So Your Car Automatically Parallel Parks Itself...It's No Big Deal!
Posted: Saturday, May 01, 2010
by Gerry Charbonneau
http://nibblednews.typepad.com
" You know, somebody actually complimented me on my driving today. They left a little note on the windscreen, it said 'Parking Fine." --- Tommy Cooper (comedian ).
Have a significant and growing number of American automobile owners become so smitten by high technological gadgetry that they truly and realistically expect and demand their vehicles to automatically parallel park for them?
A smaller number of respondents , 7.69 per cent, described this automatic parking feature as a god send and revealed that they were previously so terrified of parallel parking that they would drive aimlessly about until they found a parking space where they did not have to parallel park. Sometimes this turned into a 30 minute search for the perfect spot.
A more cynical 15.38 per cent saw this high tech wizardry as a clever marketing ploy initiated by an automotive company to inject into their customers a false sense of safety and convenience. The more fearful drivers would readily adopt this new technology to their driving style. The vehicle outfitted with computer software, sensors and cameras make the company richer and the driver calmer.
Aggressive and tell-it-like- it-is respondents ( 38.36 per cent) stated outright that this innovation would appeal to all those drivers who are just too lazy to learn how to parallel park correctly. These same irresponsible drivers would readily place their safety and their family's in the hands of a computer program and let the software make the decisions for them.
A significant 30.77 per cent of respondents expressed concern over driver responsibilty. Who would be responsible if the computerized parking program developed a glitch and the vehicle was involved in an accident? Would the company or the driver him/herself be responsible for any and all damages?
This morning about 8 a.m. as I was sitting at the kitchen table reading the results of this survey I heard a loud thud on the front lawn. I looked out the window and saw a car which has hopped the curb and stopped about three feet short of a willow tree.
The female driver was unhurt and was examining the vehicle for any visible damage. She cautiously opened the driver's door and reetnered the vehicle carefully backing off the lawn. A few puffs of blue smoke later she put the car into drive and left the area somewhat skittishly.
This incident made me more resolved than ever to improve my parallel parking skills and vow never to entrust my life and overall safety to any unproven technology marketed to make my life easier and driving safer.
This Article has been viewed 1,231 times. (Not updated in real-time.)
Top-level comments on this article: (1 total)It's fun to parallel park...but I would be interested in seeing this feature and how it works just out of curiousity.Good morning Chen and thanks for writing.Parallel parking is truly not my forte however allowing my car to park itself is also intimidating. I know, I could be a control freak but safety first for me.There may be a You Tube site that would show you how this parallel parking program works.Take care stay curious.
We want your comments! If you can read this, you don't have javascript enabled, so you can't use this comment system. Please enable javascript.