Inside Ford's parallel parking universe

One would be forgiven for thinking that if a person had the wherewithal necessary to become the owner of a luxury car, that person should have sufficient brain power to park it. Or maybe this is all the thin end of the wedge, the thick end being computer-driven cars in which no one has any fun and the government knows where everyone is all the time, but accidents are a thing of the past. However, let’s get back to Detroit 2009 and a system Ford is introducing at the show.

Like spelling “parallel” from memory, parallel parking can sometimes be tricky. Lexus already has a camera-based self-parking system for its big LS sedan. Ford’s new counterpart uses ultrasonic sensors on each corner of a vehicle to gauge how much room there is to maneuver in. The driver presses a button and the car does the steering -- the only other things the human has to do is select drive or reverse and apply brake or throttle, prompted by the system (which is blessed with the snappy title of “Ford Active Park Assist” when it could have been called the “Lazy Jeeves” or something -- where’s the imagination these days?).

Ford claims its parking apparatus is more precise than the Lexus equivalent. This remains to be seen. Meanwhile, Ford Active Park Assist will be featured initially on the Lincoln MKS sedan (from mid-2009) and the all-new Lincoln MKT seven-seater crossover that’s also due to be unveiled at the Motor City bash.

-- Colin Ryan

Image: Ford

Comments

[Sal B]

Anyone who can't parallel park his or her own car shouldn't be out driving.

[Alan Burks]

One of the few things that I can still do to impress my increasingly blase teanagers is to proficiently parallel park without any computerized assistance.
As a Ford investor, I read this with mixed emotions. Along with the upcoming 40+ mpg Fusion hybrid, I certainly hope this new parking feature will enable Ford to regain market share.
On the other hand, I'm not so sure about this development. Because so many new military recruits are incapable of driving stick shift transmissions, Hummers and other military vehicles are now built exclusively with automatic transmissions.
This parking feature seems like yet another "convenience" that will enable robots to do more work for us at the expense of our sense of mastery of our personal worlds.
Humrumph,
Disgruntled geezer in the making

[356man]

Right on, Sal--I also think we should get rid of automatic transmissions--prevent these idiots from running over people and blaming a stuck throttle or some other BS.