Jim Farley testing BlueCruise 1.4 in Lighting

[Mach1E]

Why? Safety.

BC is driver ASSISTANCE not self driving. You are still responsible for driving the vehicle.

Having your hands off of the steering wheel in a more unpredictable area causes higher reaction times when there are situations that require manual input.

A divided highway by contrast is a much more controlled environment (no traffic lights, no pedestrians, no cross traffic, it's all one way traffic in typically wider lanes than surface streets).

Fine, then make it work on all divided highways.

In reality the only difference between lane keep and hands free is the use of the eye nanny vs the hand nanny. The car is doing the same stuff.

Other manufacturers don’t seem to have this same safety concern. It’s likely another example of Ford being a little too conservative.

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[Jimrpa]

Fine, then make it work on all divided highways.

In reality the only difference between lane keep and hands free is the use of the eye nanny vs the hand nanny. The car is doing the same stuff.

Other manufacturers don’t seem to have this same safety concern. It’s likely another example of Ford being a little too conservative.

Again, safety. You know how when you cross the border into most states, you’ll see a sign like “Welcome to Ohio, the buckeye state”, or “welcome to Delaware, home of tax-free shopping”? Well, here our signs read “Welcome to Pennsyltucky. Road construction next 300 miles”. Part of the reason it’s not “all” divided highways is because conditions change and ford may not feel some roads that were previously “safe” for BCHF are still “safe”. For example, I’ve encountered divided, limited access highways in MD that have TRAFFIC LIGHTS! BlueCruise HandsFree has no clue what a traffic light is, but the driver, who is paying attention to the road, likely does.

 

[ChasingCoral]

And the SYNC screen is still sporting a clip art house to open the app tray.

Videos and pictures of the new 2024 Black Out Lightning special edition indicate new screen graphics may be coming. Please make it so!

 

[kodiakng]

Fine, then make it work on all divided highways.

generally, i agree the bluemap needs significant expansion but understand why ford wants to geofence them.

i'd be very interested in what criteria they use to select which highway sections to map. admittedly they have 80+% of the US population covered since they've focused on the population centers and interstate system for mapping up to now. however, the 2 mile section through my town that is mapped is just bizarre - there is nothing special about that section and the divided highway starts 20 mi north and continues 20 mi south to the second section of mapped roadway.

 

[Mach1E]

Again, safety. You know how when you cross the border into most states, you’ll see a sign like “Welcome to Ohio, the buckeye state”, or “welcome to Delaware, home of tax-free shopping”? Well, here our signs read “Welcome to Pennsyltucky. Road construction next 300 miles”. Part of the reason it’s not “all” divided highways is because conditions change and ford may not feel some roads that were previously “safe” for BCHF are still “safe”. For example, I’ve encountered divided, limited access highways in MD that have TRAFFIC LIGHTS! BlueCruise HandsFree has no clue what a traffic light is, but the driver, who is paying attention to the road, likely does.

If the car can read the lines……. It should be safe.

Construction happens on BC highways as well.

I honestly don’t understand what’s so special about the BC mapped roads. As far as I can tell, the mapping has zero effect on how your car drives and steers on those roads. The cameras and sensors do all the work.

 

[blkadr08]

Interesting interview with Jim Farley.
In this clip, he explains he tested BlueCruise 1.3 and 1.4

Much of my decision as to whether to remain in the MME family next year will depend on the state of the BC art, and I’ll bet I’m not alone.

It is starting to appear that Ford is realizing this also.

 

[Mirak]

If the car can read the lines……. It should be safe.

Construction happens on BC highways as well.

I honestly don’t understand what’s so special about the BC mapped roads. As far as I can tell, the mapping has zero effect on how your car drives and steers on those roads. The cameras and sensors do all the work.

I mean, I think the mapped roads are limited to divided highways. Because from a liability standpoint Ford is not ready to expand a hands-free tech to roads where even a slight crossing the centerline could result in a head-on collision.

