Hands-free highway driving features are on their way to becoming common in new cars, but few Americans seem to want them. How well are they working for those who have them? Ford has released some of the first numbers we’ve seen that show how drivers treat these systems in actual use.
There Are No Self-Driving Cars
There are no true self-driving cars for sale in America today. But a few automakers sell an early version of the technology that lets drivers take their hands off the wheel under limited circumstances.
Related: Self-Driving Cars — Everything You Need to Know
Manufacturers sometimes give these systems misleading names (Tesla famously sells a system called “Full Self-Driving” that is…well…not). And studies show that Americans don’t trust them yet.
In a recent survey, Americans listed self-driving tech among the least-desired features in their next car.
But the technology is steadily progressing. Several automakers sell a system that will let you take your hands off the wheel but not your eyes off the road. Mercedes, in Nevada and California, sells one that will navigate a traffic jam under 45 mph without much driver supervision.
Ford’s BlueCruise is one of the better-regarded systems. It topped the only major auto industry comparison study published so far.
BlueCruise lets drivers take their hands off the wheel, but keep their attention on the road, on more than 130,000 miles of pre-mapped highway in North America.
Caught On In Some States, Ignored In Others
Drivers in some of the most populous states have driven over 40,000 miles with BlueCruise engaged. But the population map doesn’t perfectly explain usage. Pennsylvania and Illinois make the list of the 10 most populous states but not the list of heavy BlueCruise users.
In fact, much of the middle of the country has barely seen anyone take their hands off the wheel on the highway, Ford’s mapping shows.
BlueCruise would seem ideal for long road trips, but Ford says users are slightly more likely to use it for short ones. “In the U.S., about 77% of BlueCruise trips taken by Ford and Lincoln owners were under 20 minutes,” Ford says.
The biggest day of the year for hands-free highway driving? Labor Day, Ford says. Owners drove more miles with BlueCruise active on Labor Day than over the Thanksgiving or Christmas holidays last year.
Ford offers the system on its F-150, F-150 Lightning, Explorer, Expedition, and Mustang Mach-E, and on all Lincoln vehicles.
