NHTSA Complaint #11684147 — 2020 HONDA PILOT

I own a 2020 Honda Pilot EX with approximately 58,000 miles. Every time I drive on two-lane roads, I receive a bright orange “Brake” warning from the Automatic Emergency Braking system when vehicles in the opposite lane are passing by. The system falsely detects an imminent collision, even though the oncoming vehicles are safely in their lane. The system then applies the brakes unnecessarily. Most of the time it brakes mildly, but on at least two occasions it has braked very hard, causing the vehicle behind me to nearly rear-end my car. This creates a significant and dangerous situation, as it could easily cause an accident. I now have to disable the automatic braking system every time I drive. During my last drive, after disabling the system, I received a warning message stating: “ABS Failure — Take to Dealer.” I have also experienced dangerous behavior from the Lane Departure Warning/Assist system. When exiting the freeway, if the lane lines disappear or become unclear, the vehicle has slammed on the brakes suddenly. On one occasion, this caused me severe whiplash. Thankfully, I was alone in the car — if my young children had been passengers, they could have suffered serious neck injuries. I have taken the vehicle to the Honda dealer and independent mechanics. Each time, they have only cleared the codes and told me it was due to “dirty sensors.” The warnings and braking issues, however, keep coming back. This issue is persistent, reproducible, and unsafe. The Automatic Emergency Braking, Lane Departure, and ABS systems are not functioning properly and create a real danger to myself, my passengers, and other drivers on the road.