A method for assisting a vehicle operator to parallel park a vehicle, said method comprising the steps of: determining parallel parking space requirements based on a travel path (8, 8A, 8B) defined by a vehicle length, a vehicle width, a minimum turning radius, and a minimum arc radius of a front corner of the vehicle; providing a single proximity sensor configured to output a clearance signal indicative of a clearance distance beside the vehicle; and providing a controller configured to perform the steps of storing the parallel parking space requirements; receiving the clearance signal from the single proximity sensor; detecting a parallel parking space suitable for parallel parking the vehicle based on the clearance signal; indicating when to start a first backing maneuver; indicating when to start a second backing maneuver; and indicating when to end the second backing maneuver; characterized in that the step of detecting a parallel parking space includes moving the vehicle in a direction substantially parallel to the parallel parking space while the controller performs the steps of detecting a rear boundary of the parallel parking space when the clearance signal indicates a clearance distance greater than a depth threshold, determining a parallel parking space depth based on a minimum clearance distance detected while the clearance distance is greater than the depth threshold, detecting a front boundary of the parallel parking space when either the clearance signal indicates a clearance distance less than the depth threshold or the vehicle has moved a distance greater than a minimum parallel parking space length, determining a parallel parking space length based on a distance traveled by the vehicle between detecting the rear boundary and detecting the front boundary of the parallel parking space, and indicating that the parallel parking space is suitable for parallel parking the vehicle based on the parallel parking space length and the parallel parking space depth and wherein the method includes indicating by the controller that parallel parking should be aborted. determining parallel parking space requirements based on a travel path (8, 8A, 8B) defined by a vehicle length, a vehicle width, a minimum turning radius, and a minimum arc radius of a front corner of the vehicle; providing a single proximity sensor configured to output a clearance signal indicative of a clearance distance beside the vehicle; and providing a controller configured to perform the steps of storing the parallel parking space requirements; receiving the clearance signal from the single proximity sensor; detecting a parallel parking space suitable for parallel parking the vehicle based on the clearance signal; indicating when to start a first backing maneuver; indicating when to start a second backing maneuver; and indicating when to end the second backing maneuver; characterized in that the step of detecting a parallel parking space includes moving the vehicle in a direction substantially parallel to the parallel parking space while the controller performs the steps of detecting a rear boundary of the parallel parking space when the clearance signal indicates a clearance distance greater than a depth threshold, determining a parallel parking space depth based on a minimum clearance distance detected while the clearance distance is greater than the depth threshold, detecting a front boundary of the parallel parking space when either the clearance signal indicates a clearance distance less than the depth threshold or the vehicle has moved a distance greater than a minimum parallel parking space length, determining a parallel parking space length based on a distance traveled by the vehicle between detecting the rear boundary and detecting the front boundary of the parallel parking space, and indicating that the parallel parking space is suitable for parallel parking the vehicle based on the parallel parking space length and the parallel parking space depth and wherein the method includes indicating by the controller that parallel parking should be aborted.