Ford BlueCruise fails to detect stopped vehicles at highway speeds
Ford's BlueCruise autonomous driving system failed to detect stationary vehicles during two fatal crashes in April 2024, each occurring at highway speeds above 70 mph. The system was designed to ignore stationary objects above 62 mph to prevent phantom braking, but this design choice created a fatal blindspot. NHTSA expanded its investigation to cover 129,222 Mustang Mach-Es.
What happened
Two fatal nighttime collisions in April 2024 revealed that BlueCruise fails to detect stationary vehicles when travelling above 70 mph.
BlueCruise deliberately ignores stationary objects at speeds above 62 mph to prevent phantom braking episodes, according to the system's design limitations.
Reported impact
Both drivers and their BlueCruise systems never hit the brakes before slamming into stopped cars in the fatal crashes.
NHTSA expanded its investigation to cover 129,222 Mustang Mach-Es after finding patterns in crash data.
Index analysis
According to NHTSA, 'system limitations relating to the detection of stationary vehicles while traveling at highway speeds and in nighttime lighting conditions appear to be factors' in the crashes.
BlueCruise uses cameras, radar, and driver monitoring across 97% of North American highways, but the Adaptive Cruise Control component stops responding to stationary objects once highway speeds are reached.
Classification
Sources and evidence
This record was researched and written by the Index, based on the following original reporting.