I didn't have to parallel park during my test like most people do. Though I do remember getting a few points of doing a rolling stop. Though I have seen people do rolling stops, I didn't do anything like that. Some people don't even slow down at all.
Over here, parallel parking is considered a special maneuver, and you have to do 2 special maneuvers in a driving test. It could be standard parking, backwards parking, U turn, 3 point turn, parallel parking, a slope test, driving backwards around a corner, or just driving backwards down a street. So you have to be able to do any of those, because you don't know which 2 you'll have to do. I was panicked because I had to do backwards parking, which was the one I was least comfortable with. My first instructor really made me doubt myself with that one. He kept telling me what needed to line up to turn in and get the positioning correct, except he was saying my shoulder should line up at a certain point, but that depends on your height. I always had the seat pulled up really far because I'm short. So a tall guy will have the seat pushed back further, which means his shoulder will be in a different place. Every time I lined up my shoulder with the line, I ended up parking across 2 spots, and I was looking in one of my mirrors to make sure I didn't hit anything and he's shouting "Check your mirror! Check your mirror" but I was already LOOKING in my mirror. Finally I just shouted back. "I AM looking in my mirror! Which mirror did you want me to check??" I had never been able to park backwards with him, because his instructions just didn't work and he wasn't willing to admit that his instructions weren't one-size-fits-all. So the 2nd instructor had to undo all that, and he showed me how to do it with a point in the car, not on my body, since that would be different than when HE drove. But I had only done it a couple of times, so I was terrified that I would mess up when I was nervous.
I took the test anxiety version in which I was allowed to take 3 breaks during the test. I just had to tell the examinor that I wanted to take a break, and they help you find a place to stop safely and you can regroup. After I did the backwards parking, I was like "I need a break!!" so I just stayed parked. He asked me what it was that made me nervous that I needed a break at that moment....that's what they are supposed to do....they help you, like....identify the trigger so they can avoid triggering you again. I told him that was just the maneuver that I was least comfortable with, so when I was done, I needed to release that pent up anxiety, and he said he couldn't even tell I had problems with the maneuver because I had done such a good job. Whew....that made me feel SO much better. I couldn't even tell you what my other maneuver was that I had to do. I only remember doing the backwards parking because that was such a scary thing for me.
