I’m convinced that automated driving on a larger vehicle like the Ford Lightning truck is more helpful than smaller sports sedans. Driverless car features started with smaller sedans from Audi, Mercedes-Benz and BMW years ago but they are a major bonus when you are driving a yacht like the Lightning, one that can also haul a few pieces of plywood in the bed.
And that’s exactly what I did on a sunny day in April. After loading up the bed with some supplies, I drove on a long stretch of highway and experimented with Ford BlueCruise, which allows you to go completely hands-free. In the early days of automated driving, hands-free was much more limited. You had to keep at least a finger on the wheel to let the car know you were still there and still paying attention. And, the land-keeping only worked for a while before you’d see alerts that told you to take back control.
Those days are long gone, if you have seen the commercials from both Ford and GM showing people clapping while they let the vehicle do the driving. BlueCruise shows up as a blue icon on the left of the steering wheel and allows you to rest your hands and arms.
Does a Ford Lightning drive better than a human? I would say the jury is still deliberating on that one, but in my experience, the truck stayed nice and centered in the lane and I felt like I was expending less effort. In fact, I could stay more vigilant on the road without having to actually drive or bother with holding the steering wheel.
The vehicle maintains speed and keeps you in the lane, constantly monitoring for cars approaching, coming into your lane, or slowing down in front of you. Automated driving can scan in all directions at once and never gets tired. What we don’t know quite yet is whether every driver is comfortable with this scenario. We’re in a bit of a gray area right now where it seems some drivers might think automated driving is too risky, but I felt it enhanced security.
In one case, another pick-up truck came into my lane a bit too quickly and BlueCruise responded not with a jolt or surprise — which is what you might expect from a human driver. Instead, the vehicle simply slowed itself down without my intervention. In many ways, that’s what we want — reaction without overreaction. As someone who has to drive into a major downtown area quite frequently for meetings, I can tell you that overreaction is one of the major causes of accidents — slamming on the brakes too quickly.
I’ve been testing automated driving since it debuted quite a few years ago, and I’ve never seen the tech overreact. I like that this safety protocol tends to be measured, assured, and predictable. I don’t know anyone who drives that way on every drive, all day.
For me, the tech helped even more with plywood in the back. I had enough to worry about. I was able to glance out the back and see if anything was moving around, and let the truck handle the steering for me. I liked how easy it is to disable the feature as well — just step on the brakes. BlueCruise worked exactly how I would design it myself — like a well-reasoned protocol that is meant to help you get from the home improvement store to your driveway.
