MotorTorque Tumbles

Ford has promoted its parking assist technology by inviting Ann Widdecombe to parallel park an all-new Ford Focus in a street in London.

The former MP, who gained fame/notoriety for her appearances on last year’s edition of the BBC dance contest Strictly Come Dancing, was challenged to put her reverse parking skills to use in front of a panel of judges who scored her performance.

Widdecombe also tried out the Ford Active Park Assist on the Focus, which controls the steering of the car when entering a parallel parking space, the accelerator and brake are left for the driver to concentrate on.

The Active Park Assist uses 10 ultrasonic sensors mounted on the side of the vehicle and on the front and rear bumpers, to scan areas suitable for parking.

Using these sensors to calculate positioning, and the car’s power steering to turn the car, the system should park the car suitably, mastering a technique which many drivers struggle with.

The Active Park Assist is available on the new Ford Focus model along with the Ford C-Max and Grand C-Max. Widdecombe has described the gadget as ‘any woman’s parking dream’.

Ford UK has published a video of the event on its official YouTube account.