Coaches with their own parking. Automakers aren’t kidding. Just when I think I’ve seen it all, a new technology arrives aimed at making our lives easier. This time it’s the car park. Actually, a self parking car is not a totally new technology as it has been used in Japan for more than two years. Now, the luxury car manufacturer, Lexus, has introduced the self park option to one of its luxury sedans in the US. This self park option is bundled with several other options and is priced from $4,000 to $5,000 .
A demonstration of this self-parking option revealed the use of sensors, gears, rear-mounted cameras, and a computer program that work together to take the pain out of parallel parking. The computer program and monitors constantly search for available parking spaces that fit the size criteria for parallel parking. When a suitable parking space is found, the driver is notified via a computer screen. The driver then engages the auto park option, releases the steering wheel, and eases off the accelerator. Using the brake to regulate the speed of parallel parking, the driver watches as the car expertly reverses and backs into the selected parking space. A calm and slightly seductive female voice announces that the parking guide has been completed. All the driver has to do is put the car in gear and pull slightly forward, straightening the car in the parking space. The manufacturers point out that this technology is not suitable for parallel parking on hills.
So who needs an advanced parking system like this? Well, certainly lazy drivers do. Those who simply can’t wait to get their hands on the latest and greatest gadgets will love this device and will probably offer to take the office gang out for some more lunch just to make sure their friends get to experience this technological marvel. Drivers with neck problems would also benefit from this. But are people with neck turning impairments supposed to drive vehicles? So who will really benefit from this self parking option? I bet there are a lot of people like me who are terrible parallel parkers. We’d rather drive around the block or walk a greater distance than have to endure the stress of parallel parking. This anxiety-producing activity is only made worse when driving a larger vehicle or SUV. I personally can’t wait until they make this option available at a price everyone can afford. I hope this option will come down in price since it has been on the market for a long time. Perhaps it will go the way of the calculator, which also entered the market as a rather expensive piece of technology. Last time I looked, calculators could be found at the local megamart for about two bucks.
The auto park option, also called the advanced parking system, is currently available on the Lexus sedan in the US. It has been available in Japan on the Toyota Prius priced at about $700 for the option. Look out for this option to enter the US market more broadly very soon.
If parking cars are here, you can bet self-driving cars are already on the horizon.
