Ford’s BlueCruise hands-free technology under further investigation by NHTSA

Jamie L. LaReau

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration is enhancing its investigation into Ford Motor Co.’s hands-free technology – called BlueCruise – after two fatal crashes involving all-electric Mustang Mach-E vehicles when the technology was used.

Regulators announced this week that they were moving the status of the investigation to “technical analysis,” a necessary step before they can order a recall. The analysis will cover model years 2021-24, or approximately 129,222 cars, according to NHTSA.

In its analysis, NHTSA will study the limits of the Ford system and “evaluate drivers’ ability to respond to scenarios that exceed the system’s limits,” NHTSA said in documents. During the analysis, regulators will evaluate BlueCruise-equipped vehicles, review additional technical information and conduct additional analysis of associated accident and non-accident reports, it said.

Ford spokeswoman Amy Mast told the Free Press, “We are working with NHTSA to support its investigation.”

The BlueCruise system uses a camera-based driver monitoring system to determine driver attention. It is available on 97% of US and Canadian highways on sections without intersections or traffic lights. Ford introduced the technology during the 2021 model year and made it available in select Ford and Lincoln vehicles.

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The investigation began last year

NHTSA said it opened its investigation into BlueCruise in April 2024 after receiving notice of two fatal crashes involving BlueCruise-equipped Mach-Es. Based on these accidents, NHTSA began investigating model year 2021-24 Mach-E vehicles equipped with BlueCruise.

According to a Reuters report from last yearIn February, a Ford Mustang Mach-E driver in San Antonio was using BlueCruise when the Mach-E struck the rear of a stopped Honda CR-V on a highway, killing the 56-year-old Honda driver. BlueCruise may also have been used in a second fatal crash, between a Mach-E and two stationary cars in Philadelphia in March, Reuters reported. In that incident, the Mach-E struck two stationary vehicles on the highway, killing two people.

Car recalls:US steps up investigation into 129,000 Ford vehicles following fatal crashes

In June 2024, regulators asked Ford to provide information related to crashes, non-crash reports and technical specifications related to BlueCruise, as well as other Ford partial driving automation systems that provide vehicle maintenance. lanes and speed, NHTSA said in a statement.

NHTSA found limits to the technology

In its response to NHTSA’s request, the agency said Ford told it that approximately 2.5 million Ford and Lincoln vehicles are equipped with a partial driving automation system such as parking assist. lane centering, which is a convenient partial driving automation system, and adaptive cruise control. .

NHTSA said BlueCruise-equipped vehicles, the focus of this investigation, have lane-centering assist capability and offer hands-free driving, but only on certain roads. System availability is geolocated using the vehicle’s GPS.

For vehicles equipped with BlueCruise and Lane Centering Assist, the Adaptive Cruise Control and Pre-Collision Assist features use a combination of camera and radar detection technologies to detect and classify objects, said the NHTSA.

“Adaptive Cruise Control is specifically designed to detect vehicles (including cars, trucks and motorcycles) and bicycles in front of the vehicle in question that are either stationary or moving in the same direction as the vehicle in question. vehicle in question,” NHTSA said in its statement.

Regulators said their investigation found limitations in detecting stopped vehicles under certain conditions.

“Specifically, due to the risk of false detection of stationary objects over long distances, Ford designed adaptive cruise control to inhibit any response to signaled stationary objects when the approach speed of the affected vehicle is equal to or greater than 62 mph,” NHTSA wrote. “Additionally, system performance may be limited in poor visibility due to insufficient lighting.”

More crashes discovered

In both fatal collisions, the Mach-E vehicle was traveling more than 70 mph on a highway at night in BlueCruise mode and crashed into a stationary vehicle, NHTSA said. Data from the vehicles’ event data recorders showed that the drivers did not apply the brakes or take steering evasive action, and that no deceleration was initiated by the BlueCruise system or the pre-collision assistance before impact.

Through the agency’s crash analysis, it discovered four other head-on collisions in which a Ford vehicle struck a stopped or slow-moving car or other stationary object. Two of them involved BlueCruise-equipped Ford Mustang Mach-Es.

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Ford’s BlueCruise hands-free technology under further investigation by NHTSA

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