Self-Parking Cars Coming To U.S.

POSTED: 10:05 am EDT April 4, 2006

UPDATED: 3:24 pm EDT April 4, 2006

Vehicles that are able to parallel park themselves while drivers sit and relax behind the wheel are coming to the United States, according to a Local 6 News report.

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PHOTOS: Self-Parking Car Images

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New Toyota hybrid cars are now available in Britain with a $700 "parking assist" option.Local 6 news showed video of a driver sitting and allowing the car's steering wheel to turn on its own as it pulled into a tight parking spot on a London street. The reporter never touched the wheel as the car parked itself.

With the self-parking assistant, the driver is only responsible for controlling the speed of the car, via the brake pedal.The car's computer senses when it's time to turn the car's wheel and announces when the ride is over.The computer can be heard saying, "The assist is over."So far, the new technology is only available on Toyota hybrid models in Britain with 70 percent of the car owners paying the $700 for the self-park feature.Toyota says expect to see the technology pop up in the U.S. soon, Local 6 anchor Jacqueline London said.Watch Local 6 News for more on this story.

Copyright 2006 by Internet Broadcasting Systems and Local6.com. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

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Self-parking car to hit the US

The new Toyota [compare Toyota prices] ´parking assist´ option is about to go Stateside.

Available in Japan since 2003, Toyota are rumoured to be bringing their Intelligent Parking Assist add-on to the Prius models available in the USA.

The self-parking feature combines a rear-mounted camera, power steering and runs on specially designed software that guides the car backwards towards the kerb. Toyota has named the system Intelligent Parking Assist, and while it is in use, the driver doesn´t even need to touch the steering wheel.

As reported on MotorTorque, way back in November, all the driver needs to do is press a button on the dash when they are stopped next to a parking space, and the car uses a radar sensor to see if the space is big enough, then takes over. The driver can still control the movement of the car by using the brake pedal.

What do you think of the self-parking car - would you use it? Tell us at BlogTorque.