YouTube Video from Ford Motor Company —
Did you know that your F-150 can be equipped with an available feature called Ford BlueCruise hands-free highway driving? This technology adds hands-free highway driving when using available intelligent adaptive cruise control with stop-and-go, lane centering, and speed sign recognition. Ford BlueCruise is available on specific sections of divided highways called Hands-Free Blue Zones that make up over 100,000 miles of North American roads.
Here's how it works. Ford BlueCruise allows you to take your hands off the steering wheel while the system accelerates, brakes, and steers your F-150 within the lane. It uses advanced infrared driver-facing cameras that are located on the A-pillar and above the SYNC screen to track eye gaze and head position to ensure that you're paying attention to the road while in hands-free mode, as well as hands-on lane centering mode, which works on most roads with visible lane lines. A few things need to happen before it can be activated. Ford BlueCruise must be enabled. Adaptive cruise control must be turned on. The system must be able to detect both lane markings. Your hands must initially be on the steering wheel and your eyes need to be focused on the road ahead at all times. To enable Ford BlueCruise, go to features, press driver assistance, press cruise control, then press lane centering.
To turn Ford BlueCruise and adaptive cruise control on, use this button on the steering wheel. Press the plus and minus buttons to adjust your speed. If you wish, this button can be used to select the gap between your vehicle and the vehicle ahead of you. Once the system is on, the color of this indicator changes to let you know the status. Blue means that Ford BlueCruise is on and you're in hands-free mode. If the system determines that you are not looking at the road, you will either get a message displayed in the instrument cluster, or you may also hear a chime to remind you to return your eyes to the road. The warning you will get depends on where the vehicle determines your eyes are looking. If you do not react to the warnings, Ford BlueCruise cancels, quickly activates and releases the brakes, and slows your vehicle down while maintaining steering control.
On roadways where hands-free driving is not permitted, the system can still accelerate, brake, and steer the vehicle in the lane if the driver's hands are on the wheel and if both lane markings can be detected with lane centering mode. When this indicator is green, that means that Ford BlueCruise is active for hands-on driving. When this is present, you must keep your hands on the steering wheel. If you need to return your attention to the road or resume control of the vehicle, a prompt in the instrument cluster will notify you. To turn Ford BlueCruise off, press either the cancel resume button or the adaptive cruise control button, or switch your vehicle off. Keep in mind, some external conditions may cancel Ford BlueCruise, for example, if lane markings are not available or not visible by the vehicle's camera or the lane becomes too narrow. If this occurs while your hands are on the steering wheel and your eyes are on the road, a tone will sound and a message will appear in the instrument cluster alerting you that Ford BlueCruise has been canceled.
However, if this occurs while you're not focused on the road and your hands are not on the steering wheel, the system will display a message and a tone will sound until you resume control. If you do not resume control in time, Ford BlueCruise quickly activates and releases the brakes and slows your vehicle down while maintaining steering control. When you take control again, a message will prompt you to press the accelerator pedal to allow the system to resume. Keep in mind that heavy rainstorms, snowstorms, or fog may make it difficult for the system to operate, especially if the camera or other sensors are blocked, or if lighting or visibility is poor.
Any questions, go to ford.com/support.
