The Mustang Mach-E driver who crashed into a parked 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's the first known fatality resulting from a crash using BlueCruise, which Ford first announced in 2021. The system allows drivers to take their hands off the steering wheel on pre-mapped highways and uses eye tracking to determine whether drivers 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 was investigating a second fatal crash near Philadelphia in which Ford's driver-assistance system may have been active. Ford told TechCrunch at the time that it had reported the Texas accident to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) and was “actively researching all available information.” The company declined to comment further on Thursday.
This second accident also involved a Ford hitting two parked cars, raising questions about whether the automaker's driver-assistance system had a problem similar to what Tesla has dealt with for years with Autopilot. NHTSA spent nearly three years investigating more than a dozen crashes in which Tesla drivers using Autopilot collided with stationary emergency vehicles.
The February incident occurred outside San Antonio. A 1999 Honda CR-V was parked in the center lane of Interstate 10 with its lights on at approximately 9:50 p.m. Central Time, when a Mustang Mach-E struck the rear of it. The Honda overturned and ended up in the left lane. The Mustang's driver “was driving in BlueCruise mode before the accident,” the safety board said Thursday. The 56-year-old driver of the Honda died after being transported to San Antonio Military Medical Center, according to a police report, while the driver of the Mustang suffered “minor injuries.” Police found no signs of intoxication in the Mustang's driver. Another driver missed the Honda moments before the Mustang crashed into it, the NTSB said.
The NTSB on Thursday released what is known as a preliminary report and is still investigating the incident. A ministry spokesman said the final report was likely to be published within 12 to 24 months. NHTSA is also investigating the Texas incident, 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.
