2020 HONDA CR-V Forward Collision Avoidance Automatic Emergency Braking Problems

Traveling at 70 mph on I-5, Washington State, a warning message telling us the braking system was compromised, referencing "VSA", part so the stability control system. We pulled over and turned the car off, deleting the message. Within two miles of proceeding along the road the display presented a message saying the parking/emergency brake was malfunctioning, at 70 mph. Three days later my wife was backing up in the driveway and the car applied the brakes and would not proceed. When my wife engaged the forward gear the car did drive forward while cycling various error messages. It, via computer interpretation, determines how the brake fluid pressure is applied/distributed to all and any of the braking systems. Some systems are automatically initiated and others are initiated by the driver. These systems include the auto-emergency braking, the application of the electric foot brakes, the parking brake among others. We had the...

Facing the sun, driving through an intersection with a green light. No cars ahead or behind me, and no pedestrians in sight. As I passed under the light, the car slammed on the brakes once, let up a little, and then slammed on the brakes again. It flashed the BRAKE indicator on the dash. Then driving resumed as normal. If there had been a vehicle behind me, it would have rear ended me, no question.

6/14/25 - automatic emergency braking system engaged twice without any impediments in road while driving 40 miles of non-freeway driving. Mileage of vehicle is 30460 miles. AEBS engaged at 45 mph and 50 mph. Scary incidents but no accident or injury today. Concerned about continued driving and future incidents. Will contact Honda dealership. Need to issue a recall.

While driving the vehicle the collision avoidance activated on its own. The brakes automatically applied when I was not near a vehicle in front of me. When over railroad crossing and the system activated. My speed was around 28 to 30 mph. The system slowed me down to 24 mph. This has occurred twice. First occurrence was on [XXX], and second on [XXX]. Dash camera footage inside and outside is available to both occurrences. Ide Honda in Penfield, NY was notified after the first instance. The vehicle was not brought in to have it looked at. The vehicle is scheduled for service on June 12, 2025 at Ide Honda in Penfield, NY. INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)

The vehicle seems to get a mind of its own and around turns on the highway or by curved roads with a barrier, the vehicle slows down. This has happened quite a few times in different scenarios.

While driving on the road and passing through an intersection, my car suddenly applied the brakes automatically, attempting to stop the vehicle. During this time, there were no obstacles in front of the car, and I did not step on the brakes.

Car suddenly breaks without my control, and wheels do not recognize new paved roads. Traction light stays on. Car pulls me outside of lane and I have to force the wheel to drive straight and stay in the lane.

1) “Collision Mitigation Braking System” (CMBS); CMBS still exists on this car. 2) Potential for getting rear-ended. 3) My brother with similar CR-V reports random CMBS braking. 4) No 5) CMBS first brake warning only after I started letting up off the brake pedal. CMBS produced 2nd brake warning just as it slammed on the brakes - AFTER distance between my car and car in front was already increasing (ie - no chance for collision). First appearance: I've been getting false CMBS brake alarms since purchase of car - this was the first time CMBS slammed on the brakes. I've heard other stories about CMBS type systems causing wrecks, etc... - I believe CMBS type systems need to be removed from all cars.

On August 15, 2024, around noon, I was stopped at a red light waiting for the light to turn green. When it finally did, I released my foot from the brake pedal and proceeded to accelerate. Not even 2 seconds later, I heard a beeping sound (from collision mitigation system) and my car abruptly stopped. There was no car in front of me and the car behind me was 2 car distances away. My car abruptly stopped on its own with no obstruction in sight in front or behind. I am very concerned to say the least and now feel unsafe driving my car especially since I drive my children around all the time. The automatic braking system/collision mitigation braking system on my 2020 Honda CRV, although meant to increase safety seems to do the exact opposite. I did some research and learned how to turned the collision mitigation braking...

