BlueCruise almost here... are you in or out?

[kwailau]

Just got an email this morning about Ford BlueCruise. It's almost here and I am on the fence about this feature. I'm not a long commuter and don't really see the need for a self driving car. How about you guys?

 

[Kamuelaflyer]

Just got an email this morning about Ford BlueCruise. It's almost here and I am on the fence about this feature. I'm not a long commuter and don't really see the need for a self driving car. How about you guys?

Fall starts September 22 and ends December 21. Just a reminder.

 

[Thevanin]

I'm gonna be giving a shot. Figure I'll buy the 3 year pass or w/e and then re-evaluate.

I doubt I'll use it that much because I don't take too many long trips. I do have a 1k mile trip coming up at the end of the month (NC - PA - NY and back) and it'd be nice to have for that. I won't hold my breath though.

 

[Gullwingdmc]

I can’t wait! I love driving my car, but when I’m on a boring hIghway I can’t wait for it to take over.

 

[Pushrods&Capacitors]

As long as it doesn’t display a propensity for driving full speed into parked emergency vehicles (we see you Tesla) I’d probably give it a try for the novelty factor. But, I will not be “using” it.

 

[ARK]

Interesting how the email pitches the way in which people might use BlueCruise: "Equipped with a series of high‑tech cameras, the BlueCruise hands‑free highway driving experience allows your Ford vehicle to stay centered in your lane while handling stop‑and‑go traffic with confidence and comfort."

Usually the focus with these driver assistance features seems to be long-haul highway cruising. But I think stop-and-go traffic is the safer use because if BlueCruise hits a section where it disconnects, it would be safer at slow speeds because the driver would have a lot more time to react.

Also, at least personally, stop-and-go traffic is the most draining type of driving. I don't mind hours of highway cruising on an open road without traffic nearly as much.

Normal adaptive cruise control already basically takes care of stop-and-go traffic in terms of giving your legs a rest. But add handsfree to that, and I think it may be safe to fiddle around with your phone, coffee, etc., in the car with BlueCruise on at low, stop-and-go speeds.

 

[eltonlin]

T

 

[TRP]

^^^^^^^what he said

 

[Brutakus]

I mean I wouldn't have specifically looked for an MME with comfort/tech package if I didnt want to try out BlueCruise

 

[Pushrods&Capacitors]

Interesting how the email pitches the way in which people might use BlueCruise: "Equipped with a series of high‑tech cameras, the BlueCruise hands‑free highway driving experience allows your Ford vehicle to stay centered in your lane while handling stop‑and‑go traffic with confidence and comfort."

Usually the focus with these driver assistance features seems to be long-haul highway cruising. But I think stop-and-go traffic is the safer use because if BlueCruise hits a section where it disconnects, it would be safer at slow speeds because the driver would have a lot more time to react.

Also, at least personally, stop-and-go traffic is the most draining type of driving. I don't mind hours of highway cruising on an open road without traffic nearly as much.

Normal adaptive cruise control already basically takes care of stop-and-go traffic in terms of giving your legs a rest. But add handsfree to that, and I think it may be safe to fiddle around with your phone, coffee, etc., in the car with BlueCruise on at low, stop-and-go speeds.

Stop and go traffic is a less safe use than open road long distance cruising because of the greater number of external factors present, i.e., other cars, and the reduced reaction time an attentive or non-attentive driver would have to react to a potential situation. Its proximity to other cars rather than just speed. Your comment about having time to fiddle with a phone etc. also illustrates a worry I have: that in stop n go traffic an inattentive driver isn’t going to have time to regain situational awareness in order to avoid a potential collision or road hazard.

My imperfect analogy would be flying. Flying at cruise altitude allows a pilot and f.o. a much greater time to react to whatever problem pops up, whereas in the take off or landing phases reaction time and situational awareness are absolutely critical. Stop and go traffic is the TO and Landing phase.

 

[Plutoman15]

Ford originally said Summer... if they aren't careful, they will make Elon look almost accurate.

 

[HuntingPudel]

I am not in. Two reasons:

1. I don’t yet have an MME.
2. The hardware to support BlueCruise isn’t available in my trim level with a metal roof.

Obviously, #1 trumps all.

 

[JCHLi]

Ford originally said Summer... if they aren't careful, they will make Elon look almost accurate.

Did they say summer for the OTA or summer for BlueCruise? If it's the latter they made it already. If it's the former, yeah, based on the email they seem to think it's going to be a few more weeks..

As far as the initial question. I'm in, still in, patiently waiting, but freaking out when I saw the email subject, not frantically logging in to my Ford account, just patiently waiting.

 

[BMT1071]

I'm in.

 

[SnBGC]

I am out.
Not ready to trust my life to cameras and software.
If I am going to keep my hand on the wheel anyway......then I don't see the benefit of having Blue Cruise.