Adaptive Cruise Control Scare

[SunnySunshine]

Yesterday, our family had the 1st adaptive cruise control scare on our brand new 2024 Ford Expedition Platinum. Not sure if the vehicle picked up a speed limit sign from the highway or got the wrong map information, but where I marked the "X" on the map, was where the vehicle floored it. It increased the set speed to 65MPH when we entered the on ramp which by the way is no where near designed for that speed. That was our first scare. My dad immediately braked to cancel the cruise control and didn't turn it back on until we got on the freeway and moved over a couple lanes.

I think Ford can totally correct this by prompting you to confirm when it detects a sudden 25+ MPH speed limit change, because there is usually something wrong with the detection.

On the other hand, we got to use BlueCruise extensively yesterday. It worked flawlessly, and other than that 1 scare with the adaptive cruise, the rest of the time, it drove just fine (no auto lane changes yet)! It did mistakenly detect and drop our speed on a "55MPH while towing" signs. My dad likes it way better than our old vehicles (2005/2006 model year). Unfortunately I forgot my wallet at home so I didn't drive yesterday.

 

[rd618]

Yesterday, our family had the 1st adaptive cruise control scare on our brand new 2024 Ford Expedition Platinum. Not sure if the vehicle picked up a speed limit sign from the highway or got the wrong map information, but where I marked the "X" on the map, was where the vehicle floored it. It increased the set speed to 65MPH when we entered the on ramp which by the way is no where near designed for that speed. That was our first scare. My dad immediately braked to cancel the cruise control and didn't turn it back on until we got on the freeway and moved over a couple lanes.

I think Ford can totally correct this by prompting you to confirm when it detects a sudden 25+ MPH speed limit change, because there is usually something wrong with the detection.

On the other hand, we got to use BlueCruise extensively yesterday. It worked flawlessly, and other than that 1 scare with the adaptive cruise, the rest of the time, it drove just fine (no auto lane changes yet)! It did mistakenly detect and drop our speed on a "55MPH while towing" signs. My dad likes it way better than our old vehicles (2005/2006 model year). Unfortunately I forgot my wallet at home so I didn't drive yesterday.

Congrats on the new vehicle, as for adaptive speed control you can turn it off or adjust the tolerance.
It is not perfect and still needs close attention. Especially construction zones or service roads.

 

[2020-MAX-Limited]

Just use it when going steady state straight down the highway

 

[JimW]

Yes I had mine surge on a roundabout when the vehicle in front of me went around the roundaboat

 

[VCFP153]

Just use it when going steady state straight down the highway

Too obvious.

 

[Michael Shepherd]

Not sure if the vehicle picked up a speed limit sign from the highway or got the wrong map information, but where I marked the "X" on the map, was where the vehicle floored it.

Unless Ford made some AI upgrades, that is really not how adaptive speed control works. Again, unless this changed between gen 3 & 4, adaptive cruise control simply uses the sensors in the front bumper to detect the distance and closure rate to the vehicle ahead and depending on the 'gap' that you have set, will accelerate/decelerate as required to maintain the following interval. So if the car ahead moves to another lane and you are significantly below the set cruise speed, then as long as no vehicles or other obstacles are detected in the 'gap' ahead, the vehicle will accelerate to the required speed.

 

[ShawnP]

Unless Ford made some AI upgrades, that is really not how adaptive speed control works. Again, unless this changed between gen 3 & 4, adaptive cruise control simply uses the sensors in the front bumper to detect the distance and closure rate to the vehicle ahead and depending on the 'gap' that you have set, will accelerate/decelerate as required to maintain the following interval. So if the car ahead moves to another lane and you are significantly below the set cruise speed, then as long as no vehicles or other obstacles are detected in the 'gap' ahead, the vehicle will accelerate to the required speed.

I have a 2020 Expedition, but I know that even back then the Explorers had the tech to read speed limit signs...so without checking the specs on the new Expeditions, it would not be surprising if they had the tech as well.

 

[Moeman]

I agree with some of the others that your description sounds a bit off - I wouldn't expect the set speed to change, but rather it seems that an object was no longer detected and thus it resumed speed. Plus, if you weren't driving, do you really know for sure? Regardless, I don't put a whole lot of faith into the driver assist systems as I've experienced my fair share of the wonky choices they sometimes make (e.g. a Tesla pulling us into oncoming traffic around a curve). I mostly use adaptive and lane keep as a little assistance when I want to do something on my phone that will distract me more than I'm comfortable with. Otherwise, no thank you - the less electronics in a vehicle the better. I'll continue to maintain my own control of the vehicle for now.

 

[dlcorbett]

I have a 2020 Expedition, but I know that even back then the Explorers had the tech to read speed limit signs...so without checking the specs on the new Expeditions, it would not be surprising if they had the tech as well.

Expy didn't get this feature until 22my

 

[Trainmaster]

Anyone read the manual?

 

[Deadman]

First off, why the H#LL would anyone have the cruise control on entering an off ramp?

Thats all I have!

 

[jnbhobe]

My 23 Platinum did this all the time, see a speed sign and jump 20 to 40 mph. Not sure if it was the Blue Cruise or just in the cruise, but my wife totaled the car in April and I replaced it with a loaded Limited

 

[CDNRabbit]

I've not had an issue when it reads the signs correctly, but that isn't all the time

Sometimes it reads warning signs as speed limits, sometimes it picks up signs on side roads, some times it picks up high speed signs while on side roads... The worst was when it picked up the speed limit for the scale lanes and slammed the breaks going from 110km/h to 10km/h.

We don't use speed sign recognition anymore.

 

[Deadman]

My 23 Platinum did this all the time, see a speed sign and jump 20 to 40 mph. Not sure if it was the Blue Cruise or just in the cruise, but my wife totaled the car in April and I replaced it with a loaded Limited

Did she total it from the cruise control?

 

[SunnySunshine]

First off, why the H#LL would anyone have the cruise control on entering an off ramp?

Thats all I have!

It's a new car, we're still getting used to the controls.

 

[SyndicateZ]

Did she total it from the cruise control?

That was probably the excuse

 

[Flathead40]

You can disable this feature of adaptive cruise and still have adaptive cruise control (following the car in front). I believe it’s called speed sign recognition under adaptive in the driver assistance settings. We leave it off because there’s no intelligence in it, it either brakes hard right at a sign that lowers the speed or accelerates aggressively when it increases. There’s a separate setting for speed warning that will still show the posted speed on the cluster and flash when you exceed by the tolerance.

 

[Dahammer]

Here in NY, the speed limit is mostly 55mph. However, adaptive cruise control uses maps (Speed Limit) and speed sign recognition.
In my experience, at least, I have confirmed this by using Ford or Apple maps on the big screen; they show the WRONG speed limit, and adaptive cruise goes to the higher speed limit.

Example: I'm getting on the highway and reaching 55mph. I press to activate the cruise, and there is no signage yet; however, I know it's 55mph. All of a sudden, my vehicle accelerates to 70 mph, and when she encounters a posted speed limit sign later, it resets back to 55 mph or whatever is posted. Maps show 70mph, but the speed limit is 55mph.

In conclusion, Maps both Apple and Ford have the wrong speed posted. I'm still responsible for maintaining the correct speed, and if I don't, I'll get a speeding ticket.

 

[NevadaGeo]

....As alluded to many times in this thread, if you're not in control of your vehicle, you are not in control of your vehicle.

 

[BobCharlie]

I had to turn off the speed limit sign recognition with adaptive cruise because I’d be on the highway and it would pick up a sign on the access road and slow me down to 45 mph. Very annoying.