Parking sensors top the driver assist wish list

New research has found that front and rear parking sensors are the driver assist features that most new car buyers really want on their vehicle, followed by tyre pressure warning systems and automatic headlight sensors.

GoCompare Car Insurance commissioned a survey of around 2,000 motorists and found that 65% of drivers would be willing to pay extra for parking sensors:

Other features which didn’t quite make it into the top ten wish list included in-car wi-fi hotspots and hands-free text reading.

“Despite the availability of potentially more exciting driver aids, parking is the issue that drivers want technological help with,” GoCompare Car Insurance’s Matt Oliver said.“According to Driver & Vehicle Standard Agency data, reverse parking is one of the main reasons people fail their driving test, so it’s perhaps unsurprising that technology which makes reverse and parallel parking easier is so popular with drivers.

“In recent years the size of cars has grown considerably while the average size of parking spaces hasn’t changed – making parking even more of a challenge.

“As far as insurance is concerned, we aren’t yet seeing a reduction in premiums for driver assist technology. It’s still relatively early days and insurers need to build up a body of data on how effective the new technologies are in reducing accidents and claims’ costs before they are able to decide on whether they warrant a discount.”