David Shepardson
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) said on Thursday it was investigating a fatal March 3 crash between a Ford (NYSE:) Mustang Mach-E and two stationary vehicles in Philadelphia in which an advanced driver assistance system may have been in use .
This is the second recent Ford crash being investigated by auto safety regulators and the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) in which use of a driver assistance system is suspected.
The March 3 crash caused a Ford to crash into two stationary vehicles on Interstate 95 in Philadelphia, killing two people and disrupting traffic for several hours. The NTSB said it was investigating in coordination with Pennsylvania State Police, which declined to comment.
Ford offers BlueCruise, an advanced hands-free driving system that works on 97% of U.S. and Canadian highways without intersections or traffic lights.
In March, NHTSA and the NTSB said they were investigating the use of advanced driver assistance systems in the Ford Mustang Mach-E, which was involved in a fatal crash on Feb. 24 in San Antonio, Texas, in which the Mach-E crashed into the rear of the vehicle. A Honda (NYSE:) A CR-V that was stopped in the traffic lane on Interstate 10. The San Antonio police report said the Ford was operating “partially automated” at the time of the crash.
Ford said it recently learned of the incident from the NTSB and informed NHTSA, which requires automakers to report all fatal crashes involving advanced driver assistance systems.
“We are investigating the events of March 3 and are fully cooperating with both agencies to understand the facts,” Ford said.
NHTSA has launched a special investigation into two recent Ford crashes. The agency typically conducts more than 100 special crash investigations each year that focus on new technologies and other potential vehicle safety issues.
Since 2016, NHTSA has initiated more than 40 special investigations into Tesla (NASDAQ:) crashes in cases where the use of driver systems such as Autopilot was suspected, and there have been 23 crash-related fatalities reported to date. In December, Tesla agreed to recall 2 million vehicles to install new Autopilot protections.
In recent years, the NTSB has launched several investigations into advanced driver assistance systems, including Tesla’s Autopilot.