Bluecruise tried to kill me!

[ChrisInVegas]

Ok... BC didn't "really try to kill me, but it would have been bad if I wasn't paying attention. And yes... I know you are ALWAYS supposed to be paying attention... and I do.

Anyway...

Driving home today, I was headed north out of Vegas on the 95 in the carpool lane. The sun was on my left and cast a pretty dark shadow on the road with the shadow ending in the middle of my lane. BC was happy for 5-6 miles and then just starts heading left towards the barrier. It wasn't a super sharp turn to the left, but it was deliberate and not just a "drift out of the lane situation". I noticed it was happening and had my hands on the wheel, but I let it go a bit because I wanted to see if it corrected itself. It did not and I took over when about half into the shoulder.

BC is awesome most of the time. Not awesome enough for $800/year, but I still have another year on my free trial. Maybe Ford will lower their prices by then.

Apologies on the quality of the picture.

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[DesertEV]

Catchy title but the read did not live up to the title hype. Need to see alternate title suggestions…

 

[TaxmanHog]

The white lines seem distorted, as if they were moved +/- a few feet for construction realignments recently, the prominent lines are also badly faded, add in the shadow on the left most lane boundary made it difficult for the optics of the system to track properly

 

[Maquis]

The white lines seem distorted, as if they were moved +/- a few feet for construction realignments recently, the prominent lines are also badly faded, add in the shadow on the left most lane boundary made it difficult for the optics of the system to track properly

Agreed. I’ve had BC for 3 years and it’s pretty much second nature for me to recognize lane markings that are likely to be a problem. I’ll put a hand on the wheel when I see it. Sometimes it’s an issue, sometimes not. Usually if there’s an issue, BC disengages, but I have had one experience similar to the OP. Bad lane markings at an exit and the car decided to split the difference!

 

[Adventureboy]

I rarely take my hand off the wheel. Too many worn-out lines here. It is a bit concerning if it crossed the yellow line on the left and hopefully @Ford is taking note. Left line seems pretty clear in your picture.

 

[Minh]

Had similar issue but mine turned right (on Mach e). Same as you I had my hand on steering wheel and quickly correct it. If I was hands free might not have been fast enough reflex to correct it. Only taking hands off for short period of time like opening up drinks etc.

 

[Danface]

" I let it go a bit because I wanted to see if it corrected itself" .. There's the problem, you thought the car was smarter then you are ... LOL

 

[Yellow Buddy]

Ok... BC didn't "really try to kill me, but it would have been bad if I wasn't paying attention. And yes... I know you are ALWAYS supposed to be paying attention... and I do.

Anyway...

Driving home today, I was headed north out of Vegas on the 95 in the carpool lane. The sun was on my left and cast a pretty dark shadow on the road with the shadow ending in the middle of my lane. BC was happy for 5-6 miles and then just starts heading left towards the barrier. It wasn't a super sharp turn to the left, but it was deliberate and not just a "drift out of the lane situation". I noticed it was happening and had my hands on the wheel, but I let it go a bit because I wanted to see if it corrected itself. It did not and I took over when about half into the shoulder.

BC is awesome most of the time. Not awesome enough for $800/year, but I still have another year on my free trial. Maybe Ford will lower their prices by then.

Apologies on the quality of the picture.

Given your post, obviously tried but failed to do so.

More evidence that Tesla's Autopilot/FSD is more capable than BlueCruise....

 

[DaGriff]

So one gripe I have about the steering assist in general, and it seem to resemble to this in a way. When I am driving around a corner and I cut the corner slightly, the lane centering seem to move the steering wheel in the direction where it will cut the corner more. It steers me more towards the shoulder and I have to correct it. Its a slight nudge, but its sharp and fast and I need to compensate. It was unnerving the first time it happened. I have since gotten use to it and its not scary any more however it seem to me that its not really safe or optimal. The rest of the time I like the lane centering assist so I don't want to shut it off.

This is not in cruise control mode or Blue cruise mode but it still seem based on the same line sensing optics and only does it when there is a line on the road to read from. It does it left or right bends in the road and inside or outside lines. But always in the direction of the inside of the bend. Basically its nudging the steering wheel the wrong direction.

 

[invertedspear]

I had a similar thing happen in my MME (no more BC since I went with the XLT). Heading south in the middle of the day, curving highway. Went under an overpass and when I came back into the sun the shadows or lens flare freaked the system out and it HARD jerked to the right. Worried about it duplicating every time after that but it never did. It's an imperfect system, but they all are.

 

[rugedraw]

" I let it go a bit because I wanted to see if it corrected itself" .. There's the problem, you thought the car was smarter then you are ... LOL

I've done this when I see BC not doing what it is supposed to do, and most of the time, it catches itself and corrects itself. I like to push it to its limits the few instances I get to use it.

 

[Lytning]

I suspect that BlueCruise 1.4 has been delayed indefinitely since NHTSA has opened an investigation into fatal accidents during BC use.

 

[Heliian]

Given your post, obviously tried but failed to do so.

More evidence that Tesla's Autopilot/FSD is more capable than BlueCruise....

You are joking right?

Robotaxis are right around the corner too.

 

[rugedraw]

I suspect that BlueCruise 1.4 has been delayed indefinitely since NHTSA has opened an investigation into fatal accidents during BC use.

Perhaps, but counter-intuitive, IMO. BC 1.4 is MUCH better than 1.0 and improved over 1.2 and 1.3 in terms of stability and lane centering. Not saying that if that vehicle had BC 1.4, the accident would never happened, but if you have a means of improving a product's performance, this should not delay the release.

BC is a cloud based service, so if it was a REAL problem. they could flip a switch and disactivate it for everyone until the issue is resolved.

 

[Danface]

I've done this when I see BC not doing what it is supposed to do, and most of the time, it catches itself and corrects itself. I like to push it to its limits the few instances I get to use it.

You're actively paying attention, which you should be doing. IMHO, the thing about BC is it's too easy to not pay attention and I have to pay attention, I'd rather work the pedals and turn the wheel so I'm not a passive observer hoping the system does the right thing. BTW, I've been driving since 1977 and racked up enough miles to go to the moon and back at least twice without any accidents so I'm not in any hurry to let some half baked system kill me ...

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