MIT researchers test automatic parallel parking
Any driver knows it can be hard to remain calm behind the wheel. But perhaps high-tech tools can help. A new study by MIT researchers, announced Thursday, suggests that driver-assistance technologies lower the amount of stress people feel when behind the wheel.The study, conducted over nine months by researchers in the MIT AgeLab in collaboration with the Ford Motor Company and the New England University Transportation Center (NEUTC), monitored drivers as they conducted two generally stress-inducing maneuvers: parallel parking, and backing out into cross-traffic in a parking garage. When using vehicles equipped with driver-assistance systems, however, drivers had lower heart rates, lower reported perceptions of stress, and in some cases operated vehicles more prudently, compared to the times when they operated vehicles entirely manually.AgeLab researchers say these kinds of technological interventions are badly needed. “The driver behind the wheel has gotten increasingly stressed over time,” said Joseph Coughlin, the founder...