Google Maps parallel parking upsell

I drive up to LA a fair amount these days. Los Angeles, like any city, is deeply flawed, I love the city. However, I don’t love parallel parking, a large part of city living. Thankfully, most places have a parking structure somewhere within walking distance.

You can’t rely on there always being a parking structure, and as a transplant from North Dakota and Colorado, I had to learn how to parallel park. I’m not the best at it, but I’m far from the worst. Some people never learn.

This got me thinking, what if there was a feature on map applications where someone could help you park your vehicle? I can imagine an upsell when I enter directions to an area that requires parallel parking introducing me to the person who will help coach me on what to do.

In a sense, this is just rebranding valet if they do the driving, so it might be “better” if the person got in your car and explained step by step how you should park so that you can do it yourself in the future.

I’d venture to guess most people wouldn’t let a stranger into their car, much less want help parking it, even though it could be an educational experience. It’d be interesting if they did though.

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