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Ford has become the first carmaker in Europe to get the green light for drivers to use a “hands-off, eyes-on” advanced driver assistance system (ADAS).
Drivers of enabled Mustang Mach-E vehicles built from 2023Mach-E bluecruise can now use Bluecruise on over 20,000 miles of motorway – or ‘Blue Zones’ in Great BritainGB only & Germany only.
So, we invited some lucky UK drivers to get behind the wheel, hands-free, for the very first time. See how they reacted:
BlueCruise technology takes Driver Assistance Systems to the next level. It monitors road markings, speed signs and traffic conditions, and controls steering, acceleration and braking, while smoothly maintaining consistent distances to vehicles ahead.
The system can even adjust lane positioning to make the hands-free experience feel more natural by subtly shifting away from vehicles in adjacent lanes – something drivers tend to do intuitively when alongside larger trucks.
Using the sat-nav system, the technology can tell when a driver is on a stretch of over 20,000 miles of Blue Zone motorways across Great Britain & Germany. It works at a maximum speed of 80 mph and right down to a complete halt in traffic jams – helping free-flowing or stop-start traffic easier to negotiate.
Crucially, the system also uses infrared camera technology to carefully monitor the driver’s gaze and head position. The sophisticated camera can even see through sunglasses to check that driver attention is focused on the road ahead.
If the system detects inattention, warning messages are displayed in the instrument cluster, followed by audible alerts, brake activations, and finally slowing of the vehicle while maintaining steering control. Similar actions are performed if the driver fails to place their hands back on the steering wheel when prompted when leaving a Blue Zone.
“There’s a good reason why Ford BlueCruise is the first hands-free driving system of its kind to be cleared for use in a European country: We’ve proven that it can support the driver while still requiring that they keep their eyes on the road for their safety and that of their passengers."
Torsten Wey, chief engineer,
Advanced Driver Assistance Systems, Ford Europe
The first 90 days of BlueCruise are included with the vehicle purchaseFord BlueCruise subscription, after which, it’s only £17.99 per month. That means drivers can enable it around anticipated vehicle use – like holidays and road trips.
The system was validated during more than 100,000 miles of ADAS testing globally to make sure it can handle conditions drivers encounter every day – like worn-out lane markings, poor weather and roadworks. In the US and Canada, where over 100 million hands-free miles have already been driven in 193,000 BlueCruise-equipped Ford and Lincoln vehicles, the tech was recently named the Consumer Reports Top Rated Active Driving Assistance System, ahead of 11 other systems in the market.
Whether we realise it or not, the recent home delivery boom has made commercial vehicles more important than ever to our everyday lives. In 2021, we kept Europe’s businesses moving – and customers happy – with hard-working vehicles and services, putting us on top of Europe’s sales charts for Commercial Vehicles for the seventh year in a row. .
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