Blue cruise/ACC is, like, really dangerous? Or am I doing something wrong?

[Buckthetruck]

I just bought a shiny 23 platinum powerboost. Have 250 miles now. Wanted to test bluecruise. Turned on adaptive CC a few times when Blue Cruise wasn’t available. Certainly odd if you’re not used to it, but the car stayed in the lines ok. Finally had a section to try hands feee Blue Cruise. Turned it on when going 65 on the highway. Super weird not being in control at all. Road lines were obvious and well distinguished. We started coming up to a curve. Not one where there’s a warning to slow down. But a decently strong curve to the right for 65 mph. Was in the right most lane. Blue Cruise kicked off on its own and ACC resumed with lane centering, telling me to put my hands on the wheel. Diagram on the screen showed the hands on assisted steering icon. It was steering on its own but as we came to the apex of the curve, it just gave up. We stopped turning and just beelined a couple feet into the left lane and I manually slammed it back into our lane. This happened within a tenth of a second. Immediately after, it started steering on its own again still indicating that it was in hands on steering mode. And a moment later it resumed full blue cruise driving.

I’ve probably put 6-7 total cruise control miles on the car. And in that time, we almost caused a major accident around what should have been a very obvious curve on the highway. The vehicle gave no warnings or indications that something had happened.

Is this normal behavior for people? Is blue cruise/ACC basically just a homicide button? Is something wrong with the truck? Or am I grossly misunderstanding the functionalities of these systems? After this, I really don’t trust it at all

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[Snakebitten]

You are the driver.
This technology is regarded as driver assist. It's there to assist you in driving.

 

[jeepin95]

I have a '22 Lariat Powerboost with and 13k miles on it and maybe 2,000+ of those in Blue Cruise if I had to estimate. I wouldn't say that is normal behavior, but I also have learned some of the places it has trouble and a good corner is one of them. There are certain corners on my commute home that don't have any speed warning but are sharp enough BC drops out with a warning to put hands on the wheel. I quickly learned which they were, and when approaching similar corners I make sure I'm holding the wheel. There is also one 2 lane exit where if I'm in the 2nd lane (optional to exit) I always keep my hands on even in hands free mode because every once in awhile it will try to exit at the last second. Now I put hands on the wheel when approaching other similar situations also.

Could it be better, yes, much better, but will I buy another car without BC or similar, no.

While it does have quirks to carefully get used to, overall it makes for a more relaxed drive. On my commute home in heavy, speed limit traffic I don't use hands free. As traffic slows though I find it more relaxing.

Where I like it most is on long drives. We make quite a few trips up and down I-5 in the PNW, and out I-90. On the long open stretches the drive is much less draining. I can pay even more attention further ahead and on the sides ahead than without it, watching for deer, etc. .

I have never had it disconnect without some sort of warning and I'm always ready to take over immediately. I never get warnings to keep my eyes on the road aside from when we were trying it out shortly after getting the truck. It was a clear, straight stretch with nobody in sight and I looked to the right for way longer than was comfortable through the couple of auditory warnings, maybe a steering wheel shaker, to a quick bump of the brakes to get my attention. I couldn't keep looking away to see what it did next though. The time for that really isn't long and I've seen people look at their phones longer, but it felt like forever with my eyes off the road even though my wife was watching the road ahead.

 

[HammaMan]

Highly unusual. I find hands on mode on state highways in these parts which are 65, but we're a plus 10 state so 75 is enough to make my passengers go white as a ghost as I love seeing just how much the thing will hold on. The only issue the current software stack has is that it when an improperly marked lane split like a turning lane happens, it wants to average the distance or try and follow out of traffic flow.

Even in situations like a curve where it 'panics' and tells me to take control it continues to steer the curve while gradually over 5 seconds or so letting go of its torque input. It's very unlike the system to stop mid-curve and let the wheel straighten out.

