What is park assist?

Park assist tells you how close your car is to any stationary object, thereby making it easier to park in tight spaces without hitting other cars, parking posts, walls.

Park-assist systems use a series of bumper-mounted sensors and primarily employ ultrasonic sound waves, though some use radar or lasers. The sensors relay information to you by sounding a series of beeps or using a visual display on the instrument panel. Many systems use both lights and sounds to help you judge the distance between your car and a stationary object. As you get closer to an object, the beeps become more frequent or the visual display’s lights will go from green to yellow to red depending on how close you are to an object. Once the system has determined your car cannot get any closer without possibly hitting the object, the beeps turn into one long tone and the warning lights flash or turn solid red.

A basic ultrasonic park assist system has three or four sensors mounted across the rear bumper. It’ll use only an audible warning and work only for the rear of the car.  On some mid- to high-priced vehicles, there are sensors in the front and rear bumpers and they may even have sensors on the corners of the bumpers to further help with parallel parking. These visual displays often take the form of a small graphic outline of the vehicle with lighted bars around it to help you judge more precisely the distance between your car and a stationary object. Because park assist can be annoying in certain situations, like in the drive-thru at a fast food restaurant, the system can be turned off, usually by a dashboard button.