Jan 20 (Reuters) - The U.S. National Highway Traffic

Safety Administration said on Monday it is upgrading a probe

into 129,222 Ford Motor ( F ) vehicles over reports of

collisions involving the company's hands-free driving

technology, BlueCruise.

The NHTSA opened the investigation after receiving notices

of two fatal collisions last April, involving

BlueCruise-equipped Ford Mustang Mach-E vehicles.

The regulator said it is upgrading the probe to an

engineering analysis, covering vehicles between the 2021-2024

model years.

Engineering analysis is a required step before the NHTSA

could demand a recall.

The BlueCruise system uses a camera-based driver monitoring

system to determine driver attentiveness and is used on 97% of

U.S. and Canadian highways with no intersections or traffic

signals.

The technology was introduced in model year 2021 and is

currently available in a select range of Ford and Lincoln

vehicles.

In April, the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB)

opened separate investigations into the two Mach-E crashes,

including a Feb. 24 crash of a Honda CR-V in Texas and a March 3

accident in Philadelphia.

According to the NHTSA, in both fatal collisions, the

Ford Mustang Mach-E vehicle was traveling over 70 mph on a

highway during nighttime lighting conditions on BlueCruise mode

when it collided with a stationary vehicle.

The agency said these vehicles seem to have system

limitations relating to the detection of stationary vehicles

while traveling at highway speeds and in nighttime lighting.

NHTSA said it will further investigate these limitations

and evaluate drivers' ability to respond to scenarios that

exceed such limitations.

Ford did not immediately respond to a Reuters' request

for comment.