2019 Honda CR-V FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE
Owner-reported problems and safety issues filed with NHTSA. Review common failures, severity levels, and complaint trends over time.
Complaint Timeline
Chronological view of owner reports
We were driving yesterday evening (02/26) when the anti-collision break light flashed and the vehicle force stopped with without any obstacles in front of us. We were fortunate that a car wasn’t immediately behind us to have caused a collision. This was the first instance of failure. We haven’t reported to manufacture or others yet. We looked along the front number and tires thinking maybe it sensed something but nothing was there.
I was driving down a city street going approximately 20 mph when the emergency automatic brake engaged and brought my vehicle to a complete stop. There was nothing in front of my vehicle, and no other cars in front of me for blocks. The car behind me had to brake abruptly to avoid hitting me and honked at me. It was very frightening. It could easily have caused a collision. My daughters were in the car as well. This occurred in my 2019 Honda CRV all wheel drive. This occurred on January 31st between 4-4:30 pm. There were no warning light prior to the incident. The brake warning light that appears in red above the steering wheel flashed, as it always does when this system kicks in. My vehicle is available for inspection upon request. I called my local Honda dealer. They said they could look at it, but they would possibly not be able to tell me anything and would charge me $95.
The contact owns a 2019 Honda CR-V. The contact stated that while driving approximately 40 MPH, the Automatic Emergency Braking System erroneously activated, causing the vehicle to abruptly stop in the middle of the road. During the failure, there were no other vehicles or objects nearby the vehicle. The vehicle was taken to the local dealer. The cause of the failure was not yet determined. The contact stated that the failure had previously occurred, and the dealer was unable to determine the cause of the failure. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The contact was made aware of NHTSA Action Number: EA24002 (FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE) and related the failure to the NHTSA Action Number. The failure mileage was 25,000. The VIN was not available.
The car just comes to a screeching halt because it detects a collision, even when there is no threat. Happens most often at night when passing a road signage above you.
Automatic Emergency Braking System suddenly activated without any objects or vehicles in front of me. I was going 40 mph. The system beeped and the car decelerated with no braking by me.
The contact owned a 2019 Honda CR-V. The contact stated while driving approximately 48-50 MPH, the Collision Mitigation Braking System engaged while there was no other vehicles nearby and the contact sustained whiplash. The vehicle was taken to the dealer, where the contact was informed that the failure could be related to a crack on the passenger's side of the windshield. The vehicle was not repaired and was traded in. The manufacturer was notified of the failure, but no assistance was provided. The failure mileage was approximately 45,000.
On October 7, 2025, I was driving to work. There was a steel metal plate of approximately 1 inch height lying flat on the roadway, presumably to cover up a pothole or other utility work. The steel metal plate was near an intersection where I was to be turning left. I was driving relatively slow as it was almost time to make the left turn, about 15-20 mph. When I was almost upon the steel metal plate my car braked to a complete stop because of the Collision Mitigation Braking System. The intense deceleration has had my back in pain all day, and my neck is slowly starting to hurt as well. I feel like I was in a car accident from how quickly my car came to a stop over what appeared to be the steel plate tripping the CMBS. My vehicle is available for inspection upon request. My safety was at risk due to the back and neck pain I am currently experiencing. If a car had been driving behind me, I would have almost certainly been rear ended which could have created further injury. This feature cannot be permanently disabled and needs to be able to be. It's an undue burden on the driver of the car to have to turn it off every time the car starts. I am concerned someone else will drive my car and not know to turn off that feature and they will be injured or in an accident.
Last week, the collision avoidance braking system activated without being triggered by an actual hazard. I was traveling btw 30 and 40 mph on a straight road, overcast conditions, no pedestrian or oncoming traffic or vehicle in front of me, nor any shadows, or roadworks that could be perceived as a problem. My car flashed the BRAKE sign and immediately braked very hard, car coming to a full stop. LUCKILY no one was behind me, or I'm sure i would have been rear-ended. I was able to continue driving normally right away, but It was very alarming and unsettling to happen with no provocation. This has been reported by others. I disabled the avoidance braking system for the next few days until I could get the car into my local dealer which happened today, 4/29/25. They ran complete diagnostics, could not replicate the problem, confirming the camera and forward radar sensor were working properly. I have never had any warning lights or messages come on prior or since, and the car has otherwise performed very well. Needless to say, I have less confidence in this car now. I was advised to NOT disable the warning/braking system as without it, i could not be protected by it should it be truly needed. This makes me very uncomfortable, but i don't feel there is another choice at this time.
