Automatic Emergency Braking Problems of Honda Ridgeline - part 1

I was involved in a rear end collision earlier today. My vehicle sustained significant front end damage and the air bags did not deploy. The vehicle had to be flat bedded to a massachusetts state police barracks, pending further action by my insurance company. There were no injuries.

See all problems of the 2021 Honda Ridgeline 🔎.

A car turning left on a one lane both way street. The the auto breaking system hit the breaks I was about 6’ away from car going 10 miles per hour. Car behind me almost hit the back of my truck. It took second before breaks let off. System was in normal mode.

See all problems of the 2023 Honda Ridgeline 🔎.

My Honda cmbs system has false warnings from cars coming from the other lane and road markers setting off the system. I had numerous incidents where the steering wheel shakes and a brake warning illuminates with no possibility of an accident. After this warning the car would automatically brake to stop you. I have taken this vehicle to the dealer twice they said it is perfect. Honda knows this system is defective. In the owners manual they describe all the false warnings. I have experienced every one in the manual. I have begged the dealer and Honda company that I believe the camera mounted in front of the mirror is too sensitive and defective but they won’t replace it. The camera also controls the automatic bright lights and they won’t stay on for more than 6 seconds. I contend that this camera also sets off the emergency braking due to oncoming lights or reflective lights in the road. There is a class action lawsuit over this system up to a 2023 Ridgeline. All I want is a new camera and the cmbs system to work correctly but Honda won’t repair it. They deny it is defective. They claim they can’t duplicate it. Of course they drive it once and say it’s fine. Please make Honda replace this faulty system.

See all problems of the 2024 Honda Ridgeline 🔎.

Multiple warning lights appeared and remained illuminated on my dash, all related to safety features (lkas, acc, cmbs and road departure). The problem was confirmed by capitol Honda service department. The vehicle was scanned and stored dtc was found at integrated driver support system. U3000-49 multipurpose camera unit internal electronic failure. The dtc was set as hard code, unable to clear. Recommend replacing multipurpose camera and performing calibration. The estimate I was initially given for the cost of the repair parts and labor was close to $2,000. The repair was necessary because the inoperable safety features directly affects my safety on the road as well as the safety of others. Honda sensing is a suite of driver-assist safety technologies that use cameras, radar, and sensors to monitor the vehicle's surroundings, alert the driver to potential hazards, and provide automatic steering and braking assistance to help prevent collisions. Key features include collision mitigation braking, which applies the brakes to avoid or mitigate a crash; adaptive cruise control, which maintains a set distance behind the leading vehicle; and lane keeping assist, which provides subtle steering adjustments to keep the vehicle centered in its lane.

See all problems of the 2018 Honda Ridgeline 🔎.

As I was driving about 25 a 30 mph, I was in a right hand curve. When a vehicle in the opposite lane approached (still on their side of the road) my vehicle braked automatically for 1-2 seconds. This was unexpected and if there was another vehicle behind me then it is possible they may have rear ended my vehicle. The system has warned in similar instances to brake but did not actually apply the brakes automatically. This also happened when a vehicle in front of me was turning and as I had enough room to get by the vehicle again braked momentarily. This happened while going around 5 to 10 miles an hour and was unexpected and unneeded. I have not talked about this to the dealer but there are many complaints on Honda Ridgeline forums about this issue.

See all problems of the 2025 Honda Ridgeline 🔎.

Collision mitigation brake system vibrates steering wheel,flashes brake, sounds alarm every time a car approaches in opposite lane on curves and often for no traffic at all. It gives so many false alarms I've had to turn it off for safety.

Experiencing numerous false error warnings from collision mitigation braking system (cmbs) when meeting oncoming vehicles on straight or slightly curving two lane roads. I have taken my vehicle three times to be serviced for this specific reason and a blind spot information system error. The bsi appears to be repaired now but the false cmbs warnings still have not been repaired. The most recent incidents listed below occurred today after picking up the truck from the bsi repair.

Since buying this vehicle new, on multiple occasions the automatic braking system has come on approaching other vehicles on a straight stretch of highway even when both I and the approaching vehicle are nowhere near the center line or anywhere near an accident situation. I reported this to the dealership in the first six months after purchase and was told nothing was wrong. The frequency of this happening seems to be increasing.

See all problems of the 2020 Honda Ridgeline 🔎.

While driving on the highway truck pressed brakes without any obstacles near or in front of me. This event has happened more than once as of late.

At 48,000 miles, the vehicle began to experience multiple advanced driver assistance systems problems, including adaptive cruise control, forward collision warning, automatic emergency braking, forward collision warning, lane departure warning, and lane keeping assistance, which rendered all these systems inoperable. Systems that were designed to mitigate collisions became non-functional, and continuous warnings on the dashboard were a distraction while driving. Dealer scanned the vehicle with a code u300-40 multipurpose camera unit/millimeter wave radar internal electronic failure, and diagnosed a failure of the multipurpose camera, which was then replaced and recalibrated. I have retained the failed unit after paying to have the replacement installed and calibrated. All warning lamps for the above mentioned systems flashed on my dashboard every time the vehicle was started, prior to the dealer repair. The safety of the driver and those around them was affected because repairs for this safety feature suite may be cost prohibitive to some ($2000) and they just won't fix it.

