• Font Size    
E-mail

Close Window E-mail This Page

Ford's Hands-Free Parking Is Fun, Affordable

Required fields are marked with an asterisk(*)

The information you provide will be used only to send the requested e-mail and will not be used to send any other e-mail communications. Read more in our Privacy Policy

Send E-mail

   Print     Share +    Comments
Nov 3, 2009 8:52 pm US/Mountain

Ford's Hands-Free Parking Is Fun, Affordable

Reporting
Paul Day
LITTLETON, Colo. (CBS4) ― A hands-free system developed by Ford is supposed to take the stress out of parallel parking. CBS4's Paul Day took the vehicle out for a test ride Tuesday to see how well it works.

"I've demonstrated it to a number of people and nobody has hit a bumper yet." said Tom Daniels, president of Landmark on Broadway, a Lincoln-Mercury dealer in Englewood.

The system is called "Active Park Assist."

Day's test drive concluded the system is precise, reliable and easy to use. It's also affordable at $395 on certain models of Ford, Mercury and Lincoln.

Cruising Main Street in downtown Littleton, Day drove a new Mercury Mariner equipped with the system. It's activated with a button on the dash. That starts the system looking for a suitable parking spot.

The search is conducted by special ultrasonic sensors mounted at the front and rear of the car. A dash mounted display and audible chimes tell the driver when a parking space is found. At that point, the driver just shifts into reverse and takes his or her hands off the wheel. As the car takes over, the driver controls the brake and gas. The wheel spins on its own. It's guided by a back-up camera and audible chimes.

After Day brought the car to a stop just in front of the car behind him, he shifted into drive, pulled forward, and that was it.

"Our test found the system repeatedly positioned the car comfortably close to the curb," Day said.

It does it quickly, at speeds up to six miles an hour.

In one parking situation, the hands-free system squeezed Day into a space while narrowly missing a long trailer hitch protruding from the pickup in front of him.

Daniels says the system will put the car into any space as long as the space is 20 percent longer than the car.

Still, there are limitations. The car must be clean so the sensors can operate properly. Cover them with mud or ice and "there could be a problem," Daniels conceded.

Day's test also revealed the system confuses driveways with accessible parking spaces, but that's a minor criticism.

Other carmakers have been quicker to market with their own hands-free systems, but automotive reviewers rank Ford's system as more user-friendly.

The folks at the Blue Oval claim their product is the only one that accommodates parallel parking on the left side of one-way streets.

"It's understandable some might be tempted to dismiss this new system as a frill that just pads the price of a new car. But if you experience anxiety over the thought of parallel parking, try this and see if you can live without it." Day said.

(© MMIX CBS Television Stations, Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)

Curious & Controversial News

Add Comment

here. here. Need a log in? Register here
  •  * Will not be displayed with comment
  •  * e.g. (http://www.mywebsite.com)
  •  
  • Click here to refresh with new letters

Show Comments (0)

Close Window Login


Close Window Flag Comment


loading...
You need the latest Flash player to view video content.
Click here to download.

Click here to bypass this detection if you already have the latest Flash Player.

Consumer

Top News Stories

© MMIX, CBS Television Stations Inc. All Rights Reserved.