The driver of a Mustang Mach-E that crashed into a stopped car in Texas in February was using Ford's hands-free driver assistance system, BlueCruise, according to data obtained by the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB).
It is the first known death resulting from a crash involving the use of BlueCruise, which Ford first announced in 2021. The system allows drivers to take their hands off the wheel on pre-mapped highways and uses eye tracking to determine if drivers They are paying attention. To the road.
The NTSB's announcement that BlueCruise was active during the Texas crash comes just one day after the safety board announced it is investigating. a second fatal accident near Philadelphia, where Ford's driver assistance system may have been active. Ford told TechCrunch at the time that he reported the Texas crash to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) and that he was “actively investigating all available information.” The company declined to comment further Thursday.
That second accident also involved the Ford hitting two stationary cars, raising questions about whether the automaker's driver assistance system has a problem similar to what Tesla has faced for years with Autopilot. NHTSA has spent nearly three years investigating more than a dozen crashes in which Tesla drivers using Autopilot crashed into stationary emergency vehicles.
The February accident occurred outside San Antonio. A 1999 Honda CR-V was stopped in the center lane of Interstate 10 with no lights on around 9:50 p.m. CT, when the Mustang Mach-E crashed into the rear. The Honda overturned and ended up in the left lane. The safety board said Thursday that the driver of the Mustang “had been operating the vehicle in BlueCruise mode prior to the crash.” The 56-year-old driver of the Honda died after being taken to San Antonio Military Medical Center, according to the police report, while the driver of the Mustang suffered “minor injuries.” Police found no signs of intoxication in the driver of the Mustang. The NTSB said another driver lost the Honda moments before the Mustang crashed into him.
The NTSB released what is known as a preliminary report Thursday and is still investigating the crash. A spokesperson said a final report was likely to be published within 12 to 24 months. He tech-in-fatal-crash-2b92dea0″ target=”_blank” rel=”noopener”>NHTSA is also investigating the Texas crash.according to The Wall Street Journal.
This story has been updated to note that Ford declined to comment on the new information from the NTSB.