While traveling at the posted speed, the automatic emergency braking system applied the brakes without any vehicle in front of us. The speed limit on this particular road is 50 miles per hour. The braking was so sudden and applied with force that the vehicles traveling behind us had to apply their brakes to avoid a collision with us. This has happened before, but never with such force. The date I have given below is the most recent event. The issues have been reported to the dealer without resolution.

My collision brake system goes off all the time at vehicles coming the opposite way on the road on two lane roads with no median strip I've taken to the dealership but they actually made it worse took back twice then contacted corporate Honda and they sent a tech. Out to this dealership he said alignment was off so they did that but it's still the same sometimes it will go off 3 times in a couple miles now rep says it's with in their guidelines and they are not going to do anything me and my wife don't want this truck if they won't repair.

I was leaving a place of business crossing a four lane undivided road legally to make a left turn. There was an oncoming car (at an unknown speed) in the lane I was crossing approaching rapidly. I just needed to accelerate lightly to be clear. The collision braking system activated before I could clear. The driver was headed straight for me with a broadside collision imminent. He swerved at the last minute and avoided me by heading into the oncoming traffic lane ( no oncoming cars were present). Results could have been ugly. I have to manually turn that feature off every time I start the vehicle, unless you can have it disabled for me. I do not want my vehicle making decision which I cannot control. Thank you for addressing this matter and a response would be appreciated.

I experienced multiple warning lights on my dash when disengaging my cruise control on the freeway to pass a slower vehicle in front of me. Attached photo depicts these lights and a loss of dash gauges. I arranged a vehicle inspection from the purchasing dealer the next day, but later the entire dash “blacked out” losing speedometer, tachometer, turn signals, back-up camera etc. Given the uncertainty of the safe driving condition of the vehicle I opted to have a closer authorized dealer inspect the vehicle. The consensus was that there was a failure of the dash panel resulting in a $1600. 00 repair. Learning that this exact failure was known to american Honda motor CO. , inc. I reached out to their customer service since like year(s) models of the passport, pilot & odyssey were part of an official warranty recall (along with extended warranty coverage) by american Honda motor CO. , inc. To see if any goodwill assistance would be provided, given what I’m sure are shared components between the three models. Honda declined. In all transparency, I am a retired ahm employee who services my own vehicles, so their decline, I’m told was partially based on the lack of an official service history. The failure that I have described is totally unrelated to scheduled service. In closing, I am attaching a “screenshot” for a Honda pilot owners blog which goes into greater detail of the exact failure I experienced, described as inappropriate software programming. Again, these items in the recall cited fmv ss101 & fmv ss111 as being key reasons for the issuance of the recall. Why the 2020 Honda Ridgeline which experienced this exact failure was excluded is a question that Honda should answer. Thank you.

My vehicle was driving 35mph westbound on a 4 lane road (2 lanes easbound, 2 lanes westbound, no divider separating) a vehicle also traveling westbound, not in my lane, turned off the road. The emergency braking system activated, bringing my vehicle to a full stop with no warning. There was no traffic in front of me for a considerable distance (1/4 mile, approximately) no damage or impact, cars behind me stopped with 1-2 feet to spare.

My brakes locked and my accelerator pedal deactivated without warning or cause. The engine and all accessories continued to work normally, but the gas pedal remained deactivated until I came to a complete stop. I was in the process of merging into the oncoming lane. I still own the vehicle but am trying to get the dealer to repurchase the truck. The vehicle(s) behind me had little warning and the result could have been a multi-vehicle collision. I had no way to know what caused the lockup and inability to drive away, and still don't know if or when the problem will recur. My dealership examined my truck for 3 days and did not explain any plausible cause. They sent info to Honda's America hq in California and told me that I might not ever receive a response, and if I do it will likely be at least a few weeks from now. They have given me nothing in writing. There was no warning of any kind either during the event or afterward. The lane ahead of me was completely clear of vehicles, pedestrians, animals, etc. , but it was a slight s-curve. Driving conditions were ideal. It occurred during the middle of the day with no traction or glare issues.

Vehicle flashes automatic emergency braking sign on dashboard when it is confused by oncoming traffic in the other lane.

When driving around sharp corners at a moderate to fast speed, the automatic emergency braking system will sometimes display a message on the dash saying "brake" and a warning beep will sound. I do not believe that the braking system engages, however the "brake" warning is very discerning.

See all problems of the 2022 Honda Ridgeline 🔎.

The collision mitigation braking system has activated my brakes resulting in a lock up 3 times and I've only owned the truck for 2 months. One of the times I was rear ended do to the trucking stopping suddenly. I now have to drive with the system turned off because of how dangerous it is to have on.

See all problems of the 2017 Honda Ridgeline 🔎.

Vehicle automatically slams on brakes, shakes steering wheel out of hands, and won't take throttle causing me to loose control of the vehicle frequently. I does it at 75 mph with no other cars within 10 miles or at 50 mph. All with no other cars within miles. My family will not ride in vehicle cause scared because of un safe technology. I do not feel safe driving this Honda vehicle with this bad technology.

