By Alexandra Skores, NCS
Washington (NCS) — The National Transportation Safety Board decided that “drivers’ overreliance” on automated techniques had been contributing elements to two fatal accidents in 2024.
The investigation found that on separate highways, in totally different cities, Mustang Mach-E SUVs, with Ford’s BlueCruise know-how, drove into stationary automobiles, highlighting “several gaps in safety and oversight of partial automation systems.”
In a listening to Tuesday, the NTSB’s discovered issues in how Ford applied the know-how and federal rules for these kind of techniques that are being supplied by an growing variety of automobile corporations.
“This investigation highlights the urgent need for stronger safety standards and better oversight of automated driving systems,” mentioned Jennifer Homendy, NTSB chair in a information launch. “Manufacturers and federal regulators must ensure these technologies are designed, monitored and implemented in ways that keep all our road users safe. We cannot take a ‘hands off’ approach to hands-free driving technology. Lives depend on it.”
According to the NTSB, there are not any federal necessities for the techniques to file information throughout crashes, which regularly means producers can’t correctly report crashes involving this know-how.
A spokesperson for Ford informed NCS that the automaker “remains committed to safety,” noting the NTSB investigation discovered “no quality defects or equipment failures in BlueCruise.”
“We will take the NTSB’s recommendations under serious consideration as we continue to evolve our driver-assist technologies and encourage responsible road behavior,” Ford mentioned in an announcement.
On February 24, 2024, a Mustang Mach-E was driving east alongside Interstate 10 in San Antonio when it struck a Honda CR-V stopped in the middle lane, killing the motive force. Investigators suspect that driver was impaired. The individual in the Ford, who the NTSB mentioned was probably distracted by a navigation system, had minor accidents.
Then, days later, on March 3, 2024, one other Mustang Mach-E was rushing in the left lane of Interstate 95 in Philadelphia when it struck two stationary automobiles and one which was passing. The two stationary drivers had been killed, and the Mustang’s driver had minor accidents. The NTSB discovered the motive force was over-counting on the Ford’s automation whereas intoxicated, which can have been worsened by hashish use, and utilizing a mobile phone.
In each crashes, the drivers of the Mustangs and the automation system didn’t apply the brakes or strive to steer across the stopped automobiles.
Driver monitoring techniques, designed to detect distracted drivers, had been additionally ineffective in permitting for off-highway glances to go unnoticed, the NTSB discovered.
The NTSB issued suggestions urging Ford, the Department of Transportation and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration to undertake stronger guidelines for automation techniques and crash information reporting, in addition to enhance driver monitoring techniques to detect distraction.
A last report is predicted in the following a number of weeks.
The-NCS-Wire
™ & © 2026 Cable News Network, Inc., a Warner Bros. Discovery Company. All rights reserved.