For many of us, learning how to parallel park was an automotive rite of passage – Dad setting out trash cans next to the curb to simulate other parked cars (bonus points for the metal ones for maximum noise when you bumped one), then showing you how to line up alongside the front car and crank the wheel to guide the family sedan into the spot. Of course, there were a lot of back tires scrubbed against the curb, and many trash cans dented in the process, but once you mastered getting your car into a spot along the curb barely a yard longer than the car itself, you felt like you could do anything.

Well, all the way back in 2003, Toyota set the wheels in motion (pun intended) to make that coming-of-age experience a thing of the past by introducing the first “parking assist” system that took control over the vehicle’s steering to guide it into a preselected spot. Ford introduced their own system in 2009, and Chevrolet has finally joined the club with the 2014 Chevy SS sedan.

No, he’s not being carjacked at gunpoint…

The system works by using sensors to identify and measure both parallel and perpendicular spots, then takes control of the steering while the driver handles the gas, brake, and transmission. It’s a little eerie to watch the wheel spin as the system does its thing, but at least the driver still has authority over the actual movement of the car. Chevy says that the system will allow even novice drivers to park with confidence, though we’d certainly like to see novice drivers behind the wheel of something other than a 415 horsepower SS.

It’s a neat trick and will probably help a lot of drivers ease the frustration of parking curbside, but we are going to hold out for an automated parking system that lets the car park itself like Elwood…