Technology can be more trouble than it’s worth. Sometimes, I want to have an open conversation with automotive engineers and tell them I know how to drive, I got this, you don’t need to add so many bells and whistles to keep me on the road.
Then I hear an actual bell and whistle, usually when I drift slightly out of the lane because I’m lost in thought trying to figure out the plot twists in the latest season of Dark Matter. Oh dang, those engineers actually know me and how I can make mistakes on occasion.
That’s why I decided to try BlueCruise on the Ford Expedition Tremor recently, not because I am a poor driver but because the world is a crazy place. I drove all the way up to Brainerd, Minnesota and then over to Nisswa and Crosby nearby. These small towns aren’t exactly traffic meccas, so it was a good place to do a real, legit test of hands-free driving.
I don’t use the term “hands free” lightly, and neither do Ford reps. On a long stretch of highway, I enabled the feature — it’s actually really easy because the button is on the lower right of the interface on the steering wheel, even though the actual button appears on the dash screen. I have learned to like the new interface that forces you to look up at the screen instead of looking down at the steering wheel as often. I’m sure the idea is that the “no look” buttons are meant to be a little obscure so you have to look at the dash and keep your eye on the road.
No matter what was intended, that’s the reality for me anyway — and I found it easy to use most of the functions once I realized how the steering wheel pad works. Cruising at 75 miles per hour, I found BlueCruise to be amazingly accurate, adjusting the vehicle (which is about the size of a yacht) in the lane. For long stretches of about 30 miles, I was able to drive without putting my hands on the steering wheel. Sections of the highway did require that I hold the steering wheel, even if technically the system was still keeping me centered in the lane.
Also, BlueCruise can change lanes. When you drive 400 miles you learn things like that. You just flick the turn signal and BlueCruise waits for an opening and moves you over safely and confidently, as opposed to the way I have seen some human drivers do that.
I did notice one minor flaw. When a vehicle in the lane next to me started drifting over, the Expedition didn’t seem to notice and stayed in my lane without moving over a little. That might actually be a design decision for safety. Staying in your lane is smart because the minute you start swerving around it can cause all kinds of panic and stress.
Whether intended or not, I would prefer that my vehicle at least nudge over a little or even slow down to avoid the other car, which in my case barely crossed the markers and, after a second, the driver realized the error and adjusted. Maybe if he had been using BlueCruise we’d all be safer, but my solution was to grab the wheel and slide over slightly.
Autonomous driving, oh man. I thought we’d all be playing chess while we drive by now, but that’s not quite the way it is. We’re stuck with Martha Stewart demoing a Google van. I’m sure BlueCruise will continue to improve and we’ll get there eventually. Hopefully the guy who swerved into my lane is one of the first to sign up for the bot takeover.