I was driving 50 mph, "BRAKE" lit up, immediately my car slammed on the brakes while I had my foot on the gas pedal! Cruise control was not on. Nothing was in front of me - no cars, snow, rain, plastic bag, etc. This has happened many times before. I thought it had to do with Automatic Cruise Control, but it's much worse. I told the dealership and taken it in many times & I have written to Honda Regional Customer Svc. What do I do now?
Multiple times the vehicle slammed stopped for no reason nothing around to warrant a stop or anything no real warning before it automatically brakes
The contact owns a 2019 Honda CR-V. The contact stated while driving 65 MPH on the freeway while depressing the accelerator pedal, the automatic braking system engaged. No warning light was illuminated. The contact stated that an independent mechanic was contacted. The contact stated that the failure recurred a second time near the residence. The vehicle was not taken to a dealer or independent mechanic to be diagnosed. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The contact was referred to the NHTSA Hotline to report the failure of her son. The approximate failure mileage was 34,300.
Driving downtown seattle going through an intersection - green light - no pedestrians in walks - no oncoming or opposing traffic at the time. Uphill orientation. Doing about 25 mph. The system did a sudden and hard brake! This is the second time this has happened. First time was in a parking lot at low speed going over a speed bump and the passenger hurt their knee on the dash. It is clearly a problem and a serious hazard to all.
The contact owns a 2019 Honda CR-V. The contact stated that while driving approximately 40 MPH, the Forward Collision Avoidance Emergency Automatic Braking unexpectedly activated, causing the vehicle to abruptly stop in the middle of the road. The contact stated that during the failure there were no vehicles or objects nearby. There was another vehicle behind and was able to avoid crashing into the rear of the vehicle. The cause of the failure was not yet determined. The local dealer was notified of the failure, but no assistance was offered. The manufacturer was not yet contacted. The contact was informed of the NHTSA Action Number: EA24002 (FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE). The contact indicated that the vehicle had experienced the failure listed in the recall. The failure mileage was 37,000.
Driving in a 45 mph area and automatic braking system engaged for absolutely no reason and car came to a jerking halt. I was nearly rear-ended. Scared myself and 3 children in the car with me.
A few times, the car has braked suddenly even when there were no cars or people in front of it. The last two instances were particularly dangerous because another car was right behind me, and the car braked hard. My daughter was in the car during these incidents, so I've since turned off the driving assistance feature because I believe it's more dangerous than driving without it. I can say that this has happened more than eight times."
I was driving 40Mph on a two way road, no cars in front of me. I was going straight when all of the sudden my car auto brake activated. Normally I’ll get the warning, where it goes “beep beep” and big orange text that says “BRAKE” pops up but most of the time that happens if there is a car in front of me, and maybe I am coming up on it a little fast. It’s never hit the brakes for me though. And it’s never gave me the brake warning when there is nothing in front of me. So I am driving at 40Mph, clear road, nothing in front of me that should set off the sensor when all of the sudden my car hits the brakes and gives me a huge shock. It was almost immediate, I didn’t even hear the beep beep or see the warning until after the brakes were activated. It only lasted a second or so and then I was able to continue driving but now I’m scared.
My car’s brakes fully engaged suddenly and without warning. There was no obstacle of any kind in front of my vehicle. I was traveling approximately 10 miles an hour when the phantom braking occurred.
The contact owns a 2019 Honda CR-V. The contact stated while driving 20 MPH, the Forward Collision Avoidance: Automatic Emergency Braking System engaged with no other vehicles or objects nearby. The contact stated that the sudden braking nearly caused an accident with another vehicle that was following behind the vehicle. The contact called a local dealer, and an appointment was scheduled to inspect the vehicle. The contact linked the failure to NHTSA Action Number: EA24002 (Forward Collision Avoidance). The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The vehicle was not repaired. The failure mileage was 36,700.
