Subaru is the latest company to bring hands-free driving technology to market, although for now exclusively in the US market Outback.
The new hands-free system is now standard on the new generation Outback Touring and Touring XT in the US and is available there via a free update to existing owners.
The feature, called EyeSight Highway Hands-Free Assist, has yet to be confirmed for Australia.
“Nothing is confirmed for our market at this time, however we are continually evaluating opportunities to bring new and exciting technologies to Australia,” a Subaru Australia spokesperson said.
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Like General Motors’ Super Cruise and Ford’s BlueCruise – and unlike Tesla’s Full Self-Driving – it only supports autonomous driving on highways.
EyeSight Highway Hands-Free Assist can be activated when adaptive cruise control is engaged and works at speeds up to 85 mph on “most” U.S. highways with at least two lanes. A blue symbol in the digital instrument cluster indicates that the function is activated.
Subaru doesn’t promise the very best, calling it a “limited” hands-free assistant, although the technology also enables active lane change assistance, emergency braking assist and cruise control before bends on the highway.
The company says its engineers logged nearly 100,000 miles (161,000 km) of hands-free driving during development.
A new second-generation DriverFocus monitoring system – with a wider angle camera, higher resolution and improved processing – monitors the driver to ensure they are paying attention.
If the driver is not paying attention to the road in front of them, the system will turn off and the driver will have to put their hands back on the wheel and take control.
Subaru says its advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS) are supported by GPS data, high-resolution 3D maps, millimeter-wave radar and cameras.
Australian market Outbacks feature a wide range of standard safety technologies, all including adaptive cruise control, lane centering and an emergency braking system that safely stops the vehicle if the driver is incapacitated; The Touring also has an active lane change assistant.
However, you must always keep your hands on the steering wheel, even when adaptive cruise control and lane centering are activated.
MORE: Explore the Subaru Outback showroom
