PABALLO THEKISO

MY FRIENDS call it a spaceship and I call it a private jet on wheels. It massages me while I drive and my passenger gets the same comfort plus a recliner seat with a lazy boy feature to elevate their legs.

It is so friendly and interactive that it offers to communicate with me using my preferred language.

I’m talking about the new Citroën C4 Picasso.

I’ve always heard people talk about cars that can park themselves and, to be honest, I had doubts until I got a chance to test-drive this car with a technological mind.

Let me explain to you how it works, in case you have a car with this function but are scared to try it.

You first select the park assist mode, then select whether you need to parallel-park or anglepark, then the side which you want the car to park by using the indicator. Then you drive forward between the other cars while it measures the open parking space. Once it has detected the space, it will automatically steer the car into that space.

All I had to do was to shift gear, accelerate and brake.

As fascinating and amazing as it is, it is scary to watch.

And if like me, you come from a community that believes in witchcraft, seeing the car do this can make those watching assume that you have some extra powers.

The amazing thing for me is not that the Picasso parks itself but the accuracy with which it does it.

My wife and many of her friends – who have all been driving for longer than five years and still struggle with tricky parking spaces – will find this feature an answer to their nightmare.