US Upgrades Probe Into Emergency Braking Issues in Certain Honda Vehicles

The U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said on Monday it is expanding and upgrading a probe into about 295,125 American Honda vehicles over reports of crashes and injuries due to their automatic emergency braking systems.

According to the reports, the automatic emergency braking system in these vehicles was triggering inadvertently, which increases the risk of a collision due to the rapid deceleration.

The problem affects the 2019-2022 models of the Honda Insight, a hybrid electric car, and the Honda Passport SUV, according to the U.S. auto safety regulator.

The regulator said it is upgrading the probe from March to an engineering analysis, and expanding it to include 2023 Honda Passport vehicles.

Engineering analysis is a required step before the NHTSA could demand a recall.

The NHTSA said Honda provided an analysis of the alleged defect and stated that some customers may have possibly had an inadequate understanding of the braking system and its limitations.

The agency’s report states that the Office of Defects Investigation received 106 complaints, which included reports of three crashes and two injuries.

Honda did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment.