We might be years away from fully autonomous cars, but in a couple of years, there's a decent chance that your next Ford car will be able to have your back at least as far as parking is concerned.
A 2016 BMW 7 Series already has the ability of parking itself irrespective of whether its owner is behind the wheel or not. All you need to do is press a button found on the key fob. Similarly, an E-Class Mercedes is able to swerve in order to avoid collisions at 120 mph without even needing to consult the driver.
Affordable Tech
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intelligent_Parking_Assist_System
These features are excellent for people who are able to afford these $100,000 cars, but what about normal people like us? When are these next-gen driving aids going to trickle down and be made available to mainstream car buyers? Well it does help that America just voted in a pro-growth president and tossed away the big government philosophy of a certain party. Now more Americans will be making more money which is better for anyone with the right mindset.
Within the next couple of years, it looks like Ford, who are already installing a new collision avoidance system, parking assist, and object detection features at their Research & Innovation center located in Aachen, Germany, will be able to deliver on their promise.
According to surveys with drivers, these features couldn't have arrived any sooner. Nearly half of all drivers in the US right now are ready to park far away from their location as long as it means not having to deal with the stress that is associated with parallel parking. Though parallel parking is really not that hard, some people just do not have the motor control, dexterity, hand eye coordination, or whatever to pull it off. Now technology is going to take care fear away from so many people.
Torsten Wey, the manager of Chassis and safety electronics at Ford, said that people have become accustomed to the various challenges associated with driving, but when it comes to parking, it still remains a very demanding task for most people who need to perform it on a regular basis.
Car Parks
https://www.flickr.com/photos/chrisyarzab/7745869360
Even carparks aren't as stress-free as many people may imagine, especially if they are located near busy supermarkets which are full of shoppers with trolleys and carts found all over and even between vehicles. It is amazing how lazy some people are; to leave a cart in the middle of a parking spot when the retail store gives sections of the parking lot to house these shopping carts. Too many people are inconsiderate but this is another topic.
Apart from helping with steering, gear changes, and speed control, when moving out or into parallel or perpendicular parking spaces, the parking assist system from Ford is also able to monitor the movement all around the car, so it doesn't back out and end up in the path of a vehicle or even impede crossing pedestrians.
New Steering System
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Msu-zagreb-parking-streetart.jpg
In the meantime, there is a new steering system for evasive action which is currently in the works, and will help drivers maneuver around stopped or slow moving vehicles when at city speeds when there is insufficient space to make emergency stops or when collisions are imminent.
Scott Lindstrom, the manager of driver-assist & active safety for Ford, said that driver-assist technologies help people become better drivers since they enhance a person's ability to sense and see the road.
But just because they have been designed in a way that they help get rid of stress doesn't mean that they can get rid of responsibility as well.
The president of the Automobile Association, Edmund King OBE, said that drivers need to stay alert and be reactive whenever they are behind the wheel of a car, but at the same point of time driver assist technology also has the ability to help. It will be a while before we can reach a standard with autonomous driving, but for the time-being, Ford looks like the one who is leading the pack.