... as you know I just bought my wife a new 2010 Ford Escape Limited. It has all the options that are available on it, meaning a LOT of stuff only my 18 year old knows how to use. One option we learned how to use just last night is "Auto Parking." After reading the owner's manual and figuring out just what it meant, we tried it. It automatically parallel parks the car- HANDS FREE. That's right, hands free. You pull up just past an open parking place, push the Auto Park button, release the wheel, and put it in Reverse. You operate the accelerator and the break, the car backs into the space then tells you to put it in drive and pull up (centering the car in the space). The wheel turns by itself. If you are parking on the right or left (like on a one-way street) the car knows by the blinker setting where you intend on parking (it defaults to the right if no selection is made).

Parallel parking is second nature to me and I see no benefit to it- but there is a world of people out there who simple can't grasp the concept. I wonder if this will do for parking what the automatic transmission has done for shifting (MANY people can not drive a standard nowadays).

To me the feature is useless but I am STILL AMAZED that it can do it!! (I am probably the last one here who has seen this, and you all may have this feature on your car already)