Ford has revealed a self-braking shopping trolley and it’s not even April Fool’s Day…

Ford Europe has designed and built a prototype self-braking shopping trolley to demonstrate how new car technology can be applied to “solve the day-to-day problems we all face”. BMW Australia hyped a similar idea but that was an April Fool’s joke…Ford’s not joking. Apparently.

According to Ford, the self-braking shopping trolley uses the same sort of technology as the brand’s pre-collision assist which relies on a radar and camera to detect vehicles, pedestrians or cyclists with the shopping trolley using a sensor to detect people or objects in its path. The trolley will then apply its brakes if an object is detected in its path and the trolley isn’t being slowed.

“Pre-Collision Assist technology can help our customers avoid accidents or mitigate the effects of being involved in a collision. We thought that showing how similar thinking could be applied to a shopping trolley would be a great way to highlight what can be a really useful technology for drivers,” said Anthony Ireson, director, Marketing Communications, Ford of Europe. 

This self-braking shopping trolley is only a prototype at the moment but, if like me, you let your kids push the shopping trolley it could be a good thing.