NHTSA Opens Investigation Into Fatal Crashes Involving Ford’s Blue Cruise Self-Driving

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) has initiated a formal investigation into Ford Motor Company’s BlueCruise self-driving technology. This follows two fatal crashes linked to the technology that resulted in 3 fatalities.

In particular, the investigation targets the 2021-2024 Ford Mustang Mach-E vehicles equipped with Co-Pilot360 Active 2.0. The NHTSA’s Office of Defects Investigation (ODI) is heading the investigation.

Two Fatal Crashes in Under Two Weeks

The first incident occurred on Interstate 10 near Foster Road in the eastbound lane. At around 9:50 PM on February 24, 2024, a Ford Mustang Mach-E rearended a stationary Honda CRV in the middle lane without its lights on. The occupant of the Honda CRV died of his injuries in hospital a short time after the crash.

The second incident occurred on March 3, 2024, on the I-95 in Philadelphia, when the same Ford model crashed into a 201 Hyundai Elantra and a 2006 Toyota Prius. Both vehicles were stationary in the travel lanes when the accident happened.

In both instances, the Ford vehicles were equipped with a variety of driver-assist technologies, with the partial-automation system being active at the time of the crash.

What is the NHTSA Investigating?

The report states that the investigation is specifically targeting vehicles with Co-Pilot360 Active 2.0, a suite of driver assistance technologies. Amongst others, these features offer lane and speed maintenance capabilities with the expectation that there is active driver supervision.

BlueCruise is a specific feature that’s only available on specific roads. It uses a camera-based driver monitoring system to check whether the driver is being attentive. BlueCruise was introduced with the 2001 model range. It’s currently present in a variety of Ford and Lincoln vehicles.

According to the NHTSA, their investigation touches on an estimated population of 130,050 vehicles.

Called a “safety investigation,” the goal is to establish whether Ford’s BlueCruise technology is reasonably safe and whether it actually does what drivers expect it to do.

Ford’s Response

In a statement to TechCrunch, Ford confirmed that it is “working with NHTSA to support its investigation.”

In parallel with the ongoing investigation, CEO Jim Farley has firmly stood by BlueCruise. Farley stressed the profitability of the driver-assist system, calling it “some awesome tech.”

He also told Ford Authority that, "BlueCruise just passed 150 million miles of hand-free use, but more importantly, the growth is up 25 per cent quarter-over-quarter, and the gross margins for BlueCruise are at 70-plus per cent.”

Last July, he also gave an update on X into the company's near-term plans for BlueCruise, “BlueCruise 1.3 will start rolling out this summer in Mustang Mach-E's from the factory & then later this summer to existing BlueCruise-equipped Mach-E's via a software update.”

This investigation comes at a critical juncture for the entire self-driving industry as numerous players are prepping for important rollouts in the coming year. It also comes soon after a Tesla recall of over 2 million vehicles, citing a risk of Autosteer crashes. The NHTSA has also investigated Tesla for incidents linked to its Autopilot technologies.