NHTSA upgrades 2017–2022 Honda Accord and 3 other models probe to engineering analysis: Inadvertent Automatic Emergency Braking
On April 15, 2024, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s Office of Defects Investigation (ODI) opened an Engineering Analysis (EA24002) into 2017–2022 Honda Accord and 3 other models, concerning the forward collision avoidance. An Engineering Analysis is the second, deeper stage of an NHTSA defect investigation, opened when ODI wants a closer technical look; it can end with NHTSA asking the manufacturer for a recall. It follows Preliminary Evaluation PE22003. As of NHTSA’s latest data it is still open.
- Action
- EA24002 (Engineering Analysis)
- Status
- Open
- Component
- Forward Collision Avoidance: Automatic Emergency Braking; Forward Collision Avoidance: Sensing System: Camera; Forward Collision Avoidance: Sensing System: Radar; Forward Collision Avoidance: Software
- Listed
- 19 make/model/year entries in NHTSA’s file
Vehicles under investigation
| Make | Honda |
|---|---|
| Models | Accord, Accord Hybrid, CR-V, CR-V Hybrid |
| Model years | 2017–2022 |
As listed in NHTSA’s investigation file. Not every vehicle of a listed model is necessarily affected.
What ODI says
On February 21, 2022, the Office of Defects Investigation (ODI) opened Preliminary Evaluation (PE22003) to assess reports of inadvertent activation of the Collision Mitigation Braking System (CMBS), an automatic emergency braking (AEB) system, in model year 2017-2019 Honda CR-V and 2018-2019 Honda Accord vehicles. The reports allege that activation of the AEB system occurs while driving with no apparent obstruction in the vehicle's forward path, resulting in sudden vehicle deceleration. Honda indicated that they were aware of a total of X,XXX reports that may relate to the alleged defect. Honda provided analysis of the alleged defect and alleges that some customers possibly had an inadequate understanding of the CMBS and its limitations. However, many consumer complaints allege that Honda dealerships were unable to reproduce the condition or state that they were informed that this is considered normal CMBS operation. To date, ODI has received a total of 1,294 consumer complaints of inadvertent activation of CMBS in 2017-2022 Honda CR-V and 2018-2022 Honda Accord vehicles. A total of 31 complaints alleged a crash and 50 alleged an injury. The Total column in the Failure Report Summary removes duplicate reports and shows the total number of reports with unique VINs from all Manufacturer, ODI, and EWR data sources. In some cases, there were multiple reports associated with a particular vehicle in which recurring failures were alleged. In total, there were X,XXX reports, 93 injury incidents and 47 crashes involving vehicles with unique VINs that may relate to the alleged defect. PE22-003 has been upgraded to an Engineering Analysis to further assess the scope, frequency, and potential safety related consequences of the inadvertent AEB activations. The scope has been expanded to include assessment of model year 2020-2022 Honda CR-V and Accord vehicles. To review the ODI reports cited in the Opening Resume ODI Report Identification Number document, go to NHTSA.gov.
Official summary by NHTSA’s Office of Defects Investigation for EA24002, quoted in full (U.S. government work, public domain).
What owners have reported
Owners filed 10,031 complaints with NHTSA about the model years in this investigation, reporting 287 crashes, 23 fires, 270 injuries, 3 deaths. These are all complaints on file for those vehicles, about any problem, not only this one; complaints are unverified owner reports.
| Vehicle | Complaints | Crashes | Injuries | Deaths |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2018 Accord | 1,889 | 35 | 39 | 0 |
| 2019 Accord | 692 | 25 | 28 | 0 |
| 2020 Accord | 363 | 14 | 11 | 1 |
| 2021 Accord | 239 | 15 | 9 | 0 |
| 2022 Accord | 253 | 5 | 7 | 0 |
| 2018 Accord Hybrid | 116 | 3 | 2 | 0 |
| 2019 Accord Hybrid | 94 | 4 | 1 | 0 |
| 2020 Accord Hybrid | 39 | 3 | 2 | 1 |
| 2021 Accord Hybrid | 48 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| 2022 Accord Hybrid | 54 | 6 | 6 | 0 |
| 2017 CR-V | 1,773 | 42 | 36 | 0 |
| 2018 CR-V | 2,155 | 46 | 47 | 0 |
| 2019 CR-V | 1,103 | 31 | 35 | 1 |
| 2020 CR-V | 355 | 21 | 17 | 0 |
| 2021 CR-V | 333 | 14 | 13 | 0 |
| 2022 CR-V | 263 | 5 | 7 | 0 |
| 2020 CR-V Hybrid | 82 | 4 | 3 | 0 |
| 2021 CR-V Hybrid | 104 | 5 | 5 | 0 |
| 2022 CR-V Hybrid | 76 | 7 | 2 | 0 |
Recalls and problems for these vehicles
Timeline
- ODI opens engineering analysis EA24002
- OpenNo closing date yet
What this means for owners
- An investigation is not a recall. NHTSA has not made a defect finding here, and owners are not asked to do anything yet. If a safety defect is confirmed, the manufacturer recalls the vehicles and the repair is free.
- Check your vehicle for open recalls with a free VIN recall check.
- Had this problem? File a complaint with NHTSA. Owner complaints are the evidence ODI uses to open and expand investigations.
Official record: search EA24002 or your vehicle at NHTSA.gov/recalls, which lists investigations alongside recalls. Data: NHTSA ODI investigations file, updated daily. All NHTSA investigations.