I was the first and only car waiting at a stop light, when the light turned green I began to accelerate and as I aproached the crosswalk line the car auto-braked hard. There were no other cars near by, nor pedestrians anywhere. The auto-braking only lasted a second, did not quite come to a full stop and has not repeated. If there had been a car behind me, I could have easily been rear ended. I notified the service department at the dealership and told them of the NHTSA investigation, he said this was the first he has heard of the problem and if it happens again to document it and bring it in for inspection. I will do so. There were no warning lamps or messages before or after the incident.

In 2 opportunities when I am going over a SPEED BUMP my SUV senses the bump as a possible hazard and stopped the car from 25 to 0 in a fraction of a second. BOTH Times I have had passengers with me. Almost got rear ended this last time. I went to the dealer the first time this happened and they did not give it enough importance and denied to disable it.

This 2020 Honda CR-V has experienced 5 uncommanded automatic braking events so far. All 5 events were in wet conditions, with no apparent obstacle in front of the vehicle. One of these events occurred on I-35 at 70mph, and resulted in a full stop with the car facing oncoming traffic. The Collision Mitigation Braking System frequently provides false warnings in this vehicle.

The orange flashing rectangular "BRAKE" warning light on the dashboard display comes on intermittently and randomly while I am driving when there is NOTHING on the road or in front of the car warning me that the car will be braking itself. This has happened while driving 70 mph on the Interstate as well as on local roads going 30-40 mph and in all of these instances there has been nothing in the way of the car! No vehicles. No objects. Nothing. If I had not seen the warning light display on the dashboard and the automatic braking system would have stopped my car while driving 70 mph I could have been killed by a driver behind me on the road running into my car or by severe whiplash from stopping so fast unknowingly. I have reported this to my local Honda dealership where I bought the car (twice now...

Filed complaint #11587646 on May 8,2024. I'm uploading photo of the problem.

On 4/14/24, while driving ~45mph with no cars or other obstacles anywhere in sight, automatic braking engaged. It was out of the blue, and alarming. Fortunately, no car was behind me, so no accident occurred. I had no indication of any problem prior to this incident. This problem has not occurred again. The Honda dealer offered to run a diagnostic for $100, but seemed disbelieving that they would find anything, so I did not pursue, still thought it was dangerous enough that I should report this.

The contact owns a 2020 Honda CR-V. The contact stated while driving 45 MPH the brakes independently activated. The contact stated that the vehicle slowed to approximately 15 MPH. The contact stated that the "brake" warning light was illuminated. The contact stated that the vehicle was no longer braking, and the contact continued driving to his destination. The contact stated that the failure occurred one more time. The contact had not taken the vehicle to a local dealer or independent mechanic. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was not informed of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 27,000.

I've owned this car for 4 years. The automatic braking has engaged a couple of times each year. There is never any traffic in front of me when this happens. It only happens on multi-lane highways. It has happend during the day and at night. Weather is always clear when it happens.

Car came to an emergency stop with no cars or other objects in it's path

When I am in adaptive cruise control mode, and I am in the left lane and a large vehicle like a semi-truck or a pickup truck pulling a large trailer is in the right lane passes me, from time to time it will engage the braking system even though there is nothing in front of my vehicle. Recently it has also been happening if I am in the right lane and vehicle exits the highway on an off ramp. I have been lucky to date that no vehicle was behind me when the braking system engaged, or there would have been an accident. This issue has been occurring ever since I bought the 2020 CRV new and have brought it to the attention of the dealer several times, and they say they could not find an issue. My last scheduled maintenance appointment they recommended recalibrating the system, and the issue...

Driving about 35mph. Nearest vehicle ahead of me (semi trailer) was about a block ahead. My brake alert came on. I did not brake because there was no need to. Then the car applied the brakes automatically. No accident as no one was behind me. This occurred first week of Dec 2023. There was a prior incident about a month ago where the car ahead of me was about a car and a half length ahead. Brake alert came on, then Went off. I didn’t brake and really didn’t think too much of it. But after reading online, others having issues I thought it needs to be reported.

