Our family has an unwritten rule for travel: if the trip is under six hours, we’re driving. Sure, flying might — might — be faster. But driving means the open road! Unlimited snacks! And at least the kids kicking the back of the seat are your own!
The only problem is that sometimes six hours can stretch closer to nine. How do I know? Thank you for asking: A couple years ago, my family drove across a few states the day before Thanksgiving. We encountered a traffic jam that was the worst of both worlds: not slow enough to put it in park, but not really moving beyond a crawl either. It was the type of traffic where you inch forward at a snail’s pace, hands gripping the wheel.
On that drive, I would have given just about anything to have my car take on even just a little bit of the thinking required. I would have loved to arrive at my mother-in-law’s overly clean home looking calm, cool, and collected instead of jumpy, hot, and all over the place.
Turns out, my wish could be granted with my next vehicle purchase if I opt for one of the select models that comes equipped with Lincoln BlueCruise — a new available technology designed to add hands-free highway driving to Lincoln’s Intelligent Adaptive Cruise Control. It’s available on select Lincoln vehicles and to put it lightly, it’s a game-changer. BlueCruise eliminates some of the more stressful aspects of driving so you can safely enjoy the ride across hundreds of thousands of highway miles. Arriving for a family holiday relaxed and calm? Say less. Here’s why Lincoln BlueCruise is about to change the way you travel.
The Tech That Steers The Way
First of all, what is it? Lincoln BlueCruise is an innovative hands-free highway driving technology that allows the driver to take their hands off the steering wheel on certain roadways while it accelerates, brakes, and steers the car in the lane. The system uses a driver-facing camera to ensure that the driver is paying attention to the road while the system is actively engaged and providing support. BlueCruise works in tandem with technology like Intelligent Adaptive Cruise Control that provides information about lane markings, speed limit, and other data, allowing your car to follow traffic rules and adjust speed to maintain a safe distance from other cars — without the fatigue that usually comes with it.
Hands-Free Zones, Explained
You might be wondering how this all works. Luckily, you don’t have to guess because the car will tell you. When conditions are safe for hands-free driving on more than 130,000 miles on North American roads, an indicator in the display cluster lights up (naturally, it’s blue!). It shows a graphic of a steering wheel with the text “Hands-Free” when it’s safe to remove your hands from the steering wheel. It will also signal when you need to put your hands back on the steering wheel to take control. Imagine a family road trip where traffic might slow you down, but doesn’t stress you out. Yes, please.
Eyes Forward, Mind At Ease
It’s important to remember that this technology is designed to assist drivers, not eliminate them. Lincoln BlueCruise is a driver-assist technology, not a self-driving car. As the driver, you need to be ready to take over at any moment. To make sure drivers don’t curl up for a nap (or scroll on their phones), an infrared driver-facing camera tracks eye gaze and head position. This ensures the driver is paying attention to the road while in Hands-Free Mode. Once the camera senses your eyes are no longer on the road, you’ll get visual prompts on the instrument cluster letting you know it’s time for you to get your hands back on the wheel. This feature enhances your safety by keeping you focused, but not fatigued.
Lincoln BlueCruise technology is a game-changer for family road trips. No more constantly checking your mirrors. No more tapping the brakes in slow-moving traffic jams. No more worrying about drifting out of your lane because you’ll have sensors and cameras giving you an assist. Consumer Reports named BlueCruise the top-rated assisted-driving system for a reason. So while we can’t promise your next road trip will be a spa day (there’s just something about being in a car that makes kids fight for literally no reason), we can tell you the safety and convenience of driving with Lincoln BlueCruise helps you let go, so you arrive revitalized.
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