Nerve-wracking, potentially hazardous and a significant contributor to repair bills for low-speed bumps and scrapes – parking is a pet-hate for drivers across Europe.
In the UK, a quarter of accidents occur in car parks.1 Almost half of drivers say they would rather travel further from their destination than attempt to parallel park.2
Ford is now developing a range of new technologies designed to remove parking stresses for drivers, including Cross Traffic Alert with Braking, which is designed to detect vehicles, scooters and cyclists that are about to pass behind a driver and automatically brake to avoid them; Rear Wide View Camera, which shows on the in-car display a wide-angle view from the rear of the vehicle; and Enhanced Active Park Assist, which means simply pressing one button to park, both in parallel and perpendicular spaces.
“We’ve all become accustomed to the challenges of driving, but it remains one of the most demanding tasks most of us perform day in, day out,” said Torsten Wey, manager, Chassis & Safety Electronics, Ford of Europe. “Technology is already proving its potential to help make driving less stressful – and Ford’s investment in research and development is paying off by accelerating and expanding our portfolio of driver assist technologies that deliver real-world benefits to drivers, passengers, cyclists and pedestrians alike.”
Further technologies developed at the Ford European Research and Innovation Center in Aachen, Germany, include systems designed to help drivers steer around other vehicles to avoid high speed collisions; spot cyclists and automatically brake to help avoid or mitigate accidents; and prevent drivers from travelling the wrong way down motorways.
These new technologies – expected to be first made available on Ford vehicles in the next two years are part of the company’s commitment to triple its investment in developing driver assist features, to further evolve them and to expand their capabilities, speeding the roll-out of systems that make it easier to park and drive in heavy traffic, and help drivers avoid collisions.
Taking the stress out of parking
In the U.K, car park related accidents account for a one in every four accidents1 and cost drivers around €800 million (£716 million) in repair bills each year.3 During the past 20 years, the width of cars has increased by around 16% to account for improved safety and comfort, but many parking spaces remain the same size.3
Research also shows that 47% of drivers park further away from their destination to avoid parallel parking, 15% avoid parallel parking completely, and 75% of drivers get nervous when having to park in front of other drivers.2
“Parking is one of the most stressful experiences behind the wheel, and drivers struggling to find suitable parking spaces in urban areas can have a knock-on effect for traffic flow as well as stress-levels,” said Dirk Gunia, supervisor, Driver Assist Electronics, Ford of Europe. “Technologies like our Enhanced Active Park Assist will help drivers feel confident about parking in spaces they might otherwise have considered too small.”
Enhanced Active Park Assist controls steering, gear selection and forward and reverse motion to facilitate parking at a push of a button. The system can automatically enter and exit a parallel parking space, and can reverse the vehicle into a perpendicular space. Enhanced Active Park Assist also uses sensors to locate suitable parking spaces.
Cross Traffic Alert with Braking uses radar sensors to monitor the area behind the vehicle. If the driver is backing out and does not react to the initial warning, the system is designed to automatically apply the brakes. The system also can react to motorcycles and bicycles approaching at speeds in excess of 7 km/h (4 mph).
Rear Wide View Camera displays a wide-angle view from the rear of the vehicle on the in-car display, to offer a similar functionality to Ford’s Front Wide View Camera located at the front of the Ford Edge, Galaxy and S-MAX models. When reversing, Rear Wide View Camera enables drivers to see around corners and obstacles, and also to see vehicles, cyclists and pedestrians approaching from behind the vehicle.
Steering out of trouble
Ford also is developing new technology that could help drivers steer around stopped or slower vehicles to help avoid collisions.
Designed to operate at city and highway speeds, Evasive Steering Assist uses radar and a camera to detect slower moving and stationary vehicles ahead and provides steering support to enable drivers to avoid a vehicle if a collision is imminent.
The system is activated if there is insufficient space to avoid a collision by braking only and the driver decides to take evasive action. Evasive Steering Assist builds on existing Forward Collision Warning technology, and Pre-Collision Assist, which reduces the severity of some frontal collisions involving vehicles and pedestrians, or help drivers avoid some impacts altogether.
“As soon as the driver tries to steer around a slower car in an emergency, Evasive Steering Assist activates to help execute the evasive manoeuvre by making it easier to perform quick steering movements,” said Peter Zegelaar, technical expert brake controls, Automated Driving, Ford of Europe.