On multiple occasions, the car initiated the automated emergency braking, bringing the car to a full and sudden stop in the middle of traffic, despite there being no obstacle, and without first giving a forward collision warning. This easily could have resulted in a catastrophic crash, or at the very least whiplash, at higher speeds. I can provide dashcam footage of one of these events.

Vehicle activated emergency braking system for no apparent reason. If a vehicle would have been behind us, it may have collided with us. The brake released at around 10 mph.

i was driving 55 mph on north long lake road approaching the north long lake/west long lake intersection. A car was in the turn lane and almost turned to Lake Ann. Another car was approaching going east. The automatic braking suddenly came on for no reason Almost stopping the car in the middle of the road. The CRV slowed very quickly from 55 mph to 5 mph for no reason. Then it went off and I was able to speed back up. this is the second time the braking system has stopped the car for no reason. Luckily there was no one behind me. this is the second complaint I have filed to NHSTA for the same reason

AT A 4 WAY STOP INTERSECTION, WHEN IT WAS MY TURN, I DROVE THROUGH THE INTERSECTION AND SUDDENLY THE AUTOMATIC BRAKING SYSTEM STOPPED THE CAR IN THE MIDDLE OF THE INTERSECTION BUT THERE WAS NOT ANYTHING i WAS GOING TO COLLIDE WITH. THE "BRAKE" WARNING CAME ON BUT AS SOON AS I STOPPED VERY ABRUPTLY, IT WENT OFF AND I WAS ABLE TO DRIVE AWAY. i AM TERRIFIED THAT THE CRV WILL BRAKE AGAIN WITHOUT WARNING AND A CAR WILL HIT ME.

The contact stated that his granddaughter owned a 2020 Honda CR-V. The contact stated that while his granddaughter was driving approximately 40 MPH, the automatic braking system activated on the instrument panel and the vehicle stopped immediately after the failure. The driver had to wait several minutes before being able to continue driving. The failure recurred twice. The vehicle had not been taken to the dealer to be diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 25,000. The dealer adjusted the cameras and sensors. The repairs were made at the owners expense.

Whenever it snows, the radar placement on the front grill of the vehicle gets covered in snow/ice, etc. and all advanced safety features are shut off while driving. This has been reported to Honda before over the last 2 years to no avail. This is a safety hazard and also very dangerous while driving in inclement weather.

The contact owns a 2020 Honda CR-V. The contact stated while driving 40 MPH, the collision mitigation braking system (CMBS) engaged inadvertently while there were no vehicles or objects nearby the vehicle. There was no warning light illuminated. The contact stated that the failure reoccurred several times while driving. The vehicle was taken to the dealer, who informed the contact that they could not duplicate the failure as there was no warning light illuminated. The vehicle was not diagnosed nor repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 40,000.

Phantom Braking incident. This has changed continually happened since I took delivery of the vehicle. The brakes are autonomously applied for no apparent reason.

Several months ago, I was driving on the interstate with cruise control on. I passed a disabled vehicle parked on the shoulder of the highway. My car started to brake like crazy on its own when I passed this vehicle. Fortunately there were no other vehicles next to me or behind me or I could have had a very serious wreck. Last weekend, I was driving in town and already slowing down on my own for a vehicle in front of me. I was barely touching the brakes but the automatic braking slammed on the brakes for no apparent reason and almost caused the car behind me to rear end my vehicle.

Driving on I-275 freeway along with my friend to Airport. Both Lane Keep Assistant and Adaptive Cruise Control were ON. I kept cruising at 65 miles/hour and drove about 7 miles with no issues. My vehicle slowed down by detecting a vehicle ahead of me driving in 55 m/h. As the next line was free, I moved to the left line and my vehicle started accelerating to 65 m/h. It had not detected a stopped vehicle ahead of me. I expected the ACC OR CMBS features to detect and slow down my car but no alert was received. Also Automatic Emergency Breaking system not slowed down or stopped my vehicle. I applied hard breaks but the vehicle hit the stopped vehicle and both airbags deployed. Lucky that we are safe and no injuries to us but car was totaled. Progressive Auto Policy: [XXX], Police Incident Number: [XXX], Ticket Number: [XXX],...

