The U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) announced on Monday that it is upgrading its investigation into 129,222 Ford vehicles equipped with the BlueCruise hands-free driving technology. The move follows reports of collisions, including two fatal crashes last April involving Ford Mustang Mach-E vehicles.
The investigation has advanced to an engineering analysis stage, covering vehicles from the 2021 to 2024 model years—a prerequisite for a potential recall. BlueCruise, introduced in 2021, uses a camera-based driver monitoring system to assess driver attentiveness and operates on 97% of highways in the U.S. and Canada that lack intersections or traffic signals.
The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) has also initiated its own investigations into two fatal Mach-E crashes, including incidents in Texas and Philadelphia earlier this year. According to NHTSA, both accidents involved vehicles traveling at over 70 mph in BlueCruise mode during nighttime lighting conditions, colliding with stationary vehicles.
Preliminary findings suggest that BlueCruise may have limitations in detecting stationary objects at highway speeds and in low-light conditions. The NHTSA plans to investigate these limitations further, focusing on how drivers handle situations that exceed the system’s capabilities.
Ford has yet to respond to Reuters’ request for comment.
Source: Swifteradio.com
