Top Federal Vehicle Safety Regulator has sent Ford An Exhausting list of questions About the hands -free driver assist known as BlueCruise. It is the latest development in a study that began more than a year after two deadly software crashes.
The National Traffic Safety Service (NHTSA) sent a letter to Ford on June 18 which contains 25 questions. Many of them are basic, such as Asking Ford for a detailed list of vehicles equipped with Bluecuise. But NHTSA also wants Ford internal documents related to the crushing research, the development of Bluecuise, the descriptions of any changes made to the software and much more.
It is the first “information request” sent by NHTSA Ford since upgrading the January research known as “Engineering Analysis”. This development is a required step before NHTSA may ask Ford to issue a recall.
A Ford spokesman told TechCrunch that the company is working with NHTSA to support this survey.
ODI opened the investigation in April 2024 after two deadly crashes. In each of these incidents, drivers use BlueCruise when crashed into vehicles that were immovable. They were the first known deaths to emerge from crashing crashes.
Ford only allows drivers to use BlueCruise on pre-paper highways. The hands -free system uses cameras, radar sensors and software to handle steering, speed and braking on certain highways. The software is combined with a camera inside the cabin with an eye surveillance system that is supposed to ensure that drivers pay attention to the road. The system, which costs $ 495 a year or $ 2,495 as a lump sum market, is available in the Ford Explorer, Ford Expedition, Ford F-150 truck and the Ford Mustang Mach-e.
Crusches at the beginning of 2024 raised the question of how capable Ford’s system is to recognize static objects-a problem that has plagued Tesla’s software for years.
NHTSA said in January, when upgrading the investigation, that it has discovered “restrictions on the detection of fixed vehicles under certain conditions” and that the performance of the Bluecuise “can be limited when there is poor visibility due to inadequate lighting”. (Both deadly crashes occurred at night.)
In the new letter, the NHTSA asked Ford for more information on the logic and/or algorithms of the BlueCruise software used in detecting and classifying risks in front of the vehicle.
Ford has until August 6 to submit its answers to the 25 questions or address urban sanctions.
