2021 HONDA CR-V Forward Collision Avoidance Automatic Emergency Braking Problems

Driving down Piedmont Road in Atlanta on an overcast morning with no pedestrians, obstructions or vehicles in front of the car, the collision avoidance and braking system engaged for no reason and almost caused the car behind mine to run into me.

My dash board lit up and started dinging. Many different messages were flashing across the screen such as driver assist feature problem, TPMS problem, and others related to the electronic driver assist features. I noticed a difference in the way my car handled as I was pulling off the highway to a gas station to check my tire pressure. It seems drivable at the moment and I don't have another vehicle option. It's a 2021 CRV.

Phantom emergency braking. Vehicle slamming on brakes at intermediate times when there is no emergency.

About a year ago, I was driving at speeds of approximately 10-15 mph when my car braked and immediately brought me to a dead stop despite no obstacles being present in the roadway. It appears the automatic emergency braking system malfunctioned. Had there been a car behind me, it likely would have caused an accident. On August 15, 2025, I was driving on the freeway using the adaptive cruise control when traffic in front of me slowed, engaging the automatic emergency braking. Traffic in front of me cleared almost immediately but my car was still very rapidly decelerating. I pressed the gas pedal, but the vehicle continued to bring me to almost a complete, immediate stop on the freeway (I had been traveling at 70-80 mph prior to the stop). I feel incredibly fortunate that I did not end up in an accident due to the traffic behind me and...

• During the short time I have owned this vehicle the automatic emergency braking system has engaged 3-4 times when there was no object in front of the vehicle. The vehicle can be made available upon request. • All incidents happened when driving on the freeway. Fortunately no one was following me which could have resulted in my being rear ended for a sudden stop. • I took the vehicle into the dealership service center today (8/8/25) where they told me it is normal and I should just be a good driver, keeping my distance from vehicle to the front of me. They stated that if they were to replace it the same thing would occur. The problem has not been reproduced by the service center. • When these issues have occurred on one occasion the braking alert sounded ( beeping noise) and then the car started braking. On the...

I am reporting a serious safety issue with my 2021 Honda CR-V involving the Collision Mitigation Braking System (CMBS). On multiple occasions, the vehicle has applied the brakes suddenly and forcefully without any obstacle or vehicle in front of me. THIS HAD HAPPENED OVER 20 times since i bought the CAR on March 10 2024. The most recent incident occurred while I was driving at highway speed on a clear, dry day. The CMBS system engaged abruptly, causing the car to decelerate rapidly and SLAMED BREAKS automatically. There were no vehicles, pedestrians, or obstructions ahead. This unexpected braking could have easily resulted in a rear-end collision, endangering me and other drivers. I have kids in the back sit and the car behind us almost hit my car. I am afraid the result might have been much worse if there was TRUCK behind my car. I took the vehicle to the...

The contact owns a 2021 Honda CR-V. The contact stated that while her daughter was driving at an undisclosed speed, the Collision Mitigation Braking System (CMBS) independently activated, causing the vehicle to suddenly come to a stop, and the front driver’s and front passenger’s side seat belts to independently lock. The contact stated that the brake warning light was illuminated. An appointment was scheduled with the dealer to inspect the vehicle. The vehicle was not repaired. The contact related the failure to NHTSA Action Number: EA24002 (Forward Collision Avoidance). The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 30,000.

My 2021 Honda CR-V has experienced incidents where it suddenly and unexpectedly applied the brakes while I was driving, despite: - No vehicle, pedestrian, or object is present in front of me - No driver input on the brake pedal - Not using cruise control at the time My car occasionally jerks or shows warning lights before stopping, sometimes without any warning. I suspect an issue with the Collision Mitigation Braking System (CMBS) or related driver-assistance components. These braking incidents occurred under normal driving conditions and pose a high risk of being rear-ended. My car's issues remain unresolved, and I feel unsafe while driving my vehicle. Two dealerships conducted four diagnostic tests (on 18, 19, 21, and 24 May 2025) to evaluate the Honda Collision Mitigation Braking System (CMBS) and the associated driver-assistance components. But no issues were identified during these evaluations. - 23 May 2025, I discussed my car’s...

I was driving down a main road and with no cars in front of me, my Automatic Emergency Breaking came on, flashed Brake and then brought my car to an immediate stop. I made an appointment at my dealership. The dealership said there were no recalls and said they would charge me $50 to try to recreate the issue but they didn't think they would be able to recreate it.

