At the center of the inquiry are two crashes that resulted in fatalities, both occurring at night and involving Mach-Es traveling at freeway speeds with BlueCruise engaged. In these cases, the system failed to detect stationary vehicles, leading to deadly collisions.

Investigation opened last year has been stepped-up to an engineering analysis due to concerns over Mach-Es failing to spot stationary vehicles

Federal safety regulators are stepping up their investigation of Ford's BlueCruise hands-free technology following two fatal crashes involving all-electric

The government analysis will determine if a safety recall is necessary and could influence driver assistance features across the auto industry.