Ready or Not, Here Come the Self-Parking Cars

Long haul trucks have been leading the way on the road to self-driving because navigating long stretches of highway turns out to be easier to teach machines to do than dealing with local traffic. Still, autonomous continues to improve in leaps and bounds, as a recent collaboration between German companies Bosch and Daimler shows.

The automotive supplier and the car manufacturer are developing a self-parking garage, with autonomous vehicles that can navigate themselves into the perfect spot. The companies say they have received the necessary regulatory approval to open the garage in Germany soon, Wired reports.

“Driverless driving and parking are important building blocks for tomorrow’s mobility,” Bosch board member Markus Heyn said in a press release announcing the approval. The automated parking system shows just how far we have already progressed along this development path.”

The companies already offer a version of the self-parking experience at the Mercedes-Benz Museum in Stuttgart. But the self-driving vehicles there have long featured an on-board safety driver, just in case things go haywire.

“As a pioneer in automated driving, our project paves the way for automated valet parking to go into mass production in the future,” Michael Hafner, the head of drive technologies and automated driving at Daimler AG, said as part of the announcement.

Legal Protections for Car Owners in California

Self-driving (and, now, parking) technology is promising to change the way that people commute, get around town and travel. Yet, while automakers continue to pour money into autonomous vehicles, plenty of them are still having trouble putting completely safe human-operated cars on the road.

Car companies recall hundreds of thousands of vehicles over concerns about defects every year. Often, they don’t event become aware of the hazards until drivers experience problems and complain.

That’s where the California lemon law comes in. The state’s Song-Beverly Consumer Warranty Act requires car manufacturers to make certain repairs on vehicles while they are under warranty. If the manufacturer refuses or is unable to properly fix the problem, it has to buy the car back. The manufacturer is obligated to compensate the owner for the purchase price, financing costs and related expenses. It can offer instead to replace the vehicle, but it is ultimately up to the owner to decide whether to accept such a deal.

The law also forces the manufacturer to pick up any of your legal costs related to enforcing these rights.

How a California Lemon Law Attorney Can Help You

The California Lemon Law attorneys at the Bickel Law Firm have represented hundreds of clients in defective vehicle cases across the state. We take the stress off of the people that we represent by working aggressively to get you the compensation you deserve. Our firm does not charge upfront fees in most cases.

Our offices are conveniently located in San Diego, Los Angeles and San Francisco. Call us at (888) 800-1983 or contact us online to speak with a California lemon law attorney.