I had 2 unrelated issues in the past 2 days: 1) rear door actuator malfunction. The door won't lock or unlock as part of the central locking system 2) The "break" alert went off without any cars around. Happened once, breaks weren't activated by the car.

Driving on the highway going 55 mph when the car in front of me in the left lane more than 5 car lengths began to break, recognizing this I put my blinker on and tried to switch to the right lane when suddenly the automatic breaking kicked in and slowed the car down to a near stop. I was unable to deactivate with the break or the gas for a few seconds and by that time I was stuck between the lanes nearly getting t-boned in the right lane before the car swerved to avoid my vehicle. Had there been someone behind me in the left lane I would have surely been in a terrible and fatal accident. I was in complete control of the car and received no more than a one second warning (in the form of a short beep) that the automatic breaks would kick in suddenly....

On several occasions since I’ve owned the vehicle, it has come to a complete stop while driving at highway speeds without any apparent reason, accompanied by a warning of a possible collision. On one such occasion, the vehicle stopped so abruptly that I initially thought I had been rear-ended, though thankfully no cars were near me at the time. If other vehicles had been nearby during any of these incidents, I believe it could have resulted in a serious accident. While I am grateful for the technology, as it has also helped me avoid an accident on two separate occasions (different from the above referenced instances), I believe the system needs improvement to prevent these unexpected stops from occurring.

1) On 3 occasions the Automatic Emergency Braking (AEB) has self activated and the car attempted to come to a complete stop. The 1st incident, 10/19/24, happened while driving 35-40 mph while changing lanes, a red BRAKE light and alarms sounded bringing the car to a complete stop. While there was traffic around me, no one was directly in front of me or close enough to have required this to activate. A vehicle traveling behind came inches from rear-ending me. The 2nd incident, 11/9/24 concerns me the most, happening 3 weeks after the first incident while on the highway traveling 65 mph. I was in the left lane of multi-lane traffic. While there were vehicles two lanes to my right, there was no one directly in front of me by 100 yards. Again, alarms, red BRAKE light, and the car proceeded to come to a complete stop. The car felt...

On at leas 8 occasions in the past 3 years the Automatic Braking System (Forward Collision Avoidance System) engaged with audible warning while on the interstate driving at highway speeds unexpectedly with no vehicles or other obstructions in my lane in front of me. The majority of occurrences were as I was attempting to pass in the left lane, but on at least 2 occasions there were no cars to the left or right of me. The sudden braking could have caused a serious collision. I have not brought the problem to the attention of a dealer or independent service center as I doubt they would be able to reproduce or confirm the issue, as I have experienced before on intermittent issues before. Were there any warning lamps, messages or other symptoms of the problem prior to the failure, and when did they first appear

While traveling on the highway at 65 mph, in the left lane of three lanes of traffic with no cars in front of, back of, or side of me, (AdaptiveCruiseControl and LaneKeepAssist were both on) when the vehicle did an “emergency” self-brake. A large red BRAKE sign appeared in the dash and the car felt “out of control.” I physically hit the brake, slowed down and exited the highway. I REMAIN FOR ME TO FEEL VERY INSECURE on highway travel. This was a second incident. This occurred early November. The first incident happened a few weeks before this one while traveling around 40 mph in multi-lane traffic. I signaled to move into the left lane, no cars were within two car lengths from me, when the vehicle did a hard self-brake; the ACC and LKAS were NOT engaged at this time. Again, the car seemed “out-of-control” for a short time....

I was driving on a straight street doing about 35 MPH and my car all of the sudden braked. Luckily there was no one behind me, had there been, I would have definitely caused an accident. I contacted a Honda dealership and they said there are no recalls on my vehicle, so could only make an appointment, try to recreate the issue and run a diagnostic, but they said they never heard of the issue. I had no issues or warning lights prior too. My car was inspected in June and I just recently had the oil changed and brakes checked. I take the highway to work and I'm very afraid if this happens at highway speed what would happen.

I have experienced at least 4 occurrences in the last year of the automatic emergency braking system activating when there were no obstructions while crossing a bridge. I have also experienced at least 2 occurrences of the automatic emergency braking system activating while going under an overpass. I live in interior Alaska and in the most recent occurrence I was going over an icy bridge in the dark in below zero temperatures when the car automatically applied the brakes for no reason. Brakes need to be applied carefully on icy roads - had someone been behind me or had I lost control of the car because of the unexpected braking, this could have resulted in a serious accident.

