Ford Motor Company "hands Free system"

[vanman]

https://www.msn.com/en-gb/cars/news/for ... c810&ei=30

Like the bit where they slow to 7mph on the motorway if the driver fails to respond.

[Strangely Brown]

What could possibly go wrong.

[jont-]

Why are we even allowing this? It flies in the face of all the human factors research that says humans are terrible at monitoring things that /mostly/ don't need their attention I'm not even sure what benefits it offers if you have to pay a meaningful amount of attention. Is keeping your hands on the wheel really so onerous?

Now one interesting question is whether drivers can be prosecuted for using a hand held phone while the system is engaged. I hope they can (because they're still supposed to be in control), which makes it even more pointless. But I can also bet users/owners won't be paying enough attention.

[dvenman]

From the article:

"'Modern highways can be demanding even for the most confident drivers, and intimidating for many. BlueCruise can do some of the "heavy lifting", to make highway driving less of a chore, and give drivers that little extra confidence and convenience."

Can we do something about this in a non-=technical way, do you think . . . ?

[Triquet]

Jolly good stuff, I am sure that the system will handle eroded road markings, invisible road markings on wet roads, road works with ambiguous road markings, potholes, and all the little things that add to the play value of driving.

[Another Bill]

It does seem bizarre, especially if it’s intended to encourage less confident, or dare I say “less capable”, drivers onto the motorways. The system can’t even change lanes without driver input, so it doesn’t seem that well suited to such people in any case.

Thinking more on the inability to change lanes I wonder, will this encourage middle lane hogging?

[dvenman]

Thinking more on the inability to change lanes I wonder, will this encourage middle lane hogging?

"I spent 12 hours on the M25 - the car kept me in lane 2 for 3 consecutive loops..."

I can just see the news report now!

[Horse]

Jolly good stuff, I am sure that the system will handle eroded road markings, invisible road markings on wet roads, road works with ambiguous road markings, potholes, and all the little things that add to the play value of driving.

Almost certainly it can.

Total guess, but it will probably tell the human that they're in charge.

[hir]

Why are we even allowing this? It flies in the face of all the human factors research that says humans are terrible at monitoring things that /mostly/ don't need their attention I'm not even sure what benefits it offers if you have to pay a meaningful amount of attention. Is keeping your hands on the wheel really so onerous?

.

Exactly this!

So, we can take our hands off the wheel, but still must have our eyes on the road ahead; or else the all-seeing, big brother, camera will sound an alarm and apply the brakes. What’s the point? What are we supposed to do with our hands now that they are freed from the constraint of holding the steering wheel? We can’t read the newspaper, we can’t read a book, we can’t send a text message, we can’t play games on our iPad, nor can we look out of the side window and admire the scenery. We can’t even read the instruction manual to find out how to turn the thing off!

It seems to me that this is an utterly pointless feature as far as the punter, sorry I mean valued Ford customer, is concerned. However, as far as Ford is concerned it seems to me that this is yet another example of the car manufacturers using the punters as Guinea pigs in their quest to achieve fully autonomous vehicles.

[jont-]

However, as far as Ford is concerned it seems to me that this is yet another example of the car manufacturers using everyone on the road as Guinea pigs in their quest to achieve fully autonomous vehicles.

/efa, since it's not just the punters in the Ford car who will be affected if it goes wrong.