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DETROIT – The Nationwide Transportation Security Board is investigating a deadly crash in San Antonio, Texas, involving a Ford electrical automobile which will have been utilizing {a partially} automated driving system.
The company mentioned in an announcement Friday {that a} staff of investigators from its Freeway Security Workplace will journey to Texas and work with police on the Feb. 24 crash on Interstate 10.
The NTSB mentioned preliminary info exhibits {that a} Ford Mustang Mach-E SUV geared up with the corporate's partially automated driving system collided with the again of a Honda CR-V that was stopped in one of many freeway lanes.
The Mach-E driver instructed police the Honda was stopped within the center lane with out lights earlier than the crash round 9:50 p.m., tv station KSAT reported. The 56-year-old driver of the CR-V was killed.
“The NTSB is investigating this deadly crash due to its persevering with curiosity in superior driver help programs and the way automobile operators work together with these applied sciences,” the company's assertion mentioned.
Ford's Blue Cruise system permits drivers to take their arms off the steering wheel whereas it handles steering, braking and acceleration on highways. The corporate says the system isn’t absolutely autonomous and that it displays drivers to verify they take note of the highway. Ford says it operates on 97% of managed entry highways within the US and Canada.
There aren’t any absolutely autonomous automobiles on the market to the general public within the US
The NTSB mentioned investigators will journey to San Antonio to look at the wreckage, collect details about the crash website and look into the occasions main as much as the collision. A preliminary report is predicted inside 30 days.
In an announcement, Ford mentioned it was researching the accident and the details weren’t but clear. The corporate expressed sympathy for these concerned and mentioned it had reported the accident to the Nationwide Freeway Visitors Security Administration.
Each the NHTSA and NTSB have investigated a number of earlier crashes involving partially automated driving programs, nearly all of which concerned Tesla's Autopilot. In earlier investigations, the NTSB has examined how partially automated programs work.