Nearly ten years ago, on May 19, 2015, the Maryland Motor Vehicle Administration (MVA) announced a significant change to the in-vehicle skills test for obtaining a Class C non-commercial driver’s license, which is the most common type of driver’s license in the state. The MVA removed parallel parking from the list of required test elements, a decision that has been in effect statewide for nearly a decade.
The MVA cited redundancy in the skills test as a primary reason for this modification. They noted that other driving maneuvers, such as pulling into and backing out of parking spaces and performing three-point turns, effectively test similar skills required for safe driving. Despite the removal of parallel parking from the driving test, the MVA emphasized that it does not intend to eliminate this skill from driver education programs. They encouraged schools to continue incorporating parallel parking practice into their driver training activities.
The driving test consists of two main components: a closed-course portion to assess basic vehicle control, overseen by a licensing agent outside the vehicle, and an on-road portion to evaluate driving skills, during which the agent is present in the vehicle with the applicant.
As the ten-year anniversary of this change approaches, a recent Jeopardy question related to the topic has sparked online debate. Many commenters expressed surprise that the change had occurred, while others argued that parallel parking is not a necessary skill for obtaining a driver’s license. However, a small majority noted that they have observed others struggling with parallel parking in the city, attributing this difficulty to the removal of the maneuver from the driver’s license test.