Driverless car parking tested in Belgium

Ford is experimenting with two new ground-breaking technologies in Belgium, writes USA Today’s Chris Woodyard: one that allows a car to park itself without a driver inside and another that automatically turns the steering wheel to avoid hitting a pedestrian. While there are no concrete plans to market the new innovations any time soon, both point to how car manufacturers are gradually moving toward self-driving technology in cars. With Ford's ‘fully assisted parking aid’, a driver can be standing outside their car to push a button and watch it park itself. The technology could pay off in Europe, where parking is at a premium. Ford already has a parallel parking assist feature in its cars, but it requires drivers to sit behind the wheel and keep a foot on the brake pedal. While systems that automatically brake cars when they detect pedestrians in front of them are becoming more common, Ford's system is unique because it can steer the car out of the way. Ford says its ‘obstacle avoidance’ technology issues warnings first if it detects slow-moving objects, stationary obstacles or pedestrians in the same lane ahead. If the driver fails to steer or brake following those warnings the system will then automatically steer and brake to avoid a collision. The system uses three radars, ultrasonic sensors and a camera to scan the road ahead.