Ford’s BlueCruise assisted-driving technology - Problems?

[NJSS]

Ford have announced its Blue Cruise assisted-driving technology for the UK, taking over acceleration, braking, lane positioning, and steering from the driver.

Quote:​

If the system detects that you are inattentive, warning messages will be displayed in the instrument cluster, followed by audio alerts, and brake activations, before the vehicle finally slows down while maintaining steering control.

This means that in an extreme case the car could come to a halt in the fast lane of a motorway as Blue Cruise does not steer from lane to lane!

I think that BlueCruise should be able to steer safely to the slow lane & cruise to a safe stopping place, and maybe have a means of alerting the authorities using cell 'phone, and other drivers by turning on 4 way flashers, the moment the driver fails to respond.

Sounds like a disaster waiting to happen to me.

 

[StMarks]

Sounds like a disaster waiting to happen to me.

Although, in balance,,,,,
"If the system detects that you are inattentive, warning messages will be displayed in the instrument cluster, followed by audio alerts, and brake activations, before the vehicle finally slows down while maintaining steering control"
,,, suggests to me that if you are asleep or have died that is how it will perform. If you were dead or asleep at the wheel, your car would be no less dangerous without this, would it.?

 

[grober]

The major problem with autonomous vehicles is the legal apportion of blame in the event of any accident- driver error or vehicle malfunction? And on a more practical note how do you MOT such a vehicle?

 

[DrNick]

The major problem with autonomous vehicles is the legal apportion of blame in the event of any accident- driver error or vehicle malfunction? And on a more practical note how do you MOT such a vehicle?

It is still the drivers legal responsibility as it is not fully autonomous.

 

[chic0821]

Don't really see the point of this version. If you have to be attentive to that extent, why not put your hands on the steering wheel & drive it yourself. Don't know how much extra it will cost, not cheap I imagine. You must have to steer it to change lanes or sit in inside lane as, if for example your in the middle lane with nothing in sight you are legally bound to move to the inside lane

 

[GeeJayW]

It is still the drivers legal responsibility as it is not fully autonomous.

Until there have been some high court test cases that decide otherwise, it will always be the ”driver’s” responsibility. No way are the OEMs going to put themselves in the position of liability for accidents out on the road.

On a broader note, in a world of autonomous cars, how does the human patsy even get a ‘driving‘ license or keep their driving skills current and fit for purpose? Drivers have enough difficulty avoiding distractions now. When they literally have nothing to do, how engaged in driving the car will they be? Yet, they will be expected to remain alert throughout and ready to take over at the instant computer says ‘I give up’… It’s a crock.

 

[ChrisEdu]

Remember when Mercedes showed off their automatic braking system to a load of journalists and the car slammed into the back of another? What could possibly go wrong!?

 

[markjay]

As far as I know, Tesla's FSD is the only commercially available solution that actually drives the car autonomously?

Most other marques (including my Hyundai) have basic solutions that simply keep the car in lane, but won't actually steer around traffic, stop at junctions, detect traffic lights etc.

This is what my car has:

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[ALFAitalia]

Even If i knew the system was fool proof and could never fail....im not sure I could ever be brave enough and trust the car enough to actually leave my hands off the wheel when driving....

 

[Tonygw]

Ford have covered their behinds by saying the driver must be poised and ready to take over at any moment and included software, sensors and alarms to alert you if you don't.

Yet most drivers barely pay attention to the road even when driving and holding the wheel, well it feels like they don't in these current times. The amount of lane wanderers, last minute swerves and near misses I see on a daily basis is astonishing.

What they should do is install a massive sharp spike in the center of the steering wheel adjusted to 5mm off the drivers nose. We would all drive safely then
Not semi autonomous driving aids..

 

[Mr E]

There is much spin from different manufacturers as to autonomous driving - and BlueCruise is still classified as SAE level 2, which is the same as the systems in my E400. The difference is in the driver monitoring - mine requires hands on the wheel to indicate that I'm ready to intervene if needed and warns if it doesn't detect hands for 2 minutes, whilst the Ford system uses other monitoring systems (driver facing camera is one) to indicate that the driver is concentrating on the road and not, for example, reading. BlueCruise is also geofenced.

