The U.S. Nationwide Transportation Security Board mentioned on Friday it was investigating using a complicated driver help system in a Ford Mustang Mach-E that was concerned in a Feb. 24 deadly crash in San Antonio, Texas.
The NTSB mentioned preliminary data indicated the Ford struck the rear of a Honda CR-V that was stationary in a visitors lane on Interstate Freeway 10. A San Antonio police report mentioned the Ford had “partial automation” engaged on the time of the crash.
The police report mentioned the motive force of the Honda CR-V, 56-year-old Jeffrey Allen Johnson of Austin, was taken to a hospital and later pronounced lifeless.
Ford presents BlueCruise, a complicated hands-free driving system that operates on 97% of U.S. and Canadian highways with no intersections or visitors indicators.
The NTSB mentioned it was investigating the crash “as a result of its continued curiosity in superior driver help methods and the way car operators work together with these applied sciences.”
The Nationwide Freeway Site visitors Security Administration (NHTSA) requires automakers to report all deadly crashes involving superior driver help methods.
A Ford spokesperson mentioned on Friday that the automaker “reported this incident to NHTSA as quickly as we had been made conscious, and we’re actively researching all accessible data. Security is a prime precedence for all of us at Ford, and we’ll collaborate totally with any ensuing investigation.”
The NTSB mentioned investigators would “study the wreckage and acquire details about the accident website and sequence of occasions resulting in the collision.”
The NTSB has opened a number of investigations lately into superior driver help methods, together with Tesla’s Autopilot.
