Would you feel comfortable being driven in a car that uses hands-free technology?

Polls

19th April 2023

THE first car that legally allows UK drivers to take their hands off the steering wheel has been approved by the Government.

The 2023 model of Ford’s electric Mustang Mach-E SUV will come with a “hands-off, eyes-on” technology called BlueCruise.

BlueCruise can control how the car steers, keep it centred in its lane, make the vehicle go faster and even bring it to a complete stop when there is traffic ahead. It has been approved for use on certain UK motorways, but experts are keen to point out that the new Ford model is not self-driving.

Tom Leggett, from vehicle research company Thatcham Research, says the system “is the next development in assisted driving technology” but “the driver is still wholly responsible for safety”. He points out that a camera will make sure drivers are keeping their eyes on the road and that drivers aren’t allowed to use their mobile phones, fall asleep or do anything that “takes attention away from the road”.

Lisa Brankin, from Ford, told the BBC more about the technology’s safety features: “If your eyes are closed, the car will prompt you to put hands onto the steering wheel and take control… It will keep prompting the driver and, if they don’t respond, the car will steadily slow down to a stop.”

But, if you want to see BlueCruise in action, you’ll need a lot of cash. The Mustang Mach-E SUV costs from £50,830 and BlueCruise costs £17.99 a month after an initial 90 days free.

How do you feel about the idea of hands-free driving? Let us know in the comments below!

Would you feel comfortable being driven in a car that uses hands-free technology?

23 Comments

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bonniebill · 2 years ago

I would find it weird to be driven somewhere without a driver! I wouldn't feel safe because you can't control the car.

dolphin26 · 2 years ago

I would not, because you never know when there might be a technical error, and the car goes crazy.

austria · 2 years ago

its been tried and tested

aadhya_sha · 2 years ago

I wouldnt because what if the technology doesn’t work

crocclip46 · 2 years ago

I would be worried that we would crash 💥

pinkyfox · 2 years ago

I wouldn't feel safe knowing that the person who is driving is a robot

coola · 2 years ago

I wouldn't right now because it is a big step to go from hands on a steering wheel to hands off a steering wheel. If they make sure it is definitely safe with no chance of injuring yourself, then I would say yes. It sounds safe but it is too big of a step in technology for me to be convinced that it is totally safe.

candyapple · 2 years ago

Honestly? Yes. You'd just be able to sleep while the car drove for you 🚗🚙😴🥱

coolcats · 2 years ago

Personally, no! I would always keep my eyes on the road and act more paranoid and nervously than if I was driving a normal car!

mothstar · 2 years ago

Nooooooo wayyyyyy

lilrat · 2 years ago

I would feel safe as the accident rate is only 4.7 crashes per million miles driven - I think this is safe enough. Also, if industry experts have approved this step into the country's level of innovation then it must be secure and safe. AI cannot just 'zone out' or lose concentration so it could be seen as a safer option! It could really lead the UK forward and help us find newer, safer ways to commute. We have had to take risks in order to progress - where would we be without the telephone or electricity?

aces10 · 2 years ago

Having hands-free driving would make life so much easier, because people would be able to multitask whilst travelling by car. Although it may be dangerous at the moment, as technology advances, it will become much safer. Also, as long as we can still take control of the car easily, the risk won’t be much higher than if it were fully human controlled.

aces10 · 2 years ago

At the moment, I don’t think technology is advanced enough to be able to take control of a car. One incident going very wrong would be one too many, so it is not at all worth the risk.

nessness · 2 years ago

no way! I would get injected with nausea.

moose123 · 2 years ago

Sounds terrifying
If something cuts out or it doesn't notice another car you wouldn't realise until it was too late...

anyu · 2 years ago

This would make me feel very uncomfortable and I feel like this would make car accidents more common . This would make the driver less aware as well

petsimx · 2 years ago

Technology can malfunction.If the car malfunctions it could cause an accident, or it could take you to somewhere you don’t even know

lolokaro · 2 years ago

To be honest this could go in many ways. Maybe it should start slow with only being aloud to go on small trips like to the supermarket or park (after all cars are tested of course) then if all goes well we could extend it to 30 min trips and so on. That way we could figure out the problems before it’s to late because 100 crashes have happened it the motorways

mrrickroll · 2 years ago

I love cars, and as much as I know that the tech is advanced, it would be a no. There many videos on social media of people (especially in Teslas) asleep in their cars or just being stupid by pretending to party when there is no-one in the driver's seat, paying attention to the road. You can trust the majority to be sensible, but there are some people that just put their and others lives at risk.

masculine · 2 years ago

yes because there will be more crashes on the roads لا أطيق الانتظار حتى تنقلب السيارات على الطريق وأنا أشاهدها تحترق

trixx · 2 years ago

no way what about in that old olympics when a drive itself car hit a blind athlete

xiangxiang · 2 years ago

It would be cool but at the same time there might be a risk that the self driving car might have a bug.

laxviji@gm · 1 year ago

It would feel very weird and you would also be worrying about the car shorting out.