PHILADELPHIA (AP/KYW Newsradio) — The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) is investigating a March crash in Philadelphia that killed two people and involved a Ford electric vehicle that may have been operating on a partially automated driving system.
A Mustang Mach E sport utility vehicle hit two stationary cars on I-95 at 3:19 a.m. on March 3, near the exit for the Betsy Ross Bridge, the agency said. Both drivers of the stationary cars were killed; one may have been outside of their vehicle. The driver of the Mustang survived.
In a post on the social media platform X, the NTSB said it is coordinating with Pennsylvania State Police in the probe. The Mach E hit a parked Toyota Prius and rammed it into a Hyundai Elantra, the agency said.
Ford said in a statement that it was told of the Philadelphia crash by the NTSB, and the company informed the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA).
“We are researching the events of March 3 and collaborating fully with both agencies to understand the facts,” the company said Wednesday.
The crash is the second this year involving a Mach E that the NTSB has sent a team to investigate. The first crash occurred on Feb. 24 along Interstate 10 in San Antonio, Texas. The NHTSA is also investigating that crash, in which the Mach E struck a Honda CR-V that was stopped in the middle lane with no lights around 9:50 p.m. The driver of the CR-V was killed.
The NTSB said that preliminary information shows the Mach E in the Texas crash was equipped with Ford’s partially automated driving system. The agency at the time said it was investigating the crash due to continued interest in advanced driver assistance systems and how vehicle operators interact with the new technology.
Ford’s Blue Cruise system allows drivers to take their hands off the steering wheel while it handles steering, braking and acceleration on highways. The company says the system isn’t fully autonomous and it monitors drivers to make sure they pay attention to the road. It operates on 97% of controlled access highways in the U.S. and Canada, Ford says.
It is not clear if the feature was in use at the time of the Philadelphia crash.
There are no fully autonomous vehicles for sale to the public in the U.S.
Both NHTSA and the NTSB have investigated multiple previous crashes involving partially automated driving systems, most involving Tesla’s Autopilot. In past investigations, the NTSB has examined how the partially automated system functioned.