Ford have become the first manufactuer to have level two autonomus driving in Europe.
The systems will work on 2023 and above Ford Mustang Mach-E's. WHen the car is ordered, owners will have access to the 'BlueCruise' system for 90 days. After the 90 days are up, owners can subscribe to the service for £17.99 per month.
Photo Cerdit:Eduardo Arcos/Unsplash
Respending to monthly subscription model a spokesperson for Ford said: "The hardware to enable BlueCruise comes with the Mach-E for free, Ford does not charge for the hardware.
"BlueCruise is a continually evolving software feature that requires frequently updated maps."
The level two autonomous software allows for partial autonomous driving of cars. This means that in traffic jams and situations alike, the car can drive itself in environments like motorway driving.
In a survey published for this story, one motorist said: "[it can be] useful but I would not be comfortable using it."
Even though the car can do this, it does require the driver to still pay attention. This means after set times the driver would need to grab the wheel so that the systems know the driver is still paying attention.
Transport Minister Jesse Norman said: "The latest advance driver assintance system make driving smoother and easier, but they can also help make roads safer by reducing scope for driver error."
For the new 'BlueCruise' system, on the pre mapped 2,300 miles of roads across England, Scotland and Wales drivers can take their hands off the wheel of the car. These roads are known as 'Blue Zones'.
Motorways surronding Birmingham will be included from the launch of BlueCruise.
Photo Credit: Aaron Stokes
While the driver can take their hands off the wheel, the safety systems in the car will make sure that they are alert and paying attention to the road. If the car notices the driver is not paying attention, it will display esarning messages on the dashboard.
If the driver is still not paying attention, then the car will start making audio warnings to the driver. After this the car will then start to apply the brakes and slow down until the driver becomes alert again.
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