The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) of the United States is investigating whether Ford’s BlueCruise hands-free driving technology contributed to a recent fatal accident. The NTSB says that a Mustang Mach-E with BlueCruise hit the back of a stopped Honda CR-V on Highway 10 near San Antonio, Texas. The driver of the Honda CR-V later died. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) and the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) have looked into driver-assistance devices in the past. The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) in the United States is looking into Ford’s BlueCruise hands-free driving help system. A recent crash involving a Ford Mustang Mach-E with BlueCruise that killed someone led to the probe. It happened in San Antonio, Texas, on February 24. The NTSB’s first report said that the Mach-E crashed into the back of a Honda CR-V that had stopped on Highway 10. In the end, the CR-V’s driver died. According to Reuters, the Mach-E was on “partial automation” at the time of the crash, which is what the San Antonio police report said. It was decided that the NTSB would look into the crash “because of its ongoing interest in advanced driver assistance systems and how vehicle operators interact with these technologies,” the Reuters story said. The NTSB should have its first report ready in 30 days. When Invoice pricing asked Ford for a comment on what happened, a representative said, “We were recently made aware of this incident and extend our deepest sympathies to those involved.” Some of the specifics of what took place are known, but not all of them. We told NHTSA about this accident as soon as Ford told us about it, and we are now getting as much information as we can. Everyone at Ford knows that safety comes first, and we will help any officials who are looking into this. It was found that BlueCruise is a Level 2 autonomous device. This means the driver is still in charge of what the car does and needs to be ready to take back control if needed. BlueCruise-equipped cars have cameras and infrared light sources inside to watch what the drivers see, which makes them less likely to avoid their duties. If the driver’s attention is taken away from the job at hand for a long time, BlueCruise will turn off. The latest Mach-E crash happened soon after the IIHS failed almost all automakers in a new grading system meant to test partly automated driving systems. This led to an investigation. The NTSB is one of many groups looking into how safe new driving assistance devices are. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) and the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) are two other government safety groups that are looking into the technology.
