Ultimate Luxury? Or Laziness? A Car that Parks Itself – Are Americans Too Dumb to Park a Car?

Can superfluous high-tech gadgetry help Ford's revitalization? Apparently they think so. It plans to introduce a self-parking facility on two Lincoln models this year. If you were worried that the American car industry was going to get itself out of trouble by producing innovative new cars that met the demand for greener, more environmentally friendly vehicles, you can relax. Ford's latest gadget blows that right out of the water. Apparently Ford think Americans are "too dumb to learn how to park a car" and need a gadget to do it for them.

Being European I am always amused at Americans inability to drive and parallel park their cars. I have seen people ignore perfectly good parking spots because they could not drive their gas-guzzling behemoth straight in.

Introducing "Active Park Assist," a completely useless device that will be available on the 2010 Lincoln MKS sedan and the new 2010 MKT crossover utility vehicle.

“With the touch of a button, Lincoln MKS and MKT drivers can parallel park quickly, easily and safely without ever touching the steering wheel,” said Derrick Kuzak, Ford’s group vice president for global product development.

Active Park Assist. For those too lazy to learn how to park a car.

The SYNC system is a hands-free interface for cellphones and iPods or other MP3 music players that Ford developed in conjunction with Microsoft. The system was introduced on the redesigned Ford Focus for 2008, but has since been made standard or available on a number of additional Ford, Lincoln and Mercury vehicles.

MKS models also come with Ford’s new capless gas tank, as well as Sirius Travel Link. In conjunction with the navigation system, Travel Link brings to the system’s dash-mounted screen “up-to-the-minute information” on gasoline prices and the closest stations, as well as movie listings and sports scores. And if you think these "extras" are funny, you are not alone.

Other technology Ford offers on the MKS includes radar cruise control, adaptive headlights and an intelligent-key system with push button start, all three of which already are available on a number of competitive vehicles from other automakers, mostly luxury models from Japan and Europe. Active Park Assist is not a new idea; Toyota introduced a similar system on its flagship Lexus LS sedan two years ago aimed at incompetent, lazy drivers.

When the driver pulls up to a potential parking space, and the parking button is pushed, the system uses ultrasonic sensors to measure the space, determine whether the car will fit, and then guide the vehicle into the space.

The driver still has to operate the accelerator and brake pedals to get the vehicle into the parking space, which does leave some room for error, being as how it is so hard to park a car on a slope. Ford says the system will work on hills, not just on level ground.

The Ford system is made possible on the two new Lincoln models by the addition of electric power steering, which uses its own dedicated electric motor to operate the power steering rather than using the traditional hydraulic system that takes its power from a drive belt connected to the vehicle’s engine.

How about just teaching people to drive their friggin' cars instead?