NHTSA Complaint #11433404 — 2021 SUBARU FORESTER

FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE: AUTOMATIC EMERGENCY BRAKING issue reported to NHTSA

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Complaint Details

ODI Number 11433404
Vehicle 2021 SUBARU FORESTER
Component FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE: AUTOMATIC EMERGENCY BRAKING
Date of Incident
Date Filed
Mileage N/A miles
Crash No
Fire No
Injuries 0
Deaths 0
Vehicle Towed No
State MI

Consumer Description

While driving down a two-lane road at 50-55 mph, the car started beeping and said "obstacle detected" despite there being *no* cars in front of, to the side of, or to the rear of me. Also, there was *nothing* on the road (no roadkill, litter, or other debris). Immediately upon beeping, the speed abruptly dropped from 50 to below 15 in a matter of milliseconds. Had there been a car behind me, they would've either rear-ended me or had to swerve (possibly into oncoming traffic), and had the road been wet or slippery, I would've likely spun out, possibly into oncoming traffic. Had the incident occurred on the interstate, it is entirely possible that I could've been rear-ended by a driver traveling at full speed. Again, all of this over no physical obstacle and with nobody around. This isn't the first time that the crash mitigation system has been activated over no observable obstacle (in fact, similar incidents have happend at least thrice), but this resulted in the most severe and abrupt change in velocity and was particularly concerning due to the high likelihood that it could cause an accident if the event had occurred with someone behind me. Since the incident happened maybe two hours ago, it has yet to be inspected and it didn't cause an accident, but I no longer wish to own the vehicle as it's clearly not safe for passenger travel.

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