Well, this is a new one. A Florida man is blaming a faulty parking-assist system in his BMW for a crash that sent the luxury sedan over a parking lot divider and onto another car, but BMW says that particular model isn’t equipped with any such feature.
Jonathon Libratore, 27, claims he was parking his 2013 BMW in the Target parking lot in Stuart, Florida, when the vehicle’s parking-assist system malfunctioned, sending the car zooming forward. The BMW jumped a divider and landed on an unsuspecting Nissan Sentra, but luckily Libratore and his infant son, who was also in the car, emerged uninjured.
There is just one problem with Libratore’s story, however. BMW says his car is not equipped with its parking-assist system.
“The car involved in this incident is not equipped with the optional BMW Park Assist feature which could not, therefore, have played a role,” BMW North America spokesman Dave Buchko told ABC News in an emailed statement.
Moreover, Buchko explains that even if Libraotre’s car did have BMW Park Assist, there is no way it could have caused his car to accelerate as the system only has control over the vehicle’s steering system.
“BMW Park Assist prompts the driver to engage the appropriate gear-either forward or reverse and requires the driver to control the speed of the car using the brake and accelerator pedals. The system does not have the ability to accelerate the car,” Buchko said.
Authorities are still investigating the accident.