In March/April 2020 I was driving at 65 miles per hour on a rural highway. The only vehicles on the road were my car, the pickup in front of me and the pickup behind me. Since the highway was so quiet, I decided to try Adaptive Cruise Control (ACC). I set it for 65 miles per hour (the speed limit). We had been driving for about 15 minutes, each car maintaining the same speed and distance. The pickup in front of me turned on his turn signal for a right turn and entered the right turn lane. As my car approached the pickup, in the turn lane, the automatic braking system activated. I lunged forward, the seat belt activated, braking warning was displayed on screen and there was an audible alarm. I managed to take control of the vehicle and to accelerate. I was afraid the vehicle behind me would...

The auto brake feature engaged on the beltway by itself and caused the car to come to a complete stop while cars behind us were forced to swerve out of the way to avoid a serious accident. My wife is afraid to keep driving the car and we are now figuring out a way to get rid of it. Reported to local dealer but did not get any response.

Phantom Braking Incident. As I was driving at approximately 35 mph, the vehicle applied brakes for no apparent reason. Luckily, the vehicle traveling behind me didn't crash into the rear of my vehicle but had this happened when traveling at higher speeds, there would have been a serious accident. This has happened numerous times since owning the vehicle, but only the 2nd time I've reported it here.

When driving at high speed on the highway, I have had instances of both FCW and/or AEB activating when there was no vehicle in front of me. This tends to happen without known cause and while I take the same route every day on my commute, the issue does not always occur. When FCW initiates with a large flashing BRAKE warning on the dash and loud beeping while at highway speeds, I am startled and second guess myself that I am not seeing something I am about to impact with. This creates confusion and can lead to making a maneuver or my braking in error which can cause a crash. This issue has occured numerous times and in speaking with other owners of the same vehicle, they have witnessed the same issue. I have also had AEB initiate at least twice while at highway speeds when there was no vehicle...

I was driving and the automatic emergency breaking activated without warning. I was driving 40 miles per hour with no car near me and the car abruptly stopped without warning. This is the second time this has happened with a similar situation occurring

Automatic braking system engaging when no cars or objects are present. Has happened while on highway at relatively high speeds and on regular neighborhood streets.

I have noticed multiple times that when i exit from highway it will suddenly deaccelerate. I wasn't following any cars on those days and luckily no car behind me those times.

too frequently the car automatically hard brakes & flashes "BRAKE" on the dash with no collision imminent but has almost caused accidents in doing so. This has happened turning slowly thru a busy intersection, driving moderate speed straight on a dappled sunlit road with no car around, driving in light traffic on a multi-lane highway at higher speeds. I have had the local Honda techs look at it last year and all they could do is ask if I want the sensitivity turned down. What good is the system if one thwarts what it is supposed to actually do?? Also there is no way to clean the front cameras which might have debris causing this. As it is happening more frequently, perhaps a debris collection is precisely the issue. Honda needs to take ownership of this faulty system & fix it!

Driving north toward Lebanon, Ohio on Route 48. One passenger and one dog in backseat. No one in front passenger seat. Car beeped and alerted to BRAKE then suddenly braked very hard with no cars around or in front.

1. The vehicle will inadvertently and without warning, apply the brakes (phantom braking). 2. The Lane keeping assist will not follow the road, especially when the road curves. The vehicle will sometimes not negotiate the required turn to stay in the lane.

The contact owns a 2020 Honda CR-V. The contact stated while driving 20 MPH, the Collision Mitigation Braking system engaged and the vehicle stopped abruptly. There were no other vehicles or objects nearby. The contact depressed the accelerator pedal and resumed normal driving. The contact stated that the failure reoccurred on four different occasions. The dealer was notified of the failure and an appointment was scheduled. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 4,000.

