Ford's hands-free option attracts seniors at show

BY JOE ROSSITERFREE PRESS STAFF WRITER

Look, ma, no hands.
A new hands-free option on display at the Ford exhibit of the North American International Auto Show is turning some heads, while unintentionally stoking the age-old debate about who drives better -- men or women.

Called Active Park Assist, the option is available on some 2010 Ford, Lincoln and Mercury models and makes the sometimes stressful and frustrating task of parallel parking as simple as pressing a button, without ever touching the steering wheel.

The consensus among those who watched a test demonstration Tuesday is that women love it for its practicality, while men seem to prefer it for the safety feature -- if their wives are driving, that is.

"I think it's fascinating," said Toni Boyd, 77, of Livonia, who admitted to being a little nervous when it comes to parallel parking. "I can't do it unless I have about three spaces to navigate, so this is something that would definitely prove useful as far as I'm concerned."

Although he claimed to have no problems whatsoever with parallel parking, her husband, Wayne Boyd, 79, did say he found the option useful. "Because we're older, our eyesight and depth perception sometimes becomes a problem. I think it would be great for seniors."

Available on the 2010 Ford Escape and Flex, Lincoln MKS and MKT and Mercury Mariner, it uses an ultrasonic sensor system and Electric Power Steering to position the vehicle for parallel parking, calculating the optimal steering angle and quickly steering the vehicle into a parking spot. The driver merely controls the brakes and shifting of gears.

The cost for the option on Escapes and Mariners is around $395, while prices on the other models are several hundred dollars higher, a Ford spokesman said.

"I never knew they had such a thing," said Kay Frank, 73, who, along with her husband, Bob, was visiting the auto show from Rochester, N.Y