I was driving on the street with no one in front of me going about 45 miles per hour when the car did "Phantom Braking" and the car tried to stop on its own. It beeped 3 times and BRAKE! flashed on my dashboard as if I was going to hit someone and the car overtook my brakes and tried to stop. There was no one in front of me. The very next day, it did it again. This is extremely dangerous and can cause an accident if someone is driving behind me and the car suddenly decides to stop on its own.

The car's forward collision warning system is defective. The car will randomly bring up "BRAKE" on the dashboard with nothing even close to the car. This has started happening many times over the past few weeks, with even at least one instance of the car braking on its own. I brought this up to the dealership during my last oil change recently, and they inspected and looked into it. They said there was nothing wrong with the sensors/system and they documented it (specifically saying no problem found vehicle is operating normally at this time). However, a day or two after the dealership, the problem returned and it continues to persist. In addition to this, the blind spot warning system also randomly goes off when nothing is nearby, but not as often as the braking system, which is more dangerous in my opinion.

The forward collision warning and braking has activated a couple of times without any car front of me for a wide distance or when everything is all clear. It also happened a couple of times when turning a curve or exiiting, also without any car in front of me. The only thing I could notice was the dashboard flashing but I could not read it because I had to focus on the road.

I was driving on the middle lane of a major highway, going around 70 mph, when a plastic grocery bag floated in front of the car, at a height of about two feet off of the ground. My vehicle suddenly slammed on the brakes. It slammed hard and I could not make it stop. I tried to push the brake but it was already down. I was nearly rear-ended and could have easily caused a multiple car accident. I may have been using the cruise-control at the time, but I'm not sure. I do not recall if the vehicle flashed an orange "BRAKE" warning. I did not take the vehicle to a dealer to try to recreate the problem.

The contact owns a 2021 Honda CR-V. The contact stated while driving at an undisclosed speed, the Lane Departure warning light illuminated. The contact also stated that the Forward Collision Avoidance: Automatic Emergency Braking feature was activated inadvertently without other vehicles nearby. The dealer was contacted, but the vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 56,000.

I was driving on a 2 lane road. There were no other vehicles on the road. The word brake flashed on the dashboard and the car suddenly braked hard. Items on my back seat fell to the floor. The car then resumed normal driving. There was no wind or items blowing across the path of the road. This has not happened before. If there had been a car behind me it might have caused an accident. The vehicle has not been inspected by any entity.

Interior lights switch does not seem to work properly. It started a couple of months ago. I have had issues with the automatic braking when the car "thinks" there is something in front of me and slams on the brakes. 4 out of 5 times there was nothing there. 1 of those times was during a rain storm, so that time I chalked it up to the radar being wet. I have also had several instances when the car flashes "BRAKE" when there is no reason for it. Similarly, when in reverse, the car again "thinks" there is something behind me and beeps when there is nothing within 50 feet of my car. I keep my cameras and radar clean at all times. Before each trip, I wipe them clean.

A few times (4-5 times) the car activated the automatic emergency braking feature while I was driving. There were no obstacles, vehicles, or people in my path. The system simply activated. The cars behind me nearly crashed into me.

Driving in the highway when I was signaling to exit going right, My car suddenly brakes on its own and continue to drive. I did shoulder my vehicle to check my vehicle. No vehicle was around me that time and I check my car surrounding and it was clear. Incident happen multiple times which I did adjust my sensor to low distance but still happens.

I was driving going about 30 in town and there were no cars, no pedestrians, no obstacles and all of a sudden my car's dashboard flashed brake and my car braked itself. We went from 30 to zero with a screech. I did not touch the brake during this time. It was unnerving and nothing like this has happened before. I commute on the freeway regularly and I am very scared this could happen at much higher speeds with deadly consequences.

Since new and on numerous occasions, the vehicle will slow down drastically for no reason. No vehicle in front or object close to either side, it just brakes automatically. It only happens when the vehicle’s cruise control is on. On March 7th 2024 I was on the highway with the cruise control set at 75MPH. The vehicle for no reason slammed on the brakes and tried to come to a complete stop. No skidding or loss of control due to the ABS, but if had not stepped on the accelerator, it would have. I went from 75MPH to about 20MPH in seconds. Thankfully, the driver behind me reacted and went around me on my right side. I there was another vehicle to my right, I am certain, I would have been re-ended. I took the vehicle to the HONDA dealership and was told they were not aware of the problem,...

