Your hands don't even need to be touching the steering wheel for it to start spinning back and forth aggressively, all by itself -- slowly guiding the car into the parking spot.

Parallel parking is designed to be a breeze with the Intelligent Parking Assist system, part of a new 230,000 yen optional package for Toyota Motor Corp.'s Prius gas-electric hybrid in Japan.

This is a bold and somewhat unnerving concept, a car that parks itself. As a driver, you've got to wonder as the Prius backs toward the curb: What is this machine thinking?