First hands-free self-driving system approved for British motorways
Drivers will be legally allowed to take their hands off the steering wheel on Britain’s motorways for the first time as long as they watch the road, after the government approved another step on the path to self-driving cars.
The driving-assist feature in Ford’s latest Mustang Mach-E model, which allows the vehicle to steer and accelerate but also monitors the driver’s attention to ensure their eyes are on the road, will be permitted by the Department for Transport in a first for Europe.
The BlueCruise system, an £18-month subscription add-on to the £50k electric car, uses radars and cameras to track road markings and other vehicles, and an infrared camera in the car to ensure the driver’s eyes remain on the road ahead.
It will be usable on a geofenced area of 2,300 miles of motorway in England, Scotland and Wales.
Ford said the technology, which is already in use in the US and similar to Tesla’s “self-driving” features, is the first time level 2 autonomy will be available for general use on UK roads outside trials. Level 2 is defined at partial automation – the next step towards level 5, or full self-driving vehicles, on the car industry’s internationally recognised autonomy scale.
Under BlueCruise, the car can automatically brake, accelerate and reposition in a lane but will sound a warning and slow down if it detects the driver is not paying attention to the road, or if it leaves the motorway.
However, it remains a driver-assist feature, similar to many others in use such as lane-keeping and cruise control, and Ford warned it does not replace the driver’s attention, judgment and need to control the vehicle.
Britain has been vying to lead the field in autonomous driving by reforming regulations and the transport minister
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