IF you are one of those people who just can't park a car fear not - help is at hand. Or at least it will be by 2007 thanks to the brilliant boffins at Bosch. By then you will be able to buy a car that can look at a possible parking space, assess whether there is enough room to get into it and if there is will park itself perfectly - without you having to touch the steering wheel. The technology exists today. I know - I've just tried it out. At Bosch's top secret testing centre, in Boxberg, Germany, this week I was the only journalist allowed to try it out the system fitted on a Volkswagen Touran - and it really is mind-blowing. There are still some aspects to sort out but Dr Rainer Kallenbach, the executive vice president of the automotive electronic division of Bosch said these would be perfected within the next two years. And car makers are lining up to buy the system to offer on their vehicles. The parking system works using ultrasonic sensors similar to the ones already fitted on some cars to warn you when you are getting too close to a vehicle behind while parking. But on the Bosch system the range of the ultrasonics has been extended from the normal 2.5 metres to 3.5 metres and the sensors are on the side of the car. Driving the Touran fitted with Park Steering Control I parked perfectly in a small gap left between two cars with my hands completely off the steering wheel. After switching on the system I drove slowly past a potential parking space and then stopped the car. During the drive-past the ultrasonic system measured the gap automatically. An on-board micro computer then told me the space was large enough and started to calculate the steering manoeuvres it would need. Next it told me to engage reverse gear and edge backwards slowly without touching the steering wheel. As I did so the wheel spun round and the rear of the car nipped neatly into the parking gap and I applied the brakes when the warning system told me we were getting close to the vehicle behind. Having stopped the car then told me to engage first gear and again keep my hands off the steering wheel. As I moved forward the steering wheel turned as if an invisible pair of hands was controlling it until I was parked perfectly parallel to the gutter and equidistant between the car in front and the one behind. At the risk of being sexest I know at least half a dozen women who would kill to have such a system on their cars now. Given the developing technology I asked Dr Kallenbach why Bosch didn't design the system to be totally automatic so it controlled the accelerator and braking as well. "We don't think it's a good idea for the car to be in total control" he told me. "While the vehicle is carrying out the manoeuvre the driver needs to be alert and in control of the speed and the stopping of the car just in case, for example, a child ran out in front or behind. "The system is designed to help the driver park but not to do it for him or her totally, by taking full control. "There are a lot of people who find parking very difficult but this system will soon be available to take away their worries." And what about the price? Well Bosch say it depends on what the individual car manufacturer decides to charge. But the guess is that it would be about twice the cost of the current parking warning systems fitted to cars, which would mean something around £550-£600. A figure a lot of people would be willing pay to take away what they find is one of the most stressful parts of driving. | 
