NHTSA wants more info from Honda in probe of 1.7M vehicles for alleged unintended braking

Honda has till Aug. 12 to answer, or it could encounter civil penalties of up to about $122 million.

In a assertion to Automotive Information, Honda spokesman Chris Martin reiterated that the automaker is knowledgeable of the investigation and fully commited to safety.

“Honda will cooperate with the NHTSA through the investigation course of action, and we will proceed our individual interior evaluate of the out there details,” Martin explained.

In addition, NHTSA needs to know of any issues or lawsuits similar to the alleged defect as very well as reviews involving a crash, harm or dying. It also wants to know how numerous autos are equipped with the AEB program and any recognised technique performance variations among the cars coated in the facts request.

More specifically, NHTSA desires to know at which speeds every of the systems’ sensors can set off a braking celebration, how Honda’s Sensing and AcuraWatch state-of-the-art driver-assistance systems interact with other driver-assist functions and any identified environmental components these as time of day, glare from the sun, weather or other road objects that may have an impact on the system’s functionality.

NHTSA’s facts ask for arrives as the agency prepares to concern a proposal to need AEB, like pedestrian detection, on all new light-weight-duty automobiles and set least functionality expectations, as mandated in the infrastructure law passed by Congress previous calendar year.

This thirty day period, NHTSA reported it has acquired experiences of approximately 400 crashes involving driver-assist units and 130 crashes involving absolutely automatic vehicles because it began demanding automakers, suppliers and tech companies to disclose the facts last June.

Tesla Inc. and Honda noted the most ADAS crashes to the company — 273 and 90, respectively — according to the information, which is minimal and lacks context required for comparison.

The company, also in February, opened an investigation into selected Tesla Product 3 and Model Y cars outfitted with Autopilot alleging “phantom braking” following getting 354 issues.

NHTSA this thirty day period reported the selection of studies of sudden brake activation in those vehicles had elevated to 758.