US investigates Ford's BlueCruise system after fatal collisions

The U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) announced on Monday that it has opened an investigation into 129,222 Ford vehicles following reports of collisions involving the company's BlueCruise hands-free driving technology.

The probe focuses on incidents involving Ford Mustang Mach-E vehicles equipped with BlueCruise, including two fatal collisions. BlueCruise utilizes a camera-based driver monitoring system to assess driver attentiveness and operates primarily on 97% of highways in the U.S. and Canada without intersections or traffic signals.

The investigation highlights the increasing focus on autonomous driving technologies, with automakers integrating features such as lane-keep assist and adaptive cruise control into their vehicles in recent years.