My hands-free drive halfway across the U.S.

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I drove round-trip from Detroit to New York City over Labor Day weekend — a grueling 10 hours each way — but for a good chunk of that time, the car took the wheel for me.

Why it matters: Cars with hands-free driver-assistance features are coming on the market thick and fast, but consumers are still wary of them.

Driving nearly 1,300 miles can be exhausting, but it’s a lot easier when you’re able to keep your feet off the pedals and your hands in your lap for good chunks of it.

My experience gave me more confidence — but also reminded me that it’ll be a while before cars can safely and reliably drive themselves.

Where it stands: You still cannot buy a self-driving car, but more than half of the 2023 auto models on the market are available with a feature that’s a step in that direction: an optional active driving assistance system (ADAS).

ADAS technology provides steering support to keep the car within its lane and accelerates or decelerates as necessary to keep the car a set distance from the vehicle ahead. (Some systems even let drivers go hands-free for long stretches.)

Such systems typically work only on the highway, although each carmaker sets the boundaries for their operation.

The best systems, according to Consumer Reports, use a driver-monitoring camera to ensure that the driver is paying attention.

Active driving assistance is meant to be a convenience, not a substitute for the driver’s responsibility.

What happened: I tested a 2023 Lincoln Navigator equipped with Ford’s BlueCruise technology to deliver my daughter to grad school in New York City.

The trip was 635 miles each way, mostly along I-80 through Ohio, Pennsylvania and New Jersey.

On the highway portions of the trip, I tried to use BlueCruise as much as possible.

Using a combination of GPS mapping and a forward-facing camera, the system advised when I was on a pre-qualified stretch of road — a “Blue Zone” — where hands-free driving was available.

All I had to do was push the cruise control button on the steering wheel.

Blue light cues appeared on both the digital instrument panel and the head-up display on the windshield.

A large blue steering wheel icon indicated it was OK for me to remove my hands.

A driver-facing camera in the instrument panel monitored my eye gaze and head position to ensure that I was looking at the road. (If you do take your eyes off the road, there will be a series of audible and visual alerts, and eventually the car will slow down.)

What I found: I was surprised by how much more relaxed my upper body felt — plus, I turned on the cooling seat massager, which helped keep me alert while eliminating pressure points.

Turning on the BlueCruise felt seamless and intuitive.

When it was time to regain control, the blue steering wheel icon changed, showing digital “hands” back on the wheel. Again, a seamless transition, with no panic.

Of note: This version of BlueCruise was better than one I tried previously.

But the Navigator doesn’t even have the latest software, which is further enhanced with things like automatic lane-changing capability. (I’ve tried it on a few other Ford models.)

Yes, but: There were a few “uh-oh” moments, like when the car veered sharply, confused by freshly painted white lines that were smeared on the roadway. I had to grab the wheel quickly.

I found BlueCruise didn’t like sunset, when the front-facing camera apparently struggled to see. Although I was in a Blue Zone, the system kept handing control back to me; as soon as darkness fell, it worked well again.

I-80 has a lot of hills and twists, and for the most part, BlueCruise handled them well.

But there are also a lot of 18-wheelers on that route, and they have a tendency to drift.

The intrigue: Autonomous trucks are coming, which could cut down on that problem.

And autonomous cars are starting to ply the roads: Small robotaxi fleets are tooling around a few cities, albeit with some high-profile snafus.

The bottom line: A long road trip was much better with a robot as my co-pilot.

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