Ford announced that it has been given the go-ahead by the government to switch on its “hands-off, eyes-on” BlueCruise Level 2 hands-free advanced driver assistance system for 2,300 miles (3,700 km) of pre-mapped motorways in England, Scotland and Wales, designated as Blue Zones. It is not yet available in Northern Ireland.
The BlueCruise system can be activated to control functions such as steering, acceleration, braking and lane positioning. It is currently only available on the 2023 Ford Mustang Mach-E, a pure electric vehicle.
BlueCruise operates up to a maximum speed of 80mph (130 km/h), using a combination of five 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 and the system also uses an infrared driver-facing camera to check the driver’s eye gaze and head pose (even if wearing sunglasses) to ensure that their attention remains focused on the...