Honda Automatic Braking System Under Investigation by NHTSA
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) is investigating unexpected automatic braking in nearly 3 million Honda vehicles, potentially leading to a recall. The investigation, which began in February 2022, has been upgraded to an engineering analysis after receiving 1,294 complaints about the issue.
The complaints allege that the automatic emergency braking system can activate without any obstacles in the vehicle's path, increasing the risk of a crash. NHTSA has received 47 reports of crashes and 112 reports of injuries related to this problem.
the CR-V small SUV and the Accord midsize car. The model years included in the investigation are 2017-2022 for the CR-V and 2018-2022 for the Accord.
Honda claims that some customers may not fully understand the system and its limitations. However, consumers report that Honda dealerships were unable to reproduce the problem and told them that such sudden stops were normal for the system. In some cases, the problem persisted despite customer complaints.
Honda has stated that they will continue to cooperate with NHTSA's investigation and conduct their own internal review.
NHTSA will assess the frequency of the problem and its potential safety consequences. This investigation is part of a series of inquiries into the performance of automatic braking systems, which are touted for their ability to prevent rear-end crashes and save lives. NHTSA is currently developing regulations to require these systems on new vehicles and establish standards for obstacle detection and braking performance.
Most new vehicles already have automatic braking systems as part of a voluntary industry program.