The U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), the equivalent of Transport Canada, today launched a preliminary investigation into 250,712 Honda vehicles due to a problem with unintentional activation of the automatic emergency braking system.
The NHTSA report states that the Office of Defect Investigation has received 46 complaints. These included reports of three accidents or fires, as well as two injuries related to the defect.
The emergency braking problem affects the Insight hybrid sedan and Passport SUV of the 2019-2022 model years.
Needless to say, activating the automatic emergency braking system without warning can seriously increase the risk of an accident, leading to injury and property damage.
Automatic emergency braking is there to slow down and stop when an obstacle is detected, to avoid a collision. When it is activated when there is no risk ahead, this in itself represents a danger not only to the occupants of the vehicle, but also to all those around them.
At the time of writing, Honda had not yet commented on the NHTSA probe.
The first phase of the NHTSA investigation involves a review of consumer complaints and manufacturer service reports suggesting the existence of a safety defect.
If the agency deems a recall necessary, the models will then be part of a Honda-issued campaign.
This is a case to keep an eye on, because an emergency braking problem that engages suddenly represents a real danger.