Ford's advanced hands-free driver-assist system, BlueCruise, has received a strong reception since its introduction a few years ago. In fact, just about the most controversial aspect of BlueCruise has been the name itself. By the end of July, Ford customers had covered over 10 million miles with BlueCruise activated. Ford isn't resting on its laurels, though, and has announced that an updated system, dubbed BlueCruise 1.2, will add three new driver-assistance features. This coincides with the same updates for Lincoln vehicles and their ActiveGlide 1.2 system. These new features will make highway driving even more of a pleasure and include lane change assist, predictive speed assist, and in-lane repositioning.

Ford employs the services of a dedicated in-house team that constantly looks at ways to improve the BlueCruise system to create a "more human-like driving feel," although we're uncertain of how "human" it feels when your Mustang Mach-E executes a lane change on its own. Still, this handy new feature is activated when the driver simply taps the turn signal, but the system itself will also suggest a lane change if it senses that it would be helpful when approaching slower traffic.

The next new feature, predictive speed assist, slows down the vehicle as it approaches a sharp curve. Ford promises that this reduction in speed is smoothly executed, and drivers will receive a signal beforehand to understand why the car is slowing down.

The third and final new feature is in-lane repositioning. This is designed to "make the hands-free highway driving experience feel more natural." It will not only keep the vehicle in the current lane but subtly shift the vehicle's position to maintain a safer distances from cars in other lanes. This is especially relevant if, for instance, you're driving past larger trucks or a semis.

These three new features are in addition to existing Ford Co-Pilot360 features like lane-keep assist with road edge detection, evasive steering assist, intersection assist, and adaptive cruise control with Stop-and-Go.

Ford's engineers are continuously refining the visuals, steering, and sensing experiences of the BlueCruise system, too, and maps are updated as BlueCruise's range is expanded. Currently, the system can be used along over 130,000 miles of roads.

"The latest improvements allow customers to command lane changes using just a turn signal, and make hands-free driving feel more human-like by smoothly slowing down for turns, and giving more room to larger vehicles in neighboring lanes," said Ford's Doug Field. "These improvements are just the beginning of a constant journey toward improving safety and giving customers valuable time back."

Over 75,000 Ford and Lincoln customers have enrolled in both BlueCruise and ActiveGlide, and over 16 million hands-free driving miles were accumulated through the end of August. The latest upgrades to the system will be rolling out from this fall with the 2023 Mustang Mach-E before presumably reaching other products like the F-150 pickup.