At approximately 20mph, forward collision warning appeared as car in front braked quickly but continued forward after the quick brake. After I braked to slow down, I began to accelerate as the vehicle in front continued forward. As soon as I hit the accelerator, the automatic emergency braking kicked in and locked up the brakes - even though the car in front of me was 20-30+ feet away. Car behind me had to slam on their brakes as it appeared that I braked without any reason.

While driving the vehicle, the codes related to the following systems all began flashing: automatic emergency braking lane departure warning lane keeping assistance my 17-year-old daughter, a new driver, was driving the vehicle at the time and became concerned, distracting her from concentrating on the road. The next day when my husband went to check the car, now the check engine lights were now lit. I just brought this, less than one-year-old vehicle back to the dealership. I was advised the capless gas tank was broken and not closing properly. I am not sure why this should malfunction after less than one year of driving. I do not know if this causes fuel to escape if the tank is not properly closing, thus possibly causing a safety concern. This is in addition to the auto-restart recall that occurred on the car which we had repaired, but they will not perform the warranty extension for the auto-restart issue unless it actually strands my new driver in the middle of the road after stopping.

While driving on a 4 lane road with a passing lane the automatic emergency braking system started slowing the vehicle down for a vehicle in the left hand turning lane. It was not directly in front of me. The warning tone and brake flashing alarm come on frequently when driving on 2 lane roads and a vehicle is coming from the other direction. I have taken it to the dealership 3 times to have it corrected and was told everything is working correctly and for me to turn the system off.

Driving and auto brake engaged once in the turn lane at a light and the other time while driving downhill.

Occasional (several times a month) phantom breaking on two lane roads, particularly when opposing traffic is approaching along a concave (I. E. , inward) curve or when opposing traffic is transitioning from a widened road section back to a single lane.

The Honda sense forward facing radar that causes the dash to show brake and also brake on your behalf is poorly implemented and comes on in varying conditions. . . From two lane roads to no cars on the road at all. I live in an area with many two way windy roads and any car coming towards you, the car, believes is an issue and the brake warning light, a sound and a quiver of the steering wheel occurs. There has been two incidents where there is no other car on the road and the Ridgeline shows the brake warning light and then actually braked the car heavily. If there was a car behind me, it would have caused an accident. Honda needs to remove this feature altogether until it can handle all road conditions. Three separate service advisors, (shingle springs, folsom and santa monica) have heard multiple complaints and issues and have their own personal experience with this problem in Honda/Acura's.

The contact owns a 2017 Honda Ridgeline. The contact stated while driving 60 mph, the vehicle experienced phantom braking with an unknown warning light illuminated. The vehicle was taken to the dealer; however, the vehicle was not diagnosed nor repaired. The dealer informed the contact that there was no recall associated with the VIN. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was unknown.

Amber cmbs, lkas, and acc lights flashing with 19850 mileage. The entire crash mitigation system does not work from cruise control to braking.

Issues with overall dash system. If truck is locked and off the truck will continuously attempt to start and will set the alarm off. Have been unable to leave the truck locked for a year now due to this issue. This has also transitioned into most of the safety features no longer working.

I bought a new 2022 Honda Ridgeline rtl-e February 2022. Drove it 100 miles and was driving down the road 40 mph with no one in front or behind. The brake warning light came on and the abs locked up. The dash lit up and said "collision mitigation system problem". The same cms failure happened a half dozen times until I got it home. I took it to the dealership the next morning and on a test drive, the same thing happened to their service manager after resetting the system. They said the vehicle was not safe to drive. They kept it and are trying to get a radar sending unit but there are none. They have had the truck for almost 4 weeks. I have since read about this same failure mode going back to the 2017 model year.

Came up to a turn light, it was green. Went to make the turn and the vehicle slammed on the brakes. No car in front of me. Car behind me had to swerve to avoid hitting me because the car stopped so quickly. Lacerations to my neck from the seatbelt. After the car came to a full stop the light turned red. After light turned green again car moved forward as normal.

I have experienced times when the vehicle brakes automatically for no apparent reason. This has created traffic safety issues--the potential to cause a rear collision--and I've had to override the braking by mashing the accelerator.

See all problems of the 2019 Honda Ridgeline 🔎.

Like other Honda models being investigated, this 2020 Ridgeline also applies the automatic braking system with on vehicle directly ahead (nearest vehicle is 2 lanes over). The date below is today, but events were in the past.

On 2/23/2022, I was driving my Ridgeline on local roads with 40 mph speed limits. On 2 separate occasions, the "brake" flashed on the dashboard for no reason. There were no obstructions ahead. The warning appeared for a second or two and then disappeared. I felt no braking of the vehicle. I have previously reported this incident by email, and has been assigned #491499 2021 Honda Ridgeline-brake warning on dashboard.

The automatic emergency braking system is consistently fooled on right hand turns. It "sees" the car approaching as being "in my lane" and alerts "brake" and vibrates the steering wheel. I believe this is because the system is unable to detect the curve in the two lane road approaching and no steering input has been applied (as the vehicle is not in the corner yet).