PS: we're within the timeframe for a new software stack to release that will remove most of the issues stated here. Your situation sounds off to me overall, I have 2 vehicles w/ the same software stack currently and their behavior is quite predictable. I use the system 95% or more of the time as the auto speed increase/decrease is quite handy when it's not hallucinating a 30mph zone in a 65.

 

[Ford Motor Company]

I just bought a shiny 23 platinum powerboost. Have 250 miles now. Wanted to test bluecruise. Turned on adaptive CC a few times when Blue Cruise wasn’t available. Certainly odd if you’re not used to it, but the car stayed in the lines ok. Finally had a section to try hands feee Blue Cruise. Turned it on when going 65 on the highway. Super weird not being in control at all. Road lines were obvious and well distinguished. We started coming up to a curve. Not one where there’s a warning to slow down. But a decently strong curve to the right for 65 mph. Was in the right most lane. Blue Cruise kicked off on its own and ACC resumed with lane centering, telling me to put my hands on the wheel. Diagram on the screen showed the hands on assisted steering icon. It was steering on its own but as we came to the apex of the curve, it just gave up. We stopped turning and just beelined a couple feet into the left lane and I manually slammed it back into our lane. This happened within a tenth of a second. Immediately after, it started steering on its own again still indicating that it was in hands on steering mode. And a moment later it resumed full blue cruise driving.

I’ve probably put 6-7 total cruise control miles on the car. And in that time, we almost caused a major accident around what should have been a very obvious curve on the highway. The vehicle gave no warnings or indications that something had happened.

Is this normal behavior for people? Is blue cruise/ACC basically just a homicide button? Is something wrong with the truck? Or am I grossly misunderstanding the functionalities of these systems? After this, I really don’t trust it at all

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[labjr1]

It is perfectly normal activity for BlueCruise. It is a driver assist program, not a self driving program. If it detects a curve is too sharp for it to handle safely, it returns control to you. If it detects improperly marked lanes or exits, it returns control to you. Sometimes for reasons no one can explain, it returns control to you. That is why it provides both audible and visual alerts and monitors you to make sure you are paying attention to the road. There are better options out there, but BC is a start.

 

[Buckthetruck]

That totally makes sense. I think the thing that irked me, though, is that it didn’t really indicate that it was turning over control to me. It simply downgraded the system to hands on driving. And then a moment later veered into the other lane around a curve. I’d be fine if it popped up saying “error: take control now” but it did no such thing

 

[Grafx36510]

That totally makes sense. I think the thing that irked me, though, is that it didn’t really indicate that it was turning over control to me. It simply downgraded the system to hands on driving. And then a moment later veered into the other lane around a curve. I’d be fine if it popped up saying “error: take control now” but it did no such thing

I don’t have blue cruise but I do have co-pilot assist (adaptive cruise control). Any time the truck passes off control or cannot maintain function, it sounds an audible chime and the gauge cluster changes, in my case the animation of hands on the steering wheel disappear and the tach gets larger as it reverts to ‘normal’ cruise control. As soon as adaptive is available again it regains control and the ‘hands on steering wheel’ graphic is displayed.

 

[STM]

I have about 27k miles on my truck and by a conservative estimate, at least 12k miles are on BC...
Is it a perfect system? Probably not.. But does it significantly enhance my driving experience? Absolutely...

It allows me to not provide input constantly to the truck on both open highways and particularly in stop and go rush hour traffic... I am always focused and ready to take control when it disengages and also many times even otherwise.. For example, driving at 70 mph, I see traffic significantly slowed down ahead... BC has a higher level of confidence in it's ability to stop than I do.. Left to itself, it will slow down later than I would.. So I just take control..

Does it have a couple of quirks? Yes... It hugs the right lane marker closer than I like.. So while passing a semi, I manually center the truck many times and let go again after we pass.. When the car in front changes lanes, at times BC likes to accelerate faster than I like..

But other than that, it has been a very helpful and reliable driving aid.. It actually helps in a meaningful way.. To where it significantly enhances my driving experience

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