Federal Watchdog Investigates Ford BlueCruise After Two Fatal Crashes

Unfortunately, the Ford Motor Company's BlueCruise system is currently under investigation by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration for two crashes that resulted in three fatalities. The preliminary evaluation opened by the federal agency states that both crashes involved Mustang Mach-E vehicles colliding into stationary vehicles located within the travel lanes of controlled-access highways.

As per the document attached below, the crashes occurred at night. The Office of Defects Investigation confirmed that BlueCruise was engaged prior to the collisions. Given that BlueCruise requires the driver's attention at all times, the federal watchdog opened this investigation to evaluate the system's performance of the dynamic driving task and driver monitoring. The latter is done by a camera-based monitoring system programmed to determine driver attentiveness to the road ahead.

This probe comes mere days after the Office of Defects Investigation closed an investigation into Tesla Autopilot, identifying a worrying gap between driver expectations of the system's operating capabilities and the system's actual capabilities. Truth be told, Autopilot is a very misleading name for a Level 2 system. The Full Self-Driving Capability upgrade, which is $8,000 as of April 2024, is L2 as well.

Tesla's misleading name for Autopilot is a bit disappointing as well, for Tesla's website clearly states that "before enabling Autopilot, you must agree to keep your hands on the steering wheel at all times and to always maintain control and responsibility for your vehicle.”

Certain people may interpret said clause as nothing more than legalese, but looking at the bigger picture, Tesla shouldn't be pointed at for trying to pass the blame for any crash that may occur while Autopilot is engaged. As with every other vehicle, and especially those devoid of autonomy, the driver should be attentive at all times.

Ford BlueCruise rolled out in 2021, and to date, only five nameplates have received it: Mustang Mach-E, Explorer, Expedition, F-150, and F-150 Lightning. Similar to the fine print on Tesla's website, Ford says that "BlueCruise driver-assist features do not replace safe driving or driver’s attention, judgment and need to control the vehicle." Be that as it may, Ford is perfectly fine with removing one's hands in a Hands-Free Blue Zone as long as the driver always watches the road and is prepared to resume control in order to avoid a collision.

The most affordable of Mustang Mach-E specifications available for model year 2024 is the Select Rear-Wheel Drive Standard Range at $39,995 excluding taxes and optional extras. The Explorer, meanwhile, is $36,860 from the outset. As for the Expedition, F-150, and F-150 Lightning, their base manufacturer suggested retail prices are $55,525, $36,770, and $62,995.

Preliminary evaluation PE24012 could result in a recall comprising 130,050 units of the 2021 to 2024 model year Mustang Mach-E. At the moment of reporting, BlueCruise can be trialed for 90 days. After this period, the user can purchase a monthly plan ($75) or an annual plan ($800).