The highest federal automobile security regulator has despatched Ford an exhaustive checklist of questions on its hands-free driver help system, often known as BlueCruise. It’s the newest improvement in an investigation that began a couple of yr in the past following two deadly crashes involving the software program.
The Nationwide Freeway Site visitors Security Administration’s (NHTSA) Workplace of Defects Investigation (ODI) despatched a letter to Ford on June 18 that comprises 25 questions. Lots of them are fundamental, comparable to asking Ford for an in depth checklist of autos which were outfitted with BlueCruise. However NHTSA additionally desires inside Ford paperwork associated to the crashes that sparked the probe, the event of BlueCruise, descriptions of any modifications made to the software program, and way more.
It’s the primary so-called “Data Request” that NHTSA has despatched Ford because it upgraded the investigation in January to a degree often known as an “engineering evaluation.” That development is a required step earlier than NHTSA can ask Ford to subject a recall.
A Ford spokesperson informed TechCrunch the corporate is working with NHTSA to assist this investigation.
ODI opened the investigation in April 2024 after two deadly crashes. In every of these incidents, the drivers had been utilizing BlueCruise once they crashed into autos that had been stationary. They had been the primary recognized fatalities ensuing from crashes involving the usage of BlueCruise.
Ford solely permits drivers to make use of BlueCruise on pre-mapped highways. The hands-free system makes use of cameras, radar sensors, and software program to deal with steering, velocity, and braking on sure highways. The software program is paired with an in-cabin digital camera with an eye-tracking system that’s supposed to make sure drivers are being attentive to the highway forward. The system, which prices $495 a yr or $2,495 as a one-time buy, is offered within the Ford Explorer, Ford Expedition, Ford F-150 truck, and the all-electric Ford Mustang Mach-E.
The crashes in early 2024 raised the query of how succesful Ford’s system is at recognizing stationary objects — an issue that has plagued Tesla’s personal driver-assistance software program for years.
NHTSA stated in January, when it upgraded the investigation, that it has found “limitations within the detection of stationary autos in sure circumstances” and that BlueCruise’s efficiency “could also be restricted when there’s poor visibility as a result of inadequate illumination.” (Each deadly crashes occurred at evening.)
Within the new letter, NHTSA has requested Ford for extra details about the BlueCruise software program’s “logic and/or algorithms used within the detection and classification of hazards in entrance of” the automobile.
Ford has till August 6 to submit its responses to the 25 questions or face civil penalties.
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