US upgrades probe into 129,000 Ford vehicles over hands-free tech

(Reuters) -The U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said on Monday it is upgrading a probe into 129,222 Ford Motor (NYSE:) vehicles over reports of collisions involving the company’s hands-free driving technology, BlueCruise.

The NHTSA opened the investigation after receiving notices of two fatal collisions last April, involving BlueCruise-equipped Ford Mustang Mach-E vehicles.

The regulator said it is upgrading the probe to an engineering analysis, covering vehicles between the 2021-2024 model years.

Engineering analysis is a required step before the NHTSA could demand a recall.

The BlueCruise system uses a camera-based driver monitoring system to determine driver attentiveness and is used on 97% of U.S. and Canadian highways with no intersections or traffic signals.

The technology was introduced in model year 2021 and is currently available in a select range of Ford and Lincoln vehicles.

In April, the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) opened separate investigations into the two Mach-E crashes, including a Feb. 24 crash of a Honda (NYSE:) CR-V in Texas and a March 3 accident in Philadelphia.

According to the NHTSA, in both fatal collisions, the Ford Mustang Mach-E vehicle was traveling over 70 mph on a highway during nighttime lighting conditions on BlueCruise mode when it collided with a stationary vehicle.

The agency said these vehicles seem to have system limitations relating to the detection of stationary vehicles while traveling at highway speeds and in nighttime lighting.

NHTSA said it will further investigate these limitations and evaluate drivers’ ability to respond to scenarios that exceed such limitations.

Ford did not immediately respond to a Reuters’ request for comment.