— A Honda CMBS (Collision Mitigation Braking System) class action lawsuit alleges all 2019-2022 Honda Insight and 2019-2022 Honda Passport vehicles are dangerous to drive because they can suddenly brake without warning.
The Collision Mitigation Braking System is part of the Honda Sensing system which also includes Road Departure Mitigation, Adaptive Cruise Control with Low-Speed Follow and Lane Keeping Assist.
Honda describes the CMBS:
"Featuring a radar transmitter mounted in the front grille trim, CMBS™ can determine the distance and closing speed of obstacles ahead of you. If the radar and high-resolution camera detects another vehicle or a pedestrian in front of the car, it will provide both visual and audio warnings. If you do not immediately respond, the system will automatically apply the brakes."
But the Honda class action alleges the CMBS can activate without any forward obstacles, sometimes known as "phantom braking" or "false activations."
The Honda CMBS class action was filed a few weeks after federal safety regulators opened an investigation into false activations of the automatic emergency braking systems.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration investigation includes 2019-2022 Honda Passport and Insight vehicles.
Motion to Dismiss the Honda CMBS Lawsuit
According to Honda, the allegations have no merit because the 2019-2022 Honda Passport and Honda Insight owner's manuals warn customers the braking systems are not perfect.
Honda argues even the plaintiffs admit it's possible the automatic braking systems may experience false activations. Each plaintiff complains their vehicle experienced “sudden, unintended braking.”
Honda notes how the class action lawsuit mentions the owner's manuals multiple times and how the plaintiffs were supposedly not adequately warned about the unintended braking activations.
The CMBS warnings are supposedly a “small, allegedly hidden disclosure in the owner’s manuals,” but Honda says the judge previously found the information “would be appropriate to put Plaintiffs on notice of the defect.”
“Plaintiffs do not say that the content of this disclosure [in the owner’s manual] was insufficient, but that the disclosure should have been made more broadly—e.g., on Honda’s website, on Monroney labels, in television and internet advertisements, in sales brochures, or through dealers themselves.” — Judge Michael W Fitzgerald
The plaintiffs contend the disclosures about the automatic emergency braking system are in “small” or “fine print,” but Honda argues the owner's manual contains an entire three pages of information and graphics about how a CMBS functions and the related warnings.
The automaker also told the judge how easy it is to find disclosures and warnings about the emergency braking system.
Honda says "a reader seeking information about the CMBS system need only consult the table of contents and turn to the pages under the heading 'Honda Sensing ® > Collision Mitigation Braking SystemTM (CMBS TM).'”
And while the CMBS class action alleges the braking information was not disclosed “on Honda’s website,” Honda says that is "exactly where owner’s manuals could readily be found."
According to Honda, the CMBS lawsuit should be tossed out because each owner’s manual warns the braking system might activate “when there is no vehicle ahead.”
Each manual also warns about different types of road conditions that could possibly trigger false activations of the Collision Mitigation Braking System, including:
- Driving through curves
- Driving “under low or narrow bridges”
- Driving over speed bumps, steel plates or train tracks
- Driving past traffic signs or guard rails
Honda also argues the plaintiffs do not claim the vehicles with the automatic emergency braking systems are less safe than vehicles without them. And the plaintiffs don't assert it is possible to have a perfect "false-activation-proof CMBS."
According to Honda, the CMBS class action lawsuit "bottoms out on allegations" that Honda's "disclosures of the CMBS system’s limitations were insufficient."
The Honda CMBS lawsuit was filed by plaintiffs Margaret Amaru, Howard Barkan, James Khargie, Andrea Sivakova and Alexander Kipnis.
The Honda CMBS class action lawsuit was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California: Andrea Sivakova v. American Honda Motor Company, Inc.
The plaintiff is represented by Smith Krivoshey, PLLC.