SAE level 2 maintains liability with the driver.

I've not tried keeping my hands off the wheel to see what happens, but I expect it's similar to the Ford - it'd be far safer to bring a vehicle to a gradual and controlled stop in-lane rather than negotiate.

The gap between L2 and L3 is huge - L3 requires systems to be monitoring the driving / vehicle environment fully. Even the Tesla is rated at L2.

I guess I've used a lot of words to say that this is not hugely different to any other manufacturer's L2 offering...

 

[DrNick]

As far as I know, Tesla's FSD is the only commercially available solution that actually drives the car autonomously?

Most other marques (including my Hyundai) have basic solutions that simply keep the car in lane, but won't actually steer around traffic, stop at junctions, detect traffic lights etc.

This is what my car has:

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I had no idea teslas could do obstacle avoidance. I wouldn’t trust mine to do it!
The Volvo, on the other hand, is really good. It only keeps in its lane and doesn’t crash into things in front, but it does these things really well in my view. I’d really miss this feature on motorways and in stop start traffic. It takes the stress out of these types of driving.

 

[HappytalkAgain]

I seem to remember Lennox having this on his new Volvo a few years back?

 

[markjay]

I had no idea teslas could do obstacle avoidance. I wouldn’t trust mine to do it!...

It can, apparently...:

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[clk320x]

I had no idea teslas could do obstacle avoidance. I wouldn’t trust mine to do it!

Assuming you live in the U.K. as per your profile, then yours doesn’t have FSD anyway. Standard Autopilot will brake for an obstacle.

 

[clk320x]

Ford have announced its Blue Cruise assisted-driving technology for the UK, taking over acceleration, braking, lane positioning, and steering from the driver.


This means that in an extreme case the car could come to a halt in the fast lane of a motorway as Blue Cruise does not steer from lane to lane!

I think that BlueCruise should be able to steer safely to the slow lane & cruise to a safe stopping place, and maybe have a means of alerting the authorities using cell 'phone, and other drivers by turning on 4 way flashers, the moment the driver fails to respond.

Sounds like a disaster waiting to happen to me.

There’s no ‘fast lane’ - it’s an overtaking lane - if people understood that then the lane discipline would be half decent.

Secondly the thousands of Teslas driving around you were already doing this - some since late 2014 so if it was ‘a disaster waiting to happen’ the waiting must be at least 9 years…

Technology is very much a friend rather than a foe and makes our life easier… driving with these assistance features is so much more relaxing!

 

[baxlin]

I have enough trouble trusting my car’s intelligent CC - I always want to brake way before it does!

It’s got to be covered, but I wonder, what would the Ford system do in the event of a front tyre blow out at speed?

 

[Bobby Dazzler]

I have enough trouble trusting my car’s intelligent CC - I always want to brake way before it does!

It’s got to be covered, but I wonder, what would the Ford system do in the event of a front tyre blow out at speed?

You should be able to adjust that to maintain a bigger gap, and therefore prompt the car to adjust it’s speed sooner,

 

[markjay]

You should be able to adjust that to maintain a bigger gap, and therefore prompt the car to adjust it’s speed sooner,

There are various parameters that can be adjusted, including how fast it accelerates to reach cruising speed, how it slows down, the gap it keeps, etc.

The way I see it, the car has sensors that react very quickly, while human drivers use predictive behaviours instead : for example, before an exit on the motorway, you'll keep an eye out for cars on your right trying to cut across two lanes to make the exit, that's experience that compensates for the slower response time of humans. The car doesn't need to predict what other drivers might do, because it will react in time to prevent a collision.

 

[HappytalkAgain]

Funny how a few people have commented on systems like this failing and are predicting its first failure and eventual RTA. (Which they will pounce on.)

But what about the 1,000’s of daily crashes on our roads cause by human error?