NHTSA Complaint #11636654 — 2019 HONDA CR-V

On [XXX] at [XXX], I was driving down the road - there were no vehicles in front of me. The sky was clear and the sun was bright. There are several trees whose limbs extend high above the roadway causing a shadow to be created beneath them. All of a sudden, the collision avoidance system activated on my car. The "BRAKE" light illuminated, the "chirping" sound associated with the "BRAKE" light activation occurred, and the brakes were instantly applied slowing me from 40 mph to about 15 mph. There was no impediment (vehicles, pedestrians, animals, etc.) in front of my car nor was there a car next to mine in an adjacent lane. The only logical conclusion I could come up with is this: the tree limbs overhead created a "shadow" on the roadway. This "shadow" was of enough contrast in brightness from the roadway, just prior to this incident, that the system concluded there was an obstruction of some type in front of my car. There was not another car behind me for about 100 feet or so, but had they been within the normal distance that driver's follow the car in front of them, I have no doubt the result would have been a rear-end collision. I have had several instances in the past where a contrast in reflected brightness of the roadway surface has activated the "BRAKE" light on my dashboard and the "chirping" sound associated with it. All but one have occurred along a particular stretch of [XXX] just west of [XXX] (specifically, it is on the ramp from southbound [XXX] to westbound [XXX] at about [XXX] ). The car is scheduled to be inspected on Monday, January 27, 2025 by my local Honda dealer. INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)