I was in an accident this morning on the freeway where they are doing road construction. The lanes are VERY narrow due to cement wall placed for construction. The vehicle in front of me slammed on their brakes suddenly so when i did the Automatic brakes kicked in on my car surpassing the level of my own braking and took over. The car came to a compelete stop. IT was terrifying because i didnt have control to keep moving to try and get out of the way from the semi driving behind me. I moved over as much as i could even with a cement wall so close. I ended up getting rear ended by the Semi. This automatic braking system is DANGEROUS. With the car taking over my brakes lost me time to try and get out of the way even more which ccould have possibly prevented the accident...

When I was driving my vehicle on 7-21-22 at approximately 4:20pm my emergency breaking system was flashing and breaking on it's own. There was nothing in front of my vehicle at the time. Later at approximately 4:25pm a woman hit my passenger side after running a red light. My passenger side airbag did not deploy. However, about 5-10 seconds after impact my steering wheel airbag deployed and hit me in the left side of my face. The delayed reaction has caused lacerations on my face, burns on my hand, bruising and loss of part of my tooth. I am also suffering from head issues and pain in my chest from this delayed airbag deployment. Vehicle had to be towed away to a garage and is not drivable.

The contact owns a 2020 Honda CR-V. The contact stated while her husband was driving 5 mph, the brakes were depressed by mitigation braking system. The contact stated no warning light was illuminated. The driver was depressing the accelerator pedal but failed to accelerate causing the vehicle behind him to rear end their vehicle. The contact stated no one was injured nor sought medical attention. A police report was not filed. The contact towed the vehicle to the local dealer but they were unable to duplicate the failure. The vehicle was not repaired and the driver deactivated the forward collision on the vehicle. The vehicle was towed to a collision shop and had the rear bumper replaced. The manufacturer has been informed of the failure. The failure mileage was 6,028.

On 5 separate occasions the CRV has automatically braked HARD while driving down the highway. On none of the occasions has another vehicle or obstacle warranted this automatic braking. We were about rear-ended while on the interstate driving 70 when the car automatically braked. I am including the latest automatic braking incident in this report.

The contact owns a 2020 Honda CR-V. The contact stated while driving 35 MPH, the vehicle unexpectedly came to a complete stop. There was no warning light illuminated. The contact was able to drive the vehicle home safely. The vehicle was not taken to a dealer or independent mechanic to be diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 26,000.

Car brakes on its own when no vehicle in front of or around my vehicle.

The contact owns a 2020 Honda CR-V. The contact stated while driving approximately 30 MPH with the cruise control engaged, the vehicle began to brake suddenly. The contact deactivated the cruise control and the vehicle began to function normally. The contact stated no warning light was illuminated. The contact had not taken the vehicle to a local dealer. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer had not been informed of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 8,000.

My car has been braking on its own the last 5 months. Today it braked for no reason. There was no car in front of us or to either side of us. There was nothing in front of us either. It braked super hard and there was someone behind us who luckily slammed on their brakes and didn’t hit us. It gave me and my kids whiplash. Other times it will brake on its own if there’s a shadow from a bridge or something. Again when it does that there are no cars in front or next to us or even remotely close to us. This is beginning to be a frequent thing happening once or more a week. It’s super dangerous and I don’t feel safe with it braking for no reason.

While driving the Automatic Braking System engaged even though there was nobody in front of me. The first time was on a freeway, it suddenly engaged even though there wasn’t a vehicle anywhere close to the front of my vehicle. This could have been bad and I could have been hit from behind if a driver behind me wasn’t paying attention and my vehicle stopped all of a sudden without warning. The second time it happened I was driving on a city road. My lane was empty ahead of me. The system automatically engaged and stopped my vehicle. I noticed the vehicle behind me had to stop quickly because of this. I have not had this checked by Honda yet. I did see that Honda has recalled other year model vehicles for having the same issues. If my vehicle is having the same problems then I would hope Honda would...