Road rules · Every driver

Parking on Hills

Hill parking is arranged so that a car that starts rolling is caught by the curb or leaves the traffic lane. Uphill with a curb, the illustrated case: turn the front wheels away from the curb, left, and let the car roll back an inch until the tire rests on the curb; the curb is now the chock.

Start a free practice testSee a real test question
High-angle view of a blue car parked uphill beside a right-side curb with its front wheels turned left toward the travel lane
The rule

How this situation is handled

The rest of the family follows the same logic. Downhill with a curb: wheels toward the curb. Any hill without a curb: wheels toward the road edge, so a rolling car drifts off the roadway rather than into traffic. In every case, set the parking brake and leave the car in park or, with a manual transmission, in the opposing gear.

The mistake it catches

The tested mistake is the uphill-with-curb case, the only one where the wheels point away from the barrier, and skipping the parking brake because the transmission is holding. The brake is the system; the transmission is the backup.

On the test

Where this scenario is tested

This situation appears in 4 questions across 4 of our state banks, on Driver License practice tests. Start with your state:

Try it

A real practice question about this rule

Sample 1 · Parking And Roadside Stops

Which wheel direction braces a vehicle parked uphill beside a curb?

High-angle view of a blue car parked uphill beside a right-side curb with its front wheels turned left toward the travel lane
  1. Straight toward moving traffic
  2. Toward the curb as for downhill parking
  3. Alternating directions after the engine is off
  4. Sharply away from the curbCorrect

Why: When parking uphill with a curb, the driver turns the wheels sharply away from the curb and backs until the rear of a tire braces against it. Therefore, the supported response is "Sharply away from the curb".

Every practice test explains its answers this way. Pick your state and take one free; no sign-up.

Choose your state
Questions

Questions about parking on hills

Which way do the wheels point parking uphill with a curb?

Away from the curb. Rolled back gently, the front tire rests against the curb, which then physically blocks the car from rolling into the lane.

Which way downhill, or with no curb at all?

Downhill with a curb: toward the curb. On any hill without a curb: toward the road edge, so a rolling car leaves the roadway instead of crossing it.

Do I always set the parking brake on a hill?

Yes, every time, with the transmission in park or the opposing gear as the second line. The wheel angle is the third; hill parking is redundancy by design.

Why is the uphill-with-curb case the one everyone misses?

It is the only arrangement where the wheels point away from the barrier, so memorized toward-the-curb answers fail on it. Tests use it for exactly that reason.

How do hill parking questions appear on the exam?

As wheel-direction cases, often with a diagram like ours, and as parking-brake sequence questions. All three wheel cases show up across our state banks.