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Let’s be honest — parallel parking is not the easiest maneuver to master. Even seasoned drivers approach it with a bit of uncertainty. An accident can be just around the corner when spinning your car into a tight parking space. But we suggest you not run over vehicles parked nearby. That’s what happened in this video of an SUV smashing a Corvette while trying to parallel park. 

How did this parallel parking accident happen?

The incredible incident happened recently in New York. A video posted to the itow YouTube channel shows how events unfolded. It’s an almost cartoonish result of parallel parking gone horribly wrong. The driver of the Honda Passport SUV appears to have misjudged several things, including space, time, and acceleration. He plunks his Honda into reverse and hits the go pedal hard. 

The good news for Honda is the Passport does what any good SUV should do. Hitting an obstacle, the tires take hold and make easy work of climbing over the Corvette. Not thinking to stop after encountering resistance, the Passport driver continues to glide the SUV almost completely onto the Corvette.

Was anyone hurt in this parallel parking fiasco?

What you don’t see in the initial impact is that the Corvette owner was in his car. Yes, he was sitting in the driver’s seat. As the catastrophe unfolded, he had the presence to bolt into the passenger seat, avoiding the same fate as his car.

“I see the rear wheel going through my windshield, so I quickly jumped over to the passenger seat, opened the door, and got out,” the Corvette owner explains in the video posted on itow.

It’s unclear what prompted the Passport driver to think the C5 Corvette was simply a stubborn curb. Maybe he got distracted while attempting to park the massive SUV. Maybe the red paint on the Corvette wasn’t bright enough for him to see? 

Do these Honda SUVs have rearview cameras?

What we do know is that the SUV driver had a suspended license, according to the Corvette owner, who seems very calm in the video for having escaped death while his beloved car was totaled. Kudos to him!

The Honda Passport in question is of the generation that arrived in 2009, so it has a backup camera. If it has the navigation option, the backup image is on the nav screen. And if it doesn’t, the image is off to the side of the rearview mirror. Either way, it seems the driver wasn’t using that handy feature. He probably wishes he had. 

For your perusal, the above video is a handy primer on how to parallel park. We hope it enhances your skills, and we know you’ll be thinking about that smashed Corvette the next time you parallel park. 

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Master Parallel Parking in 4 Easy Steps

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Staff Writer

Thom Taylor

Thom Taylor is a celebrated automotive journalist. He was awarded the Top 100 Most Influential People in Hot Rodding from Hot Rod Magazine, and was inducted into the Grand National Roadster Show Hall of Fame and the National Rod and Custom Hall of Fame. He’s a member of SEMA and the NHRA.

Thom has authored a number of books, including Hot Rod & Custom Chronicle and several guides for drawing vehicles like a pro, which pull from his distinguished ventures as an automotive illustrator.

Thom joined the MotorBiscuit team in 2019, and focuses his coverage on new vehicle releases, design, and the latest features and tech in the industry. His tenure of 25 years writing about the industry gives him a unique context for the auto news he covers, whether it’s part of the Rusty Monday series or the latest news from Chevy. Thom has built two complete cars from the ground up and driven vintage roadsters at the Indy 500.