Cars that brake for cyclists
Ford’s new Cyclist Detection technology uses radar and a camera to detect and identify cyclists in the road ahead and can automatically apply the brakes if a collision is imminent and the driver does not respond to warnings, helping reduce the severity of accidents or avoid them altogether.
The number of cyclists killed or seriously injured in the U.K. has risen by almost 40% during the past five years.5 The rise in accidents corresponds with the growing popularity of cycling – the number of people cycling in London has almost doubled since 2000.6 Worldwide, there are now more than 600 cities with bicycle sharing programs.7
Cyclist Detection builds on Pedestrian Detection, and can adapt to changing situations, such as when multiple cyclists are travelling at different speeds, and adapts the warnings and automatic braking accordingly.
“From commuters to courier services and even the police, more people than ever are taking to two wheels and we want all cyclists to feel safe when riding on the roads,” said Gregor Allexi, development engineer, Driver Assistance Technologies & Active Safety, Ford of Europe. “Drivers should always be conscious of the need to give cyclists space when sharing the roads, but Cyclist Detection technology acts like an extra pair of eyes to help prevent accidents from happening.”
Preventing wrong-way driving
It’s every driver’s worst nightmare and Ford is developing technology that could help stop it from happening − to prevent drivers from entering the motorway from the wrong direction.
Wrong way crashes are more likely to produce serious injuries and fatalities compared with other collisions. In Germany, 3% of fatal accidents on motorways are caused by people driving the wrong way, accounting for around 20 fatalities each year.8
Wrong Way Alert uses a windscreen mounted camera and information from the car’s navigation system to provide drivers with audible and visual warnings when driving through two “No Entry” signs on a motorway ramp. The system – first available for customers in Germany, Austria and Switzerland – builds on Traffic Sign Recognition that uses a forward-facing windscreen‑mounted camera to scan the environment for road signs and alert the driver to their presence. Wrong Way Alert uses the camera and the navigation system to help warn drivers to stop or turn around.
Traffic Jam Assist is a further technology previously announced by Ford, and expected to first arrive for customers within two years. The system assists the driver in keeping the vehicle centred in the lane and brakes and accelerates to keep pace with the vehicle in front.
Longer term, Ford is also developing a Camera-Based Advanced Front Lighting System that widens the headlight beam at junctions and roundabouts after interpreting traffic signs.
Leading the way in driver assist technology
Ford is already a leader in democratising driver assistance technologies; in Europe, Ford has been offering a broad portfolio of features for mass-market customers for many years including:
- Pre-Collision Assist with Pedestrian Detection
- Intelligent Speed Limiter, which when activated scans traffic signs and adjusts the throttle to help drivers stay within legal speed limits and avoid fines
- Glare-Free Highbeam, which uses a windshield-mounted camera to detect the headlights or taillights of bicycles up to 100 metres away, motorcycles up to 400 metres away and cars up to 800 metres away at night, and uses specially developed headlights to block light that could otherwise temporarily blind other drivers and cyclists
- Ford’s Adaptive Front Lighting System, which adjusts the headlight beam angle and intensity to match the driving environment, including a Weather-Dependent Lighting mode that automatically adjusts headlights to help drivers spot roadside hazards in extreme heavy rain
Ford drivers have for some time also benefitted from parking technologies including:
- Perpendicular Parking, which can detect and reverse the car hands-free into spaces alongside other cars in the same way that Active Park Assist helps drivers to parallel park
- Park-Out Assist, which helps drivers exit a parallel parking space, the system operating the steering while the driver operates the accelerator and brake
- Side Parking Aid, which delivers audible alerts and on-screen distance indicators to obstacles around the vehicle
- Cross Traffic Alert, which warns drivers reversing out of a parking space of vehicles that may soon be crossing behind them
- Further driver assistance technologies include Adaptive Cruise Control, Blind Spot Information System, Traffic Sign Recognition, Lane Keeping Alert, Lane Keeping Aid and Driver Alert.
1 Accidentexchange.com. In 2014, 22.78% of accidents recorded by Accident Exchange were car park-related accidents (501,160 from 2.2 million accidents).
2 https://www.osv.ltd.uk/osv-reveal-brits-dread-parking/
6 http://archive.ctc.org.uk/resources/Campaigns/CTC_Safety_in_Numbers.pdf
7 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_bicycle-sharing_systems
8 https://www.adac.de/_mmm/pdf/rv_falschfahrer_sp_0814_83112.pdf
