The National Transportation Safety Board said Tuesday that driver-assistance systems that let drivers take their hands off the wheel do not improve road safety, pointing to how such technology can coexist with human distraction. At a hearing on two fatal crashes involving Ford’s Blue Cruise, NTSB Chairwoman Jennifer Homendy said the agency’s concerns apply across the industry and urged both improvements by automakers and action by federal regulators.
Homendy said the systems work primarily as convenience features rather than safety enhancements. “These systems function primarily as convenience features rather than safety enhancements,” Homendy said, describing a gap between how the technology is marketed and how it performs in real-world situations. She also showed a Ford commercial as part of her argument about how automakers present the hands-free capability to drivers.
The NTSB’s focus included the 2024 crashes in Texas and Pennsylvania, which killed three people after Ford Mustang Mach-E SUVs equipped with Blue Cruise struck stopped vehicles. The NTSB said the drivers in both cases were distracted in ways the system failed to recognize, including one driver who briefly glanced at the road while searching for a charging station in Texas and another who appeared focused on a cellphone held on top of the steering wheel in Pennsylvania.
In its recommendations stemming from the hearing, the NTSB said Ford should find ways to improve how Blue Cruise monitors drivers. The board also urged the federal government to establish minimum safety standards, even though the investigation centered on the two Ford crashes. NTSB vice chair Michael Graham said there are currently no clear U.S. government safety standards for the systems, so automakers’ versions can vary widely.
Several outside experts and advocates echoed the NTSB’s concerns about how the technology can encourage overreliance. Philip Koopman, a professor emeritus at Carnegie Mellon University and an expert on self-driving vehicle safety, said the NTSB findings highlight longstanding concerns about limitations in driver-assistance systems and the need for more work. “These concerns continue to be a problem,” Koopman said. “The finding today is that the journey is not over. More work is needed.”
Advocate Cathy Chase, president of Advocates for Highway and Auto Safety, said drivers who are already accustomed to using their cellphones may view checking them while using a hands-free system as acceptable because they trust the technology. Chase said, “Our brains are just wired in that if we think that a system is going to take over and reliably handle a driving task, we get bored and we look for something else to do.”
Homendy and other NTSB members also took aim at the inconsistency in crash detection and reporting across the industry. Graham said the NTSB has previously investigated crashes involving similar systems, including Tesla’s Autopilot, and Homendy said it was not fair to conclude one company’s system is worse simply because it reports more crashes; she said Tesla is “just much better at reporting crashes.” The NTSB urged the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration to require automakers to track and report crashes more reliably.
The hearing included details of the two fatal Ford crashes. In San Antonio, Texas, investigators said the Mach-E was traveling nearly 75 mph when it struck the rear of a Honda CR-V that was stopped in the middle of three lanes at night; the NTSB said the driver was looking for a nearby charging station and there was no evidence the Ford driver-assistance system tried to slow or swerve. Investigators also cited body camera footage showing that some of the CR-V’s lights were on before the crash, after another driver had said the taillights and hazards were not working.
In Philadelphia, the NTSB said the Mach-E hit a stationary Hyundai Elantra after an earlier crash involving a Toyota Prius. The Pennsylvania State Police said the Ford was in the left lane when it struck the Elantra, and the NTSB said the Mach-E was traveling 72 mph even though the speed limit had dropped to 45 mph in a construction zone; the NTSB said the Prius driver, who was outside his vehicle, was struck and thrown into the southbound lanes, and the person from the Hyundai also was hit. The Pennsylvania State Police later charged the driver in the Philadelphia crash with DUI homicide, according to the report, and the case was pending with no trial date set.
Homendy said the NTSB has long recommended systems that can automatically stop a vehicle when they detect an impending collision, and she said those collision-avoidance features have proven effective at reducing traffic deaths. NTSB members also said they were concerned that drivers under the influence of alcohol or drugs may believe driver assistance can help them drive while impaired, with Koopman citing the likelihood that some buyers view the technology as a way to get home even when impaired.