— Ford Mustang Mach-E fatal crashes while the vehicles had BlueCruise engaged caused a federal investigation in April 2024.
But that investigation has now been upgraded to further investigate Ford's partial driving automation systems in 2021-2024 Mustang Mach-E SUVs.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration opened the investigation after learning about two fatal crashes of Ford Mustang Mach-E vehicles equipped with BlueCruise.
Ford says BlueCruise is part of the Co-Pilot360 Active 2.0 system.
Ford was asked to provide data regarding crashes, non-crash reports and technical details about BlueCruise. In addition, NHTSA also asked for details about other partial automated systems offered by Ford which provide lane and speed features.
According to Ford, there are 2,539,962 Ford and Lincoln vehicles equipped with partial driving automation systems, specifically Lane Centering Assist (LCA) and Adaptive Cruise Control (ACC).
Ford says the lane centering feature is a hands-on partial driving automation system that "combines longitudinal control authority governed by Adaptive Cruise Control (ACC) and lateral control authority governed by a steerable path."
Ford Mustang Mach-E BlueCruise Crashes
One fatal crash occurred in February 2024 when a 2022 Mustang Mach-E with BlueCruise engaged slammed into the rear of a stationary 1999 Honda CR-V in San Antonio, Texas.
The Honda CR-V was reportedly stopped in the middle of three traffic lanes at night, and the Ford BlueCruise system as well as the Ford driver never did anything to avoid the crash which killed the 56-year-old Honda CR-V driver.
The other fatal Ford Mustang Mach-E crash occurred in March 2024 when two people were killed on Interstate 95 in Philadelphia.
In the incident report, a Hyundai Elantra had collided with a Toyota Prius which left the Hyundai stopped in the left lane when the Ford Mustang Mach-E on BlueCruise slammed into the Hyundai. The Hyundai Elantra was then pushed into the Toyota Prius.
The fatalities occurred when the Mach-E with BlueCruise ran down the driver of the Prius who was standing near the vehicle, then the Ford slammed into a person who had exited the Hyundai, killing both.
The Ford Mustang Mach-E was driven by 23-year-old pre-med student Dimple Patel, who was driving drunk when her Ford Mustang Mach-E killed the two men.
NHTSA confirmed BlueCruise was engaged prior to the crashes.
According to the government, both crashes involved Ford Mustang Mach-E SUVs traveling more than 70 mph on highways at night with hands-free BlueCruise engaged. Both crashes also involved stationary vehicles.
Data from the Ford Mustang Mach-E event data recorders, also called black boxes, show neither Ford driver applied the brakes or took evasive steering action, and no deceleration was initiated by either a driver or the BlueCruise system prior to impact.
NHTSA knows of 32 crashes and 2,004 non-crash reports on Mach-E SUVs and peer Ford vehicles.
"Through this investigation, limitations in the detection of stationary vehicles in certain conditions have been identified. Specifically, due to the potential for false detection of stationary objects at long distances, Ford designed ACC to inhibit any response to reported stationary objects when the subject vehicle’s approach speed is at or above 62 mph. Additionally, system performance may be limited when there is poor visibility due to insufficient illumination." — NHTSA
Federal safety regulators have upgraded the Ford BlueCruise investigation to "further investigate these system limitations and to evaluate drivers’ ability to respond to scenarios that exceed system limitations."
CarComplaints.com will update our website with results of the Ford Mustang Mach-E BlueCruise investigation.
