[The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) is investigating Ford's BlueCruise hands-free driver assistance technology for its possible involvement in two crashes that killed three peopleBlueCruise is installed in the Mustang Mach-E and F-150 Lightning but as of this writing, these trucks have not been involved in hands-free accidents [The NHTSA filing discovered by PCMag was filed last week In both cases, the Ford vehicles were in motion when they collided with stopped vehicles in the travel lane, according to documents filed by NHTSA's Office of Deficiency Investigations (ODI), which said the Blue Cruise driver assistance technology was activated "shortly before" the accidents The technology uses a camera and radar sensing device on the vehicle to allow the driver to take his or her hands off the wheel while the vehicle is in motion

In total, there are approximately 130,000 Ford vehicles with Blue Cruise on the road If NHTSA and Ford were to issue a recall, it would have far-reaching consequences If, like the Tesla Autopilot issue, it can be fixed with a software update, it would not be so complicated for Ford If the owner needs to take the car into a Ford store to fix it, as is happening with Cyber Trucks, it will be a more complicated process

When PCMag reached out to Ford for comment, we were told, "We are working with NHTSA to support the investigation" Ford representatives did not elaborate on whether a recall is planned or if these are isolated incidents

When using BlueCruise or other hands-free driving technologies on the market, the automaker advises drivers to remain alert and focused on the road for contingencies Ford's technology is supposed to alert drivers when they need to take control It is unclear whether drivers were paying attention in these specific accidents, or whether they received warnings before the accidents occurred Perhaps that is part of what the NHTSA is investigating

It appears that there is still a long way to go before self-driving cars will rule the road Certainly, hands-free driving and Tesla's Autopilot have made great strides in a short period of time, but there still seems to be a lot of work needed