— Honda automatic emergency braking problems in Accord and CR-V vehicles are the focus of a federal investigation following 107 Honda Accord automatic emergency braking complaints and 171 Honda CR-V automatic emergency braking complaints.
The complaints, as well as additional early warning reports, were filed about 2017-2019 Honda CR-V and 2018-2019 Honda Accord vehicles equipped with Honda's Collision Mitigation Braking Systems.
More than 1.7 million Honda Accord and CR-V vehicles are included in the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration investigation which seeks to determine just how bad the problem may be.
According to NHTSA, the Honda Accord and Honda CR-V automatic emergency braking systems activate even when nothing is obstructing the roads, something that has allegedly caused six collisions and minor injuries.
Honda calls its automatic emergency braking system the Collision Mitigation Braking System, or CMBS, which uses a windshield-mounted camera and a millimeter-wave radar transceiver to detect objects ahead of the Accord or CR-V.
According to Honda, its automatic emergency braking system is designed to perform in three stages.
- "STAGE ONE: If the system detects a risk of frontal collision with a vehicle detected ahead, a pedestrian or an oncoming vehicle, it will issue visual and audible alerts to the driver."
- "STAGE TWO: If the risk of a collision increases and the driver takes no action, the system will continue the visual and audible alerts, and begin to apply light braking."
- "STAGE THREE: If the system determines that a collision is unavoidable, it will continue the visual and audible alerts, and apply strong braking to help mitigate the forces of the collision."
Honda notes the system may not be able to apply the brakes enough to prevent a collision and cannot detect all objects. However, the collision mitigation system should not engage without any forward object in the road.
Some 2017-2019 Honda CR-V and 2018-2019 Honda Accord owners complained their vehicles experienced large sudden speed reductions suddenly and without warning.
Honda owners further complain the automatic emergency braking activation occurs randomly, leaving Accord and CR-V drivers at risk of being hit from behind by following vehicles.
CarComplaints.com will update our website with results of the 2017-2019 Honda CR-V and 2018-2019 Honda Accord automatic emergency braking investigation.