Fleet Safety Tip of the Week
This week's installment addresses the art of parallel parking. Some of today's cars can manage this task automatically. But most drivers still need to master the more traditional method.
Here is some parallel-parking advice culled from the Delaware Driver Manual. You may want to pass this along to your drivers as a friendly reminder.
When you’re parking on a two-way highway, park parallel to and within 12 inches of the curb or edge of the highway.
The steps for parallel parking are:
• Check for traffic in your rearview mirror. If a car behind you is following too closely, do not stop suddenly. Continue driving and find another space. Stopping suddenly with a car behind you may result in a rear-end collision.
• Put on your turn signal to warn other drivers that you intend to park.
• Signal and stop with the back end of your vehicle even with the back of the vehicle in front of the place you want to park.
• Back slowly, turning your steering wheel to the right to aim the back of your car toward the front of the one behind you.
• As the front of your car clears the back of the car in front of you, turn your wheels sharply to the left and continue backing slowly until the back of your car almost touches the car behind you.
• Straighten your wheels and pull forward to center the car in the parking space. Your car should be no more than 12 inches from the curb. Put the transmission in park and set the brake. Turn off the engine.
• To park by the left-hand curb on a one-way street, follow the same directions but reverse right and left in the instructions.
• If your car has a manual transmission, leave it in low gear when parked and headed uphill. Leave it in reverse when parked and headed downhill. This will help prevent a crash if your emergency or parking brake should fail.
• To leave a parallel parking space, signal your move. Watch for traffic and turn your steering wheel towards the open lane, easing your way out into traffic.
More Safety
How Better Visibility Cut Speeding Violations by 48%
Fleet leaders don't need more data, they need clearer visibility into what the data is saying. This case study explores how one utility replaced speeding-event counts with a single metric — miles driven in violation — to strengthen safety and significantly reduce speeding violations.
Read More →
Operation Safe Driver Week: Why the Industry's Oldest Safety Campaign Still Matters to Fleets
A look at how a 2007 enforcement initiative became one of the most consequential weeks on the fleet safety calendar, and what it means for your drivers in 2026.
Read More →
Nexar-Nauto Merger Aims to Give Fleets Better Safety Intelligence Through Larger Driving Dataset
Stefan Heck tells Automotive Fleet that combining more than 10 billion miles of driving history with Nexar's AI models will give fleets deeper insights into driver risk and roadway conditions than either company could provide independently.
Read More →From Silos to Solutions: Relationship Management for Safer Fleets
From telematics adoption and driver accountability to policy consistency and risk mitigation, this episode breaks down what it really takes to build a safer fleet culture without slowing business down.
Read More →
IIHS Launches First Commercial Vehicle Safety Evaluations
The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety has begun evaluating heavy-duty pickups and cargo vans for driver protection. Which models earned top marks?
Read More →
Reducing Risk by Eliminating Phone Use Behind the Wheel
Hosted with the cofounder of Lifesaver Mobile, this episode addresses phone use behind the wheel and how to design a driving environment that actually helps prevents accidents.
Read More →
Cameras, Safety and Insurance: From Reactive Claims to Real-Time Prevention (Part 2 of 2)
Part Two: Commercial auto remains one of the most challenging and costly lines of coverage for fleet operators and insurers alike. Continue learning more about how to effectively address these issues from Onur Aksan, Enterprise Business Development Executive, Geotab
Read More →
How 5-Second Telematics Data Is Changing Fleet Safety
This episode connects with Steve Santostasi of Ford Pro and covers how a few seconds of data can make a difference in fleet safety.
Read More →
Managing Road Risk at Scale: Why Fleet Safety Needs a Data-Driven Framework
Insights from the FIA Road and Driver Safety Indexes reveal how to manage road risk on a larger scale.
Read More →
Stellantis Recalls 1.3 Million Jeep Vehicles Worldwide Over Fire Risk
Stellantis is recalling more than 1.3 million Jeep Wrangler and Gladiator models worldwide over a fire risk linked to power steering pump wiring.
Read More →