The automated emergency braking system has activated twice without any reason and slowing the vehicle rapidly. Once after turning into a parking lot and again while driving at a constant speed of 40 mph on a straight unobstructed road with no traffic in front or oncoming.
Traveling about 45 mph on no weather road. The DMBS system engaged with no warning and hard braked just out of the blue throwing all passengers forward. 3 passengers including an 11 year old child in the backseat fully buckled in thank goodness. There was no reason for the system to engage and the truck behind us thankfully was far enough back that he saw it and went around us carefully. If he had been any closer and not able to go around us due to oncoming traffic he would have hit us. Upon further research after this incident we have found numerous complaints about this issue and feel this warrants immediate attention as this could have caused fatalities. My granddaughter was in the back and it scared all of us to where we were shaking.
Multiple times while driving on a highway with no other cars in front of me, the BRAKE light flashes. Yesterday, without warning and no other car in front of me, the automatic brake system engaged and brought my vehicle to a complete stop. I was almost hit from behind by another car.
The vehicle stopped automatically while driving. The automated braking applied even though there was no vehicle in front. This is scary as it might lead to a fatal incident on highway or when the vehicle on back is close. I reported the incident to American Honda and was expecting to receive courtesy free inspection and repairs needed. But they said as the vehicle is outside of warranty period, I will have to bear the cost of inspection and repair if required which is very disappointing. I believe it's related to ABS malfunction. I researched online and found similar issues reported by others. This is a very concerning as the vehicle came into full stop while driving all of a sudden even though there was no vehicle in front. This incident happened today. My vehicle has around 45k mileage as of today.
I was driving from Los Angeles to Las Vegas on [XXX] with moderate traffic, going approximately 70 mph. I was traveling in the #1 (left most) lane. I had been using Adaptive Cruise Control (ACC) for several hours without any problems. ACC started behaving differently: instead of automatically applying the brakes when the vehicle in front slowed down, I had to press the break peddle manually. This happed twice before the car suddenly, unexpectedly, applied full braking force. I had to take emergency action to avoid being hit by the vehicle behind me and quickly move onto the left shoulder. My vehicle completed its stop on the shoulder. A message flashed on the instrument panel (I believe it was related to the brakes), I was too busy getting off the road to read it. After the vehicle stopped, the brakes released, and I was again able to drive. I turned off ACC and re-entered the freeway (with some difficulty, as traffic was moving very fast). We continued our journey to our destination without cruise control activated. There were no further problems. I took my vehicle into the dealer when I returned from our trip. They inspected it and checked for codes. There were no codes. They did a short test drive and had no problems. The said vehicle needed software updates and did them. Updated EBB, EVPS, and updated ACC/CMBS and PGM F/I software. INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)
Vehicle went into crash avoidance mode unexpectedly with no vehicles directly ahead.There was a vehicle beside me in an adjacent lane. I was traveling at about 40mph and had just completed a turn when the BRAKE warning appeared on the dash and the brakes were suddenly applied. The incident lasted for only a few seconds and the controls returned to normal. The problem this caused a sudden decrease in speed. Fortunately there were no cars nearby so I did not have any trouble. While returning home after a stop, the BRAKE warning light momentarily appeared on the dash, but this time the brakes were not applied. This has never happened before. There has been no inspection of the vehicle at this point by anyone. As a footnote. on 23 January, the windshield was replaced by Safelite Auto Glass who recalibrated the camera system as part of the service.
While driving about 30 mph on a street with no other vehicles nearby, the braking system suddenly stopped violently and started flashing brake on the dashboard. there were no cars nor nothing in the way that would of caused the vehicle to brake. This caused injury to my neck and shoulders.
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Quick Summary
The 2019 Honda CR-V has 196 FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE complaints on file. 4 crashes have been reported. Review the timeline above for detailed owner experiences.