US safety regulators are expanding the investigation into Ford’s hands-free driving technology

The US federal safety regulator has “updated” its investigation into Ford’s hands-free advanced driver assistance system known as BlueCruise – a required step before issuing a recall.

National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s Office of Defect Investigation I launched an investigation Ford entered BlueCruise last April after the agency confirmed the system was active in the Ford Mustang Mach E vehicles involved. Two fatal accidents. In both cases, the Mustang Mach E crashed into parked vehicles.

NHTSA issued a Notice this week They elevated the investigation to engineering analysis. This means the agency will delve deeper into BlueCruise and its potential limitations, which includes vehicle evaluations, review of additional technical information, and additional analysis of related accidents and non-accident reports.

An estimated 129,222 Ford Mustang Mach E vehicles were equipped with BlueCruise, according to Organizer. Ford did not respond to a request for comment. (TechCrunch will update the article if this changes.)

The agency said its preliminary investigation found that BlueCruise had limitations in “detecting stationary vehicles in certain circumstances.” These limitations include the possibility of false detection of stationary objects over long distances when the Ford is traveling at speeds of 62 mph or more.

“In addition, system performance may be limited when visibility is poor due to insufficient lighting,” NHTSA said.

Ford BlueCruise debuted In 2021 on the 2021 F-150 pickup truck and some 2021 Mustang Mach-E models. Hands-free uses cameras, radar sensors and software to provide a combination of adaptive cruise control, lane centering and speed sign recognition. BlueCruise and competitor General Motors Super Cruise Both systems are hands-free, though there’s an in-cabin camera that monitors drivers to make sure their eyes are on the road.

These systems are considered competitors to Tesla’s Autopilot system, which still requires the driver’s hands to remain on the steering wheel. Autopilot and Tesla’s full self-driving software are still considered less restrictive than Ford BlueCruise, which only runs on certain pre-determined highways.

Last October, NHTSA also opened an investigation Tesla entered Tesla’s so-called “Full Self-Driving (supervised)” program after four crashes were reported in low-visibility situations — including one in which a pedestrian was killed. This investigation is ongoing.