Owners and lessees of 2017–2018 Honda Accord vehicles have filed a lawsuit claiming that the Honda Sensing technology suite, which comes with autonomous braking systems, contains several defects that make these vehicles difficult and unsafe to drive.
The autonomous braking system is known as the Collision Mitigation Braking System, and it is supposed to rely on radars and cameras to detect objects, provide alerts to drivers, and depress the brakes if a collision is imminent. However, these braking systems allegedly cause problems such as false alarms and random braking. More about these claims can be read in our previous blog post.
The lawsuit itself cites several complaints that were submitted to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration regarding these Honda Accord vehicles. We went through this list and pulled the complaints we thought best summed up the alleged defects.
Note that the submitted complaints have been edited for grammar and clarity.
When False Alarms Are Caused By Opposing Traffic
Submitted July 1, 2017
Collision Detection system falsely goes off on a regular basis due to opposing traffic. It slams brakes to floor, overriding the accelerator. This has happened in the middle of an intersection twice and on a two-way straightaway with no vehicle in my lane. I’ve had the car for 1 month and almost been in 3 accidents due to this faulty system, which I am now deactivating. I’ve driven vehicles with these before (Ford) and it never went off like this. The system is defective and dangerous.
When False Alarms Are Caused By Shadows
Submitted August 17, 2018
On three separate occasions, the car has seen a shadow on the ground and slammed on brakes, then releasing, for no reason. There were no other vehicles around me on each occasion. I thought the car was stopping on a yellow light on the first incident but was told by the service manager that it doesn’t do that. This is a very dangerous issue that needs to be addressed. I asked the service manager to disable it, but was told he can’t do that when it is possible because this is an added feature.
Submitted Dec 30, 2018
The car has a sensor for braking. On several occasions, I have been driving and the car braking system comes on, making the vehicle come to a sudden stop. During several of these dangerous braking events, no vehicles or objects were in front of me. I have almost been rear ended because of the braking.
I have noticed that even a shadow from a tree can trigger the sensor to make the braking system turn on, making the car come to a sudden stop. This is extremely dangerous and there is no way to turn this feature completely off. When you turn it off, it resets once you turn the ignition to start the car again. This recall needs to happen now before someone gets injured or killed.
When The System Does Not See Actual Obstacles
Submitted June 13, 2018
At 670 miles, I was driving slowly around a corner when I heard a long beep followed by a “Collision Mitigation Braking System problem. See your dealer” message. The adaptive cruise control also stopped working. I restarted the car and the error went away.
About a week later at 813 miles, I was driving in a straight road at 55 mph with the adaptive cruise control engaged when I heard a long beep. The adaptive cruise control disengaged, and I received the same error message as before. Restarting the vehicle clears the error and allows the adaptive cruise control to work again until the next time it occurs.
Both times, this has happened were on warm, sunny, clear days with dry roads and no obstructions in front of the radar or camera units. Yesterday, the CMBS failed to alert me to a four-wheeler that drove across the street in front of me and it seems less sensitive at detecting other vehicles now – even when there are no error messages or warning indicators present.
When The Autonomous Brakes Fail
Submitted October 11, 2018
While driving with the cruise control on, the Collision Mitigation Braking system will intermittently turn off and disable the cruise control. Dealer says nothing is wrong and claims the sensors are overloaded. This can happen on bright sunny days, cloudy days and at night. Sensor on front of car is clean; no bugs, smears or liquids. It will reset with a stop/start of the engine. Code check revealed. Uo401-53 temporary stop of integrated driver support system — received stop request by pgm-fi system. Error code 401-93 temporary stop of integrated driver support system — received stop request by pgm-fi system. This happens only when the cruise control is on and moving. This has happened at least 12 times in the past 8 months, most recently today.
Submitted November 8, 2018
The contact owned a 2017 Honda Accord. While the contact’s wife was driving 40 mph, the Collision Mitigation Braking System failed and she rear-ended another vehicle. The airbags did not deploy. A police report was filed and there were no injuries. The vehicle was towed by Liberty Mutual Insurance to a body shop and deemed a total loss. The vehicle was not taken to a dealer. The vehicle was not diagnosed. The manufacturer was notified and provided case number [redacted]. The failure mileage was approximately 16,098.
Lemon Law Help by Knight Law Group is an automotive lemon law firm that exclusively practices in California. If you are a California resident who purchased or leased a defective vehicle from a licensed dealership in California, we may be able to help you get rid of your potential lemon and recover significant cash compensation. Model year restrictions apply: 2017–Present vehicle models only.
However, we cannot help those who reside outside of California or purchased their vehicle outside of California unless they are active duty members of the Armed Forces, nor will we be able to refer those to a lemon law firm in their states.
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