3 core essentials for reversing: master them well, and your reversing skills will improve rapidly!

Some drivers are afraid of reversing. When driving forward, they can do whatever they want and are very skilled. But when it comes to reversing, they get dizzy, grab the steering wheel and swing it wildly, but still can't reverse properly.

The fundamental reason for not being able to reverse a car is actually failing to grasp the technical essentials. I believe there are mainly three technical points:

1. Reversing: What is the purpose of turning the steering wheel

The essence of reversing and steering is to adjust the direction of the rear of the car. In other words, if you want to reverse in a certain direction, you need to first make the rear of the car point in that direction. Since the rear wheels cannot turn, how can you make the rear of the car point in that direction? The answer is to turn the steering wheel to move the front of the car, thereby causing the rear to change direction. This is similar to pushing a handcart; if you want to push it in a certain direction, you need to first align the front of the cart with that direction.

So when you break down the action of reversing a car, it becomes clear: as shown in the image below, if we want the car to reverse in the direction indicated by the red arrow, the first step we take is to make the rear of the car point in that direction. How do we do this? Naturally, we turn the steering wheel to the left and then reverse, so that the front of the car starts to swing to the right, and the rear follows and points in the direction of the arrow. Once the rear of the car is pointing in the right direction, we return the steering wheel to its original position and continue reversing.

If you are not good at reversing, when encountering a situation where you need to reverse, you can first determine the direction in which the rear of the car needs to be reversed, then turn the steering wheel to align the rear of the car. At this point, you have already achieved 50% success.

2. Reverse scale: rear wheel

A few days ago, my little nephew was reversing his car into the garage. I noticed that he was frequently swerving the steering wheel left and right, but the rear of the car never aligned with the garage door. Then I taught him a trick, and he successfully backed the car in. You should know that it wasn't a small car, but a light truck.

This technique is quite simple: judge the reversing trajectory by observing the position of the rear wheel.

The reason why my little nephew couldn't park properly at first was that he was constantly looking at the position of the truck's cargo box relative to the garage door. The cargo box was suspended outside the wheels, and if it was slightly off-center, the moment the truck moved, the cargo box would swing back and forth. Therefore, it was difficult for him to align the rear of the truck with the garage door while keeping an eye on the cargo box.

For instance, in the scenario depicted in the image above, as the front of the car rotates, the position of the rear undergoes significant changes. However, regardless of the direction the rear is facing, the lateral displacement of the red line remains minimal, and this point corresponds to the position of the rear wheels. Therefore, by accurately identifying the position of the rear wheels when reversing, you can easily determine the orientation of the car body.

Friends who have previously used a Peugeot training car to learn driving may remember that when practicing reversing into a parking space, the instructor would have you look at the pole of the parking space from the position of the rear triangular window to determine the trajectory of the car body. The reason is that the rear wheels of the Peugeot are directly below the triangular window. So when reversing, as long as you can accurately determine the position of the rear wheels, it will be easy for you to grasp the orientation of the car body.

Learn to check the rearview mirror

Although many cars are equipped with reversing cameras, or even more advanced 360-degree panoramic cameras, I believe it's better to learn how to read the rearview mirror. Because if you can understand the rearview mirror, it means you have a strong sense of awareness of the car's position. It's equivalent to having a "God's perspective" when reversing, allowing you to precisely control the reversing trajectory and direction. This is very beneficial for improving reversing skills.

So I suggest that if you find reversing challenging, you might consider studying the rearview mirror more. When reversing, focus on the view in the rearview mirror and predict the trajectory of the car based on the degree of your steering. Once you grasp this relationship, it will be easier to navigate the situation when reversing. There's no trick to checking the rearview mirror; it's just about developing a sense of direction. Practice looking more often and gaining more experience while driving regularly, and you'll gradually become familiar with it. The following diagram can test your proficiency in checking the rearview mirror. Based on the view in the rearview mirror, can you determine which scenario, A or B, is correct?

I believe the above three points are the key factors to reversing a car. Once you fully understand these, your reversing skills will definitely improve significantly.