Two drivers involved in fatal crashes in 2024 while using Ford’s BlueCruise hands-free driving system were likely distracted in the moments before impact, according to new information released Wednesday by the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB).
The safety board released documents for each crash and announced it will hold a public hearing on March 31 in Washington D.C., where it will discuss the findings and likely issue recommendations to Ford. The NTSB is an independent federal agency that investigates transportation accidents, but doesn’t regulate the industry. The agency is expected to release a final report in the weeks following the March 31 hearing.
The crashes not only triggered an investigation by the NTSB, but also one from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA). NHTSA, which is a safety regulator, said in early 2025 it had determined BlueCruise has limitations in the “detection of stationary vehicles in certain conditions” and upgraded the probe; the regulator sent Ford an exhaustive list of questions as part of that probe in June 2025, which the company answered in August. The investigation is ongoing.
Ford has maintained through all this that BlueCruise is a “convenience feature” and that drivers must always be ready to take control of the vehicle. It also warns drivers that BlueCruise is “not a crash warning or avoidance system.” Buyers of new Ford vehicles can purchase BlueCruise for a one-time fee of $2,495 or a $495 annual subscription, according to the company.
That said, the NTSB’s investigation — and the hearing later this month — will likely put more of a spotlight on how companies like Ford communicate what purpose these driver assistance systems are supposed to serve and how to ensure they’re being used properly.
Distracted driving is a theme that has come up in various other investigations into other popular driver-assistance systems like Tesla’s now-retired Autopilot and its “Full Self-Driving (Supervised)” software. The NTSB’s prior investigation into a 2018 Autopilot-related death made particular note of distracted driving.
“In this crash we saw an over-reliance on technology, we saw distraction, we saw a lack of policy prohibiting cell phone use while driving, and we saw infrastructure failures, which, when combined, led to this tragic loss,” NTSB chairman Robert Sumwalt said at the time in reference to the 2018 crash.
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