Parking assistance system

A parking assistance system for a motor vehicle comprising:

• a monitoring unit configured to detect an object in a zone surrounding the motor vehicle and to sense a bearing of the detected object;
• and
• a lighting system operably coupled to the monitoring unit and configured to emit light in an area surrounding the motor vehicle;
• wherein the monitoring unit controls a distribution of the emitted light as a function of the sensed bearing,
• wherein the monitoring unit is further configured to determine when the detected object is on a left-side of the vehicle or on a right-side of the vehicle, and to produce a first distribution of emitted light when no object is detected, a second distribution of emitted light when the detected object is on the left-side of the motor vehicle and a third distribution of emitted light when the detected object is on the right-side of the motor vehicle,
• wherein the lighting system comprises a first light located on the left-side of the motor vehicle and a second lights located on the right-side of the motor vehicle opposite the first light, the first and second lights being operable in a first operating state and a second operating state different from the first operating state;
• and wherein the monitoring unit is further configured to operate the first and second lights in the first operating state for producing the first distribution, to operate the first light in the first operating state and the second light in the second operating state for producing the second distribution, and to operate the first light in the second operating state and the second light in the first operating state for producing the second distribution,
• wherein the monitoring unit is further configured to sense the distance of the detected object from the vehicle and to control a light property of the lighting system in the second operating state as a function of the sensed distance, and
• wherein the controlled light property comprises an opening angle defined between a light boundary and a dark boundary of the light emitted by the first and second lights in the second operating state.