Driving in cruise control, no one in front of me, suddenly hard braking, enough to throw me forward in the seat. There was a car behind me but fortunately he braked also. There was no apparent reason for my car to brake. Called service center, no solutions or recommendations.

This has occurred several times recently. Driving at 30-40mph also at highway speeds. Nothing in from of vehicle for at least 1/2 mile. Collison Mitigation Brakjng System activates without any warning. If it were not for seatbelts one would be sent into the dashboard or steering wheel. It is a very disturbing feeling being basically jerked forward unexpectedly. Luckily no one was close enough behind to initiate a rear-end collision. Currently we are waiting to have the car seen by our dealer. The dealer seems to treat this as a big deal since we can't be seem until the first week of July. I would think this issue would be one of a very serious safety concern, but I suppose the dealer feels not. They did however tell us to turn that system off. Seems counter intuitive to have a safety system yet told to turn it off and wait...

I was driving 50 mph and the automatic braking system engaged without any cars directly in front of me in my lane. It puts us and everyone behind us when it suddenly brakes.

On two separate occasions on local roads while driving under 15 miles an hour I was drawing near an intersection and the car in front of me was actively turning onto a side street and I had ample distance from that car and my car suddenly decided I was about to get in an accident and slammed on the breaks. Its a good thing the cars behind me were responsible and were able to break in time or there would have been an accident both times because no one would have expected me to suddenly break in either situation. There were other people in the car each time and we were all surprised.

On 2 separate occasions I was driving on the highway and the screen started flashing brake with nothing in front of me. While it was flashing the automatic braking system engaged causing me to come to almost a complete stop and get rear ended.

The contact owns a 2021 Honda CR-V. The contact stated that while driving at an undisclosed speed at night, the vehicle stopped independently. Additionally, the contact stated the headlights failed to operate as needed. The vehicle was taken to the dealer; however, the dealer was unable to duplicate the failure. The contact stated that the failure recurred. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 9,000.

A car was way in front of me and had turned right into a driveway, before I was even a close and it stopped in the driveway entrance out of the road. I had my car turning away from the driveway knowing the car was moving slow in front of me. When I reached to pass this my ABS kicked on and brakes locked by itself and scared the pants off me!! My hands came off the steering wheel, my neck jerked forward and my glasses flew off my face at 50 MPH!!! I wasn’t even close to hitting this person. A few days later driving down the road a goose was on the same side right side on side of road as I’m rounding the bend my brakes lock up again!!! Again. The bird wasn’t even in the road!!!!! I had to pull over to read how to turn...

My cars automatic braking system engages when nothing is around. This has happened multiple times. One of these time I recall traveling with my child at a sped of 50-+mph. It was fearful for the both of us. This alone is dangerous, it could become deadly given different weather conditions causing loss of control of the car. I believe this issue will eventually cause someone injury and/or death. During this time my child was recovering from traumatic brain trauma. The dealership is waiting on a part the they feel should repair the issue. The emergency brake light flashed, beeped and slammed on breaks. I believe this is more than a sensor issue I believe it’s an electrical issue. The lights sometimes brighten instead of deeming in on coming traffic, there have been times that the usb port don’t work an then times that they do with the same charger, the...

You have 87 complaints about the Forward Crash Avoidance / Braking System for this vehicle. Since my previous complaint, (#11470565) this unsafe, DANGEROUS, condition has occurred on two additional dates. Nearly all of the complaints that I read, mention the same issue: you are driving along and the system forces the vehicle to brake to a stop or nearly to a stop, NEARLY causing numerous rear end collisions. It’s scary and DANGEROUS.

I was driving on State Road 426 in Florida at 40 MPH. The weather was cool and sunny with light traffic on the roadway on both sides of the median. Suddenly, the vehicle “Hard-braked” on its own while my foot was on the gas pedal. The brake action lasted about two seconds and luckily the car behind me was not following too close or it would have rear-ended us.

2021 Honda CR-V with about 17,000 miles. On at least 3 occasions, the vehicle activated the emergency brake warning and applies brakes, on 2 of the occasions, driving in a straight road with no vehicles or persons in sight. On another occasion, the brakes were also applied in the highway reducing the speed dramatically and almost causing an accident behind me, there were no cars nearby in front but on the lanes adjacent to our driving lane.

