‘Parkophobic’ No More: Ford Parallel Parks Your Car for You

Fear of parking is real and there’s even a word to describe it – parkophobia. Granted, it’s not an actual dictionary term, but clearly, enough people are concerned about it that it warrants an unofficial name. In fact, an earlier Ford poll ranks parking as one of life’s most nerve-wracking moments, alongside job interviews and meeting your in-laws.

What’s worse is that, until recently, if you were a parkophobic, there was no cure for you. You simply had to grit your teeth, learn to let all the glaring and honking roll off your back and just get on with it. Thankfully, those stressful scenarios will very quickly be a thing of the past with Ford’s user-friendly technology.

The newly upgraded Active Park Assist 2 includes assisted longitudinal movement, meaning drivers can now request help even when attempting to parallel park. With a mere tap of a button, drivers engage the system, which helps detect and measure parking spaces. It will handle all scanning, shifting, steering, accelerating and braking, while the driver remains in the vehicle to oversee the maneuver and make sure that the technology is properly engaged. To tackle perpendicular parking spaces, drivers need to simply select the system’s perpendicular mode.

Parkophobia doesn’t yet have an Oxford Dictionary entry. And hopefully, it never will.