I tested Britain’s first ‘hands-free’ self-driving car – so, would YOU feel it was safe to let go of the steering wheel at 75mph?

By William On Jan 9, 2024

Taking your hands off the wheel and your feet off the pedals while driving at 70 mph may sound like a nightmare.

But it’s now a reality for drivers behind the wheel of the Ford Mustang Mach-E.

The car features a system called BlueCruise, the only legal hands-free driving technology in Britain.

But would you feel safe if you let a car take over from you on the highway?

Ford lent MailOnline’s Shivali Best a Mustang Mach-E for the weekend so she could find out.

Taking your hands off the wheel and your feet off the pedals while driving at 70 mph may sound like a nightmare. But it’s now a reality for drivers behind the wheel of the Ford Mustang Mach-E

Hands-free cars are hitting UK roads for the first time after Ford launched its innovative new BlueCruise technology

BlueCruise originally launched in the US and Canada in 2021, but finally came to the UK last year in the Ford Mustang Mach-E 2023 model.

Unlike Tesla’s Autopilot, which requires you to keep your hands on the steering wheel, BlueCruise is the first system that allows you to completely let go of both the steering wheel and the pedals.

The system is designed to do some of the ‘heavy lifting’ on long journeys, said Martin Sander, general manager of Ford Model e, Europe.

“Modern highways can be demanding for even the most confident drivers, and intimidating for many,” he explained.

‘BlueCruise can do some of the “heavy lifting” to make highway driving less difficult and give drivers that little bit of extra confidence and convenience.’

The system uses a combination of radars and cameras to detect and track the position and speed of other vehicles on the road.

A forward-facing camera detects lane markings and speed signs, while an infrared camera sits beneath the instrument panel and tracks the driver’s gaze and head position.

Would you feel safe if you let a car take over from you on the highway? Ford lent MailOnline’s Shivali Best a Mustang Mach-E for the weekend so she could find out

Once the technology is activated and the car is in a ‘BlueZone’ – which now covers 95 percent of the UK’s motorways – you can take your hands off the steering wheel and your feet off the pedals and let the car drive you on your journey

What is BlueCruise and how does it work?

BlueCruise is the UK’s first legal hands-free driving technology.

The system uses a combination of radars and cameras to detect and track the position and speed of other vehicles on the road.

A forward-facing camera detects lane markings and speed signs, while an infrared camera sits beneath the instrument panel and tracks the driver’s gaze and head position.

However, If the car senses that you are not paying attention to the road, it will ask you to take control again.

I borrowed the 2023 Ford Mustang Mach-E for a weekend trip to the South West of England – the perfect opportunity to try BlueCruise.

The system was easy to set up via the car’s built-in tablet, or ‘SYNC screen’, as Ford calls it.

Following the instructions on Ford’s website, I selected Driver Assistance > Cruise Control > and then Lane Centering.

And with that, I was ready to test BlueCruise.

The system continued to lurk until I reached the M3 – a designated ‘Blue Zone’ – and the car confirmed that the lane markings were clearly visible and my eyes were on the road.

At that point, a message appeared on the dashboard stating that BlueCruise was available.

To activate the system, I brought the car up to the desired speed (BlueCruise works up to 80 mph, but I opted for a more sensible speed of 70 mph) and clicked the BlueCruise button on my steering wheel with my left thumb.

Immediately, a blue message saying “Hands Free” appeared on the dashboard, telling it it was safe to let go.

The technology can be activated when the car is in a ‘BlueZone’, which now covers 95 percent of the UK’s motorways

The system was easy to set up via the car’s built-in tablet, or ‘SYNC screen’, as Ford calls it

As you’d expect, letting go of the steering wheel and pedals felt completely counterintuitive the first time.

My hands hovered carefully inches above the steering wheel, while my foot hovered gingerly above the brake, desperate to take back control.

However, my fears were quickly allayed as the car took over with confidence.

If the highway had been completely empty, the car would have continued at my favorite speed of 70 miles per hour.

But this being Britain, the motorway was full, so instead the car took directions from the car in front of me.

When the vehicle in front slowed, the Mustang would also apply the brakes, maintaining a reassuringly long braking distance at all times.

Meanwhile, as traffic eased and the car in front regained speed, the Mustang would also pick up its pace – although it never exceeded my preset limit of 75 mph.

If the highway had been completely empty, the car would have continued at my favorite speed of 70 miles per hour. But this being Britain the motorway was full so instead the car took directions from the car in front of me

The system only worked when I stayed in one lane and automatically returned to manual control when I turned on the turn signals to change lanes.

Plus, if I got nervous and wanted to regain control, I could do so immediately by clicking the BlueCruise button on the steering wheel again.

After testing the system a few times and becoming more confident, it was time to put the eye tracking to the test.

I put the car on BlueCruise, made sure my fiancé, Sam, was looking at the road from the passenger seat next to me, took a deep breath, and turned my head to look out the window to the right.

While I expected to turn my attention away from the road to set off alarm bells almost immediately, this surprisingly wasn’t the case.

It took a few seconds for the car to notice, and at that point it was just a warning message appearing on the dashboard.

Ford assures that further inattention would result in audible warnings, brake activation and car slowdown.

I didn’t push though: five seconds without taking my eyes on the road while driving at 75mph was long enough for me!

Overall, BlueCruise was extremely intuitive to use, and as someone who isn’t the most confident driver, I was surprised at how quickly I felt comfortable giving control of the car.

If you’re a commuter who regularly takes long drives on highways, the system will definitely make your trip less of a chore!

SELF-DRIVING CARS ‘SEEING’ WITH LIDAR, CAMERAS AND RADAR

Self-driving cars often use a combination of normal two-dimensional cameras and depth-sensing ‘LiDAR’ units to recognize the world around them.

However, others use visible light cameras that capture images of the roads and streets.

They are trained with a wealth of information and vast databases of hundreds of thousands of clips that are processed using artificial intelligence to accurately identify people, signals and hazards.

In LiDAR scanning (light detection and ranging) – which Waymo uses – one or more lasers emit short pulses, which bounce back when they hit an obstacle.

These sensors continuously scan the surrounding areas for information and act as the ‘eyes’ of the car.

Although the units provide depth information, their low resolution makes it difficult to detect small, distant objects without the help of a normal camera linked to them in real time.

In November last year, Apple revealed details of its self-driving car system that uses lasers to detect pedestrians and cyclists from a distance.

The Apple researchers said they were able to get “very encouraging results” in spotting pedestrians and cyclists using only LiDAR data.

They also wrote that they were able to beat other approaches to detecting three-dimensional objects that use only LiDAR.

Other self-driving cars typically rely on a combination of cameras, sensors and lasers.

An example is Volvo’s self-driving cars, which rely on about 28 cameras, sensors and lasers.

A network of computers processes information, which together with GPS generates a real-time map of moving and stationary objects in the environment.

Twelve ultrasonic sensors around the car are used to identify objects near the vehicle and support autonomous driving at low speeds.

A wave radar and camera placed on the windshield read traffic signs and the curvature of the road and can detect objects on the road, such as other road users.

Four radars behind the front and rear bumpers also locate objects.

Two long-range radars on the bumper detect fast-moving vehicles approaching from far behind, which is useful on highways.

Four cameras – two on the exterior mirrors, one on the grille and one on the rear bumper – monitor objects in the immediate vicinity of the vehicle and the lane markings.