U.S. safety regulators expand investigation into Ford’s hands-free driving technology

A US federal safety regulator has “enhanced” its investigation into Ford’s advanced hands-free driver assistance system, known as BlueCruise – a step required before a recall can be issued.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s Office of Defect Investigation launched an investigation into Ford BlueCruise last April after the agency confirmed the system was active in Ford Mustang Mach E vehicles involved in two fatal crashes. In both cases, the Mustang Mach E cars hit stationary vehicles.

NHTSA issued a notice this week saying it had upgraded the investigation to a technical analysis. This means the agency will dig deeper into BlueCruise and its potential limitations, which includes vehicle evaluations, reviewing additional technical information, and conducting additional analyzes of associated accident and non-accident reports.

An estimated 129,222 Ford Mustang Mach E vehicles are equipped with BlueCruise, according to the regulator. A Ford spokesperson told TechCrunch that the automaker is working with NHTSA to support its investigation.

The agency said its initial investigation found that BlueCruise had limitations in “detecting stationary vehicles under certain conditions.” These limitations include the possibility of falsely detecting stationary objects over long distances when the Ford vehicle is traveling at or above 62 miles per hour.

“Additionally, system performance may be limited during poor visibility due to insufficient lighting,” NHTSA said.

Ford launched BlueCruise in 2021 on the 2021 F-150 pickup truck and select 2021 Mustang Mach-E models. The hands-free feature uses cameras, radar sensors and software to deliver a combination of adaptive cruise control, lane centering and speed sign recognition. BlueCruise and competitor GM’s Super Cruise systems are both hands-free, although an in-cab camera monitors drivers to make sure their eyes are on the road.

These systems are seen as competitors to Tesla Autopilot, which still requires the driver’s hands to remain on the steering wheel. Autopilot and upgraded Tesla Full Self-Driving software are still considered less constrained than Ford BlueCruise, which only works on certain pre-mapped highways.

Last October, NHTSA also opened an investigation into Tesla’s “Full Self-Driving (Supervised)” software after four reported crashes in low visibility situations, including one in which a pedestrian was killed. This investigation is ongoing.

This article has been updated to include a comment from Ford.