Ford’s hands-free BlueCruise system was active before fatal Texas crash

THAT is probably the biggest argument against these systems being used in the US. A few weeks ago we were nearly rear ended traveling on the interstate by some idiot that wasn’t paying attention AND we were traveling at speed!

 

The speed limit on that highway might be 80mph. That covers 35.8 meters a second. High beams might shine 122 meters down the road. That gives the driver less than 3.5 seconds to notice this stopped car and react. The ADAS sensors might see farther out, but it is still a short time to react. Either it or the driver could have done so, but braking still requires distance and time to slow down. With the other car being a 1999 compact SUV, the reduced speed could still be fatal.

Another car had just missed the stopped one. Possible it had blocked the view of the stopped car from the Ford. Giving even less warning to it. Then street lamps lighting the road could have given more time to notice it. We have limited facts to make a judgement here.

 

I have a 21 Escape with intelligent cruise control. I have played around with it under various conditions both in town and on the highway. As long as the radar picks up a vehicle, it both alerts and slows the car, many times faster then I can react. In fact, driving down city streets where cars are parked along the road, it will alert when it shouldn’t.

In the listed scenario, they don’t really give specifics about the speed of the Mach-E prior to the crash, but in my experience with the intelligent cruise, my car should react a little quicker with speed adjustments when showing down, as most of the speed adjustments are rather abrupt at first.

 

At the potential speeds on that highway, with the possibility of a preceding car blocking the view of the stopped one, even faster reaction times from the machine may not have been enough.

 

I’ve noticed that mine doesn’t react at times that it should as well. Especially when driving into direct sunlight. If the camera can’t see it, it’s not going to react to it.