• Louisville residents fear dangerous drivers more than death or public speaking, while one in four residents surveyed finds vehicle blind spots a major concern, according to an independent study commissioned by Ford, which brings its Ford Smart Mobility Tour to town 
• Ford Smart Mobility is the company’s plan to take it to the next advances in connectivity, mobility, autonomous vehicles, the customer experience and big data – one major focus area is multimodal transportation, including the development of an app that facilitates routing and integrates seamlessly with vehicles and electric bikes
• To improve the driving experience, Ford has introduced several driver assist technologies such as Blind Spot Information, Lane-keeping Aid and Pro Trailer Backup Assist as well as semi-autonomous technologies including Active Park Assist

LOUISVILLE, Ky. Aug. 27, 2015 – More residents of Kentucky’s largest city fear dangerous drivers than death, heights or public speaking, according to a recent survey.

The survey, conducted by independent research company Penn Schoen Berland (PSB), examined driving related fears and public receptiveness to driver assist and semi-autonomous technologies to ease driver anxiety and commuting hassles.

Nearly six out of 10 (57 percent) respondents in the Louisville market have “major” fears about others driving dangerously, more than those who said public speaking (24 percent), heights (35 percent) or death (30 percent). Part of the reason why people are fearful of other drivers may be that one-quarter admit in the survey to emailing or texting while driving. 

Nearly 9 out of 10 (88 percent) Louisville residents surveyed said they would be more comfortable in a vehicle that had blind spot monitoring technology, while 76 percent of respondents said they would be more comfortable with a car that could parallel park itself.

Ford this week brings its Ford Smart Mobility technology showcase to Louisville this week, highlighting the company’s driver assist features that can help address these kinds of fears, including its Blind Spot Information System, semi-autonomous driving technologies and Ford Smart Mobility plan.

Ford Smart Mobility is the company’s plan to take it to the next level in connectivity, mobility, autonomous vehicles, the customer experience and big data. Ford introduced the plan in January, along with initial 25 experiments aimed at better understanding consumers’ mobility needs around the globe.

“Our smart mobility vision at Ford is about changing the way the world moves. We are transitioning from experimentation to the start of implementation, beginning with the Go Drive and Peer to Peer car sharing pilots,” said Ken Washington, vice president, Research and  Innovation. “Our goal is to make people’s lives better by helping them more easily navigate to where they want to go, using one or more interconnected modes of transportation.”

To improve today’s driving experience, Ford has introduced driver assist and semi-autonomous technologies such as Active Park Assist to help drivers parallel and perpendicular park more easily. Driver assist technologies include Lane-keeping Aid to help drivers stay in their lane and Blind Spot Information System (BLIS) to alert drivers to vehicles detected entering their blind spots.

To stay connected while in motion, SYNC 3, Ford’s all-new communications and entertainment system features faster performance, conversational voice recognition, and available intuitive smartphone-like touch screen.

In 2015, Ford offers more vehicle nameplates in the U.S. with active park assist, rear cross-traffic alert, lane departure warning with lane-keeping aid, and blind spot monitoring than any other manufacturer, according to automotive research firm SBD. Ford also leads in four segments, offering vehicles with the most available driver-assist features among mainstream vehicles in the U.S.

• Large light-duty pickup (F-150)
• Midsize SUV (Edge and Explorer)
• Midsize car (Fusion)
• Large car (Taurus)

For the first time in Kentucky, Ford will demonstrate its new available Pro Trailer Backup Assist technology that will be available on the 2016 F-150 pickup. The technology helps to ease the anxiety level of backing a trailer – which can be a challenging task for the novice and tricky even for those with trailering experience.

Multimodal mobility solutions
In many cities, driving your vehicle directly from home to work is not feasible. Ford believes solutions for multimodal journeys can make travel to and within urban areas more convenient. Ford is studying how electric bicycles and mobile application technology can work seamlessly with cars and public transport to deliver faster and easier daily commutes and help businesses operating in urban environments.

In tandem with transportation options, Ford is experimenting with electric bicycles, including:

• MoDe:Me, introduced in March, is intended to keep the urban commuter moving in congested traffic,
• MoDe:Pro is built for urban commercial use and designed to stow in a commercial vehicle like the Ford Transit Connect.
• MoDe:Flex, which is easily reconfigurable for different customer needs. The bike’s center frame assembly includes the motor and battery, while the front and rear assemblies and wheels can be configured for road, mountain or city riding.

All of Ford’s electric bicycle prototypes fold easily into Ford vehicles and integrate seamlessly with the MoDe:Link app, which can be paired with a smartwatch.

This includes the “no sweat” mode, which increases electric pedal assist based on heart rate – ensuring a rider gets to his or her destination without breaking a sweat. The app also provides safety notifications. Hazards, such as potholes ahead, are signaled through vibrating handlebars.

In the PSB survey, nearly half of Louisville respondents said they would consider using an electric bike either in their current commute, or consider it for future commuting purposes. Only a quarter would not consider a multimodal commute; those that would consider it cite saving money (41 percent), gas (33 percent), time (28 percent) and avoiding traffic (28 percent) as top potential motivators.

The Ford Smart Mobility Tour kicks off here in Louisville – home to Ford’s Louisville Assembly Plant – this week and continues in Orlando, Seattle, Denver and Los Angeles throughout this summer and fall.