Photo by sally henny penny

There’s little more painful than being stuck behind someone who clearly never learned to parallel park. Watching them try and fail to navigate into the well-sized spot and settle for a parking job that leaves their car a good two feet from the curb can diminish just about anyone’s faith in humanity.

There seems to be a reason for such parking incompetence, though — the D.C. DMV just doesn’t test parallel parking anymore as part of its usual road test, reports The Examiner:

But proving such an ability is curiously missing from the D.C. road test. The Department of Motor Vehicle’s website claims it’s still a requirement, but the department admitted Tuesday that it has been letting prospective drivers off the hook for the past three years. They test parking skills, just not parallel parking skills.

“It’s startling to say the least,” said Maryland resident Hasan Solomon after squeezing his Ford Explorer into a tight spot along New Jersey Avenue. “It should be a mandatory part of the exam. I think you can look at back bumpers and front bumpers and see the effects.”

The revelation came this week in a live chat when a Capitol Hill resident voiced concern over inept parkers taking up more than their fair share of space and causing overflows down the road. The DMV admitted that, “due to site constraints,” it was currently not testing future drivers for the skill. They did plan to add it within the next year, however, Director Lucinda Babers said in the chat on the DMV’s website.

Now, I’m not convinced that street parking is oh-so rare in the District that this is a skill that you can’t survive without. (The video posted below shows how it is absolutely a skill needed in New York, and some people are damn good at it.) But still, it should be taught and tested. If only for those of us stuck behind those that can’t do it.

In related news, I challenge all comers to a parallel park-off. Bring it.