The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) has launched an investigation on the highly popular Honda CR-V SUVs and Honda Accord sedans for a possible glitch in the vehicles' braking system. The investigation focuses on the issue of these Honda vehicles randomly slamming on the brakes without the driver even touching the brake pedal.
The Honda units in question are equipped with Automatic Emergency Braking (AEB) systems that are supposed to apply the brakes automatically on a vehicle if the driver fails to do it themselves in certain situations, like a pedestrian being in the car's path or a vehicle suddenly stopping in front of them.
The Japanese automaker developed the system as part of its goal to have Honda Sensing driver-assist safety technology as a standard on each one of its vehicles. A million Honda vehicles were already equipped in 2018 with this AEB system, which is primarily designed to prevent or reduce the severity of rear-end collisions.
The safety of that system itself has been put into question after the NHTSA received 278 complaints of sudden braking for no reason from Honda drivers in their respective Accords and CR-Vs. At least 171 of those complaints involved the 2017-2019 Honda CR-V crossover, while the remaining 107 involved 2018 or 2019 Honda Accord sedans.
According to the NHTSA, six cases involved minor injuries and collisions. That is concerning for Honda as the auto giant calls its AEB system the collision mitigation braking system. Several people who submitted braking complaints to NHTSA said the issue occurred in their Honda vehicles multiple times.
That left the NHTSA no other choice but to investigate the specific Honda models mentioned in the numerous complaints. As per CNET, mong the vehicles being investigated by the NHTSA are 2018 and 2019 model year Honda Accords and 2017 through 2019 Honda CR-Vs. Based on NHTSA's data, around 1.7 million such vehicles are currently used in the United States.
Honda issued an emailed statement regarding the inquiry, saying that it will "cooperate with the NHTSA through the investigation process" and that the company will continue its "own internal review of the available information."
This is not the first time that the NHTSA has put a braking system under the microscope. Tesla has also come under investigation by the safety agency earlier this month over complaints of "phantom braking" in the company's 2021 and 2022 Model Y and Model 3 electric vehicles. The problem affecting those vehicles also involves an automated emergency braking system.
Honda was one of 20 carmakers that agreed to a plan to make AEB systems standard on at least 95 percent of the company's vehicles by 2022. Honda said it intended to meet that target two years ahead of schedule.
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