Motoring with Peter Vosper: Autonomous vehicles to arrive on UK motorways

Ford has become the first automotive manufacturer in Europe to receive regulatory approval for its partial autonomous vehicle software, BlueCruise.

It can now be used in 2023 Ford Mustang Mach E SUVs on approved UK motorways.

BlueCruise is a partial driving automation, hands-free advanced driver assistance system, described by Ford as 'hands-off, eyes-on' technology.

The system monitors road markings, speed signs and evolving traffic conditions to control steering, acceleration, braking and lane positioning. It can also maintain safe and consistent distances to the vehicles ahead, including when cars are coming to a halt in traffic jams.

Using an infrared camera, the driver will be continually checked by BlueCruise for their attentiveness to ensure safety for those in the driverless car as well as other road users. If the system detects driver inattention, warning messages will be displayed on the instrument cluster, followed by audible alerts, brake activations and finally slowing of the vehicle while maintaining steering control.

It will also do this if the driver fails to put their hands back on the steering wheel when leaving a Blue Zone.

“Today marks a significant moment for our industry as Ford BlueCruise becomes the first hands-free driving system of its kind to receive approval for use in Great Britain” said Lisa Brankin, managing director, Ford UK and Ireland.

“We have always strived to make technology accessible for our customers and Blue Cruise is this next step on this journey, making motorway driving a more comfortable experience.”

Blue Cruise has been used by more than 190,000 Ford and Lincoln drivers and their vehicles over 60million miles in the USA and Canada. It was also named a top-rated active driving assistance system in the UK.

For its European launch, Ford engineers undertook 100,000 miles of testing on roads to validate its latest-generation advanced driver assistance systems including BlueCruise and its supporting features.

Validation drives helped prove the software’s ability to handle circumstances drivers encounter every day including worn-out lane markings, poor weather and roadworks, according to the firm.

However, experts in the field of academia and legal are still wary of technologies such as BlueCruise and others that will follow.

Dr Catherine Menon, principal lecturer, department of computer science at the University of Hertfordshire, told Tech Monitor that not enough is being done to educate society about 'the responsibilities when driving a BlueCruise-enabled car'.

“Unfortunately, many media reports describe this as self-driving technology. It would be very easy for someone to buy one of these systems without fully understanding that the driver is still responsible for the entire driving task, and for keeping other road users safe”.

Dr Menon questions whether the technology places an 'unacceptable burden' on the driver by requiring them to monitor the road and traffic without doing the physical driving themselves.

There are also questions about data privacy as Ford says the data may be recorded in 'crash-like' situations which include near misses as well as actual crashes.

There is no doubt this will be the first of many of these devices and I hope to drive a vehicle fitted with BlueCruise and come back to you with details of my experience.