traffic. DOWNHILL, NO CURB: Turn wheels RIGHT (toward the shoulder); same logic as uphill, no curb. MEMORY TRICK: With a curb, the wheels point AWAY from the curb going uphill and INTO the curb going downhill. Without a curb, always turn AWAY from the road (toward the shoulder) in both cases. Always set the parking brake regardless of direction — it's required by most DMV handbooks in addition to correct wheel positioning.
Source: DMV Handbook, Hill Parking — Uphill with Curb

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