I’ve heard there are still divided highways that are not included in the geofence, but can anyone point me to the opposite - non-divided roads that are?

 

[Jimrpa]

If the car can read the lines……. It should be safe.

Construction happens on BC highways as well.

I honestly don’t understand what’s so special about the BC mapped roads. As far as I can tell, the mapping has zero effect on how your car drives and steers on those roads. The cameras and sensors do all the work.

No, “reading the lines” <> “safe”. If that were true, Tesla would have stopped careening wildly across the streets of San Francisco and California years ago.

Here’s one thing that’s “special” about BlueCruise-mapped roads: you’ve successfully disabled the eye tracking (or are using a weight to simulate a hand on the wheel) in your Mustang Mach E. While you’re watching Real Housewives of El Dorado, Arkansas and driving on Route 1 through Kennett Square, PA, your Mustang Mach E collides with me. I, of course, turn around and immediately sue Ford Motor Company (assuming they have deeper pockets than you). Ford take one look at where the accident happened and ask the judge to throw out the lawsuit because the vehicle operator (you) were trying to bypass Ford’s safety systems and operate the vehicle on a road that Ford had not certified for hands-free operation.
Now I’m stuck recovering whatever pittance I can from you

 

[Jimrpa]

Much of my decision as to whether to remain in the MME family next year will depend on the state of the BC art, and I’ll bet I’m not alone.

It is starting to appear that Ford is realizing this also.

BlueCruise is a driver ASSISTANCE technology. Nobody makes a consumer car that will drive on any public road in any of the 50 states (and 4 territories) of the United States without human supervision. NOBODY.
You are not going to see general purpose “autonomous” vehicles for several years (I don’t care WHAT Elon claims).

 

[kindofblue]

Our i4 has adaptive cruise control and does a decent job of lane centering and switching lanes (assuming nothing is in the blind spot monitor). It's a slick trick but nowhere near as useful as the adaptive cruise control. That combination is enough for me for "assisted" driving. We've had the MME for 9 months now and I still keep my hands on the wheel (or one at least) even when BC is active. Yes that's old school. It's also safer IMHO.

 

[Billyk24]

BlueCruise is a driver ASSISTANCE technology. Nobody makes a consumer car that will drive on any public road in any of the 50 states (and 4 territories) of the United States without human supervision. NOBODY.
You are not going to see general purpose “autonomous” vehicles for several years (I don’t care WHAT Elon claims).

Tesla's own legal team admitted to the Cal. DOT they only have level 2 capability.

 

[Mach1E]

No, “reading the lines” <> “safe”. If that were true, Tesla would have stopped careening wildly across the streets of San Francisco and California years ago.

Here’s one thing that’s “special” about BlueCruise-mapped roads: you’ve successfully disabled the eye tracking (or are using a weight to simulate a hand on the wheel) in your Mustang Mach E. While you’re watching Real Housewives of El Dorado, Arkansas and driving on Route 1 through Kennett Square, PA, your Mustang Mach E collides with me. I, of course, turn around and immediately sue Ford Motor Company (assuming they have deeper pockets than you). Ford take one look at where the accident happened and ask the judge to throw out the lawsuit because the vehicle operator (you) were trying to bypass Ford’s safety systems and operate the vehicle on a road that Ford had not certified for hands-free operation.
Now I’m stuck recovering whatever pittance I can from you

I dunno, I don’t think mapping BC roads has anything to do with lawsuits involving tricking the eye Nannies.

Either way, I still stand by my statement- I want BC to be available everywhere. Of course I want that to be safe too. Add it to the wishlist.

Why do I want that? The closest BC road is currently 45 min away from my house. Not super useful. Even if they limited it to divided highways, I have tons of those near me and none are BC mapped.

But I’ll go back to my original “questioning the safety” argument- I can use hands on BC anywhere there are lines. And the safety of that should be identical to the safety of the hands free BC.

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