Washington DC
CNN
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The Nationwide Freeway Site visitors Security Administration mentioned on Monday it has opened an investigation right into a latest Ford Mustang Mach-E deadly crash in San Antonio, Texas, the place authorities suspect a sophisticated driver help system was in use.
Driver help options are being hailed by automakers as a method to scale back accidents, however federal security regulators are involved that over-reliance on the options by drivers may very well be inflicting some accidents.
Whereas NHTSA has opened greater than three dozen Tesla special crash investigations since 2016 the place superior driver help methods resembling Autopilot had been suspected of getting used with 20 crash deaths reported, that is NHTSA’s first particular crash probe involving a Ford superior system.
NHTSA sometimes opens greater than 100 particular crash investigations yearly into rising applied sciences and different potential auto issues of safety. Along with the NHTSA probe, on Friday, the Nationwide Transportation Security Board opened a separate investigation into the Feb. 24 crash.
The NTSB mentioned it was investigating the crash “on account of its continued curiosity in superior driver help methods and the way automobile operators work together with these applied sciences.”
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 driving force of the Honda CR-V, 56-year-old Jeffrey Allen Johnson of Austin, was taken to a hospital and later pronounced lifeless.
Ford has mentioned its BlueCruise is a sophisticated hands-free driving system that operates on 97% of U.S. and Canadian highways with no intersections or visitors alerts.
A Ford spokesperson mentioned the automaker “reported this incident to NHTSA as quickly as we had been made conscious, and we’re actively researching all obtainable data. Security is a prime precedence for all of us at Ford, and we are going to collaborate absolutely with any ensuing investigation.”
The NTSB has opened a number of investigations in recent times into superior driver help methods, resembling Tesla’s Autopilot and what it calls “Full Self Driving” or FSD.
CNN’s Chris Isidore contributed to this story