Technology is helping to make our driving experience safer, easier, and more pleasurable. A great example of that in action would be Ford’s BlueCruise hands-free technology.
This technology allows you to take full advantage of the hundreds of thousands of miles of hands-free Blue Zones stretching across vast swathes of America and beyond. When you start to appreciate what the Ford BlueCruise system offers, it is hardly surprising to learn that it continues to be one of the top-ranked active driving assistance systems available.
If you head down to an authorized dealer such as Northside Ford San Antonio, you will be able to check out the models that have this highly advanced driving system integrated into its specification.
Let’s take a look at some key points about this innovative and highly-regarded hands-free technology.
How BlueCruise works
A good place to start would be to have an understanding of what Ford’s BlueCruise hands-free technology is and what it offers in terms of an advanced and enhanced driving experience
It all starts when you enter one of the many designated prequalified sections of a divided highway, known as a Blue Zone. Your dashboard will alert you that BlueCruise is available and ready to assist you, if required.
All you have to do in response is simply tap the adaptive cruise control button located on your steering wheel and let BlueCruise offer its assistance, while you maintain your gaze on the road ahead.
Once you confirm that you want BlueCruise to assist, you will feel the system helping to handle your steering. It will also ensure that you stay centered in your lane, and even adjust your speed to match your driving conditions. All of this is done without you needing to touch the steering wheel.
A key point about this technology is that it is designed to give you ultimate control, whenever you want it. That means you can quickly and easily cancel the assisted driving options offered by BlueCruise and return to manual driving, at the flick of a switch.
Helping you maintain a safe distance and space from other cars
The days of worrying about tailgating or making split-second decisions about which lane to be in, are behind you with BlueCruise technology.
It is very reassuring to feel that such advanced technology is on your side and that it is helping to keep you as safe as possible on the road. When you have BlueCruise engaged, you have the ability to switch lanes with the help of the technology.
You also have the option of enjoying extra room with the help of In-Lane Repositioning. This works by efficiently and subtly moving your vehicle away from cars in adjacent lanes. Basically, you let the technology do all the hard work of steering a safe and true course, whilst also maintaining a set distance from other vehicles at the same time.
A great safety feature makes sure you keep your eyes on the road
Although the technology has been fully tried and tested, the system also has some excellent fail-safe features that are designed to maximize your driving safety while using the BlueCruise option.
It achieves this aim with the help of a driver-facing camera. The purpose of this in-car camera is to constantly track your eye gaze and monitor your head position. It does this to confirm that you are keeping your eyes on the road at all times, so that you are ready to take hold of the wheel again at a moment’s notice.
The driver facing camera is another prime example of why BlueCruise is so highly regarded and rated. Although you are having some of your driving tasks performed for you with the help of this technology, you still have ultimate responsibility and control of the vehicle.
The driver-facing camera has been specifically designed to give you greater freedom while retaining ultimate control of your vehicle.
A complete overview of your surroundings
What you also get with BlueCruise technology is an advanced camera and monitoring system that provides you with 360 degree perception. Your Ford model will benefit from a wide range of external sensors that are all designed to work together to provide a complete overview of your immediate surroundings.
These sensors, and the information they convey to the computer system used by BlueCruise technology, will help detect the environment around you in real-time so that you can keep your vehicle centered and maintain a set distance from other cars.
There is no doubt that having this 360 degree perception and the acute situational awareness it provides, will instill a greater level of security and self-assurance when you are driving your Ford in hands-free mode.
Taking navigation and mapping to new levels
We have all become accustomed to using satellite navigation to help guide us to our destination, but BlueCruise technology takes things to a whole new level.
What you get as part of the Ford BlueCruise offering is access to connected maps. This is a smart mapping software that uses geolocation data to confirm your current location and alert you when you enter a hands-free Blue Zone. When it determines that you are in a designated hands-free location you will be offered the opportunity to activate BlueCruise and take your hands off the wheel.
Connected maps is a very smart system that means you will always be able to take advantage of BlueCruise technology as soon as you enter a Blue Zone area.
If you are buying a used Ford that has BlueCruise, it can help to know which version of the technology is fitted in the vehicle. The original BlueCruise version 1.0 does everything you would want and expect from the technology. As it evolves, the features are more enhanced and offer a bit more hands-free time. We are now at version 1.4, and this offers even better in-lane stability and a more continuous drive.
Whichever version you take advantage of, you are sure to be impressed by what BlueCruise delivers. It is game-changing technology that is capable of transforming your driving experience.