When changing lanes on a 60 MPH highway to avoid vehicles that were stopped, the brakes auto engaged and the car came to a stop. The driver coming from behind had to swerve into a ditch to avoid rear ending my car. Thank God nobody was injured this time.

The car was suddenly stopped by the automatic braking system at a time when there was nothing else around me and I was moving forward under normal driving conditions. This happened during acceleration around 20-25 mph. Thankfully, there was no one behind me as that might have caused a rear end collision.

While driving, using cruise control, usually at speeds between 35-45 mph, the automatic emergency braking will engage after a vehicle, formerly in front, has completed a right hand turn. That vehicle is no longer in front of my vehicle when my vehicle begins to brake. My vehicle was automatically maintaining distance and not accelerating. I informed the Honda dealer of this at the 15,000 mile check up. The Honda dealer told me that the car was responding correctly through the side sensors. It is jarring to almost come to a complete stop and could cause a driver behind to rear end my car. This has happened at least four times.

On two occasions now, the Automatic Emergency Braking has engaged without there being an actual danger, meaning nothing in front. The first time I was driving at about 55mph on the highway and it engaged with a dash alert to brake and then proceeded to decrease my speed. Luckily, no cars were behind me or else I would have been rear ended. The second time, I was going 5mph at a grocery store parking lot and it did the dash brake alert and stopped. Again, luckily no cars were behind me. Honda will be inspecting the car this coming week but did not seem worried about my initial report. It wasn't until my second incident of 5mph that they suggested taking a look at it.

The contact owns a 2021 Honda CR-V. The contact stated while driving 40 MPH, the Forward Collision Avoidance: Dynamic Brake Assist activated, and the vehicle came to a sudden stop without another vehicle nearby. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. Neither the dealer nor the manufacturer was contacted. The failure mileage was 40,000.

This has happened approximately once a month since i got the car and i've had the car for 13 month. When using adaptive cruise control on the freeway going at least 60, the car will randomly give me a forward collision warning. Sometimes the car slams on the brakes, and other times the warning goes away after about a second. I can override it by pressing on the accelerator. This always happens when theres no cars anywhere near the front of me. The car has not been inspected by the manufacturer because the problem cannot be recreated on demand. its very infrequent. Other than that the car has had no other major problems.

Twice on 10/10/2022, the automatic brake warning system engaged while the car was in cruise control at approximately 55 mph. There were no other vehicles or safety hazards in the lane of travel that should have prompted a brake system activation. The incidents happened on separate trips, with the car having been parked and turned off in between.

I was just driving on Ventura blvd, a busy street, it was very sunny out and suddenly for no reason, as I am driving around 35 MPH at least... the car fully brakes. everything goes flying - my neck is now sore, as is my upper back and shoulders... if someone had been behind me they would have hit me. It's pure luck it didn't cause an accident. This has never happened before and I want to get rid of this car now...

I was driving at about 35-40 MPH and the automatic emergency braking engaged for no reason. There was nothing on the road ahead of me. The vehicle braked very hard and had there been a vehicle behind me I suspect there would have been an accident. This is not the first time this has occurred - it has happened several times before - but it was the most severe braking that has occurred. There was no damage, so the police were not involved. I have not yet reported this to the manufacturer.

Vehicle suddenly emergency braked, by slamming on the brakes, when driving on a highway with no cars in front of us and no cars to the sides of us. This happened twice within the same afternoon. We had the adaptive cruise control on at these times. The highway was clear of obstructions and was in perfect shape. The car was clean on the outside. It was a bright sunny afternoon and the road was dry. We recall no warning as this happened. We had just purchased the vehicle used with 11000 miles on it.

I have had 4 separate instances where the automatic braking system abruptly applied the brakes. Two of them happened at a place on the road where the pavement color changed. One was a pedestrian crosswalk painted on an asphalt road surface. Another was where a new concrete roadway changed to new asphalt. Those 2 situations led me to believe the system may see road color change as if there was an obstacle in front of the car. However, 2 additional events happened with no obvious reasons as the road surface did not change. This is a 2021 Honda CRV. I have not taken it to a Honda dealer nor have I discussed it with Honda. I was fortunate that nothing was close behind and the road surface was not slippery. There is no telling what might have happened if the road was snow packed or icy.