2025 Chevrolet Equinox EV: false forward collision warnings

Filed Oct 21, 2026 · Brakes, Driver assistance · FL

INCIDENT DESCRIPTION: On October 20, 2026, at approximately 11:15 AM, I was driving my Chevrolet Equinox EV and was stopped at a red traffic signal. When the light turned green, I began accelerating normally into the intersection. Suddenly and without warning, the vehicle experienced a severe "phantom braking" / false Automatic Emergency Braking (AEB) event. The vehicle’s emergency braking system engaged violently, bringing the car to an abrupt, full stop in the middle of the intersection. There were NO vehicles, pedestrians, or obstacles in front of my car or anywhere in my path. A vehicle traveling directly behind me was forced to slam on their brakes and narrowly avoided a rear-end collision. This unexpected hard deceleration caused severe panic and created an immediate, life-threatening traffic hazard. Had this sudden stopping occurred at highway speeds or above 25 MPH rather than starting from a green light, it would have resulted in a severe crash. CRUCIAL CONTEXT / RECENT SERVICE HISTORY: This life-threatening failure occurred directly after taking my vehicle to Coggin Chevrolet at the Avenues (Jacksonville, FL), where technicians performed software servicing under Open Recall N262545360 ("Early ABS engagement on slippery road surfaces"). The dealership verified completion of this recall update. This phantom braking event occurred immediately after this recall software was flashed to the vehicle's brake control module. I suspect this software recalibration introduced a critical bug or miscalibration affecting the Electronic Brake Control Module (EBCM), regenerative braking system, or Forward Collision Avoidance system on dry pavement. I am requesting an immediate investigation by GM Engineering and the federal safety agency regarding the safety of Recall N262545360 software calibration.

Filed Oct 15, 2026 · Driver assistance · TX · 1 injury

Vehicle: 2025 Chevrolet Equinox EV, Front-Wheel Drive Incident date: [XXX] Approximate time: [XXX] CDT Location: Residential garage, Houston, Texas Safety Complaint — Unexpected Severe Automatic Braking On [XXX], at approximately [XXX] p.m., I was slowly driving my 2025 Chevrolet Equinox EV forward into my residential garage. My foot was on the accelerator pedal, and I was moving at very low speed. I was still well away from the back wall of the garage, with no apparent obstacle requiring emergency braking. Without warning, the vehicle suddenly braked extremely hard and came to an abrupt, complete stop. I did not apply the brakes and did not notice any audible collision warning or visual alert before the event. The deceleration was sufficiently violent that, despite wearing my seat belt, my head lurched forward and struck the vehicle's headliner. I subsequently experienced neck soreness, which has since subsided. I did not experience a headache, and my head currently feels normal. I intend to consult my primary care physician's office about the incident. I have no explanation for why the vehicle initiated such severe braking under these circumstances. The vehicle has automatic emergency braking and other driver-assistance systems, but I cannot determine which system caused the stop. Google Maps Timeline independently documents my arrival home at approximately [XXX] p.m., providing a useful timestamp for diagnostic investigation. The vehicle previously received an over-the-air software update while I was in Lakewood, Colorado. I do not know whether that update has any relationship to this incident. I am concerned that an unexplained, extremely forceful braking event at low speed could result in serious injuries, particularly if it occurs in traffic or at higher speeds. I request that the federal safety agency investigate whether the 2025 Chevrolet Equinox EV has a defect involving unintended automatic braking or other electronic braking-control. INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.

Filed Sep 2, 2026 · Brakes, Driver assistance · CA

On September 2, 2026, at approximately 3:19 PM, my 2025 Chevrolet Equinox EV unexpectedly applied hard automatic braking while I was proceeding through a green intersection. A white SUV ahead of me was moving to the left and clearing my travel path. There was no vehicle, pedestrian, bicycle, or other obstacle directly blocking my lane that required emergency braking. At the exact moment the vehicle applied the brakes, a Forward Collision Warning appeared on the driver display. Based on the warning and the braking response, I believe the Forward Collision Alert/Automatic Emergency Braking system falsely detected an imminent collision and activated unnecessarily. The unexpected braking created a risk that a vehicle behind me could rear-end my vehicle. My two children were passengers and were frightened by the sudden braking. No collision or injury occurred. There were no warning lamps, messages, or symptoms before this incident. The Forward Collision Warning appeared only when the unexpected braking occurred. The problem has not yet been reproduced or confirmed by a Chevrolet dealer. The vehicle has not yet been inspected by the dealer, manufacturer, police, or insurance company. I reported the incident to Chevrolet and opened case number 109390168. The vehicle and original dashcam footage are available for inspection upon request. The video shows the traffic conditions immediately before, during, and after the braking event. As a temporary safety precaution pending inspection, I changed the automatic-braking settings to Alert Only while retaining collision warnings.

Filed Jan 29, 2026 · Driver assistance · OH

While driving on the highway during morning rush hour the automatic braking fully engaged during slow traffic almost causing me to be rear-ended. The braking engaged after a split second collision warning after a car had merged in front of me. I was already slowing down via one pedal driving and about to begin applying my brakes when this occurred and there was plenty of space before any type of collision. I was going roughly 5-10 mpg when this occurred having slowed down to allow the car to merge. Afterwards it took a few seconds for the car to allow me to re-engage the gas to start moving again. This type of phantom braking has occurred in other instances in my driveway and in store parking lots but this is the first time it's put me at risk. It is available for inspection as needed. This has not been examined or reproduced by the dealer on my vehicle or inspected.

Filed Oct 13, 2025 · Brakes, Driver assistance · IL

I have driven the vehicle 13,000 miles without incident. However, twice this week, once moving forward and once backward, the emergency parking brake engaged without warning, bringing the vehicle to an abrupt stop. In both cases it was daylight, clear weather, with no visual indication of an obstacle in the vehicle's path. In response I have turned off its automatic braking/collision avoidance features and will see if that solves the problem. What is concerning, however, is that this did not occur for 13,000 miles, and then abruptly started.

Filed Sep 27, 2025 · Acceleration, Driver assistance · MI

On star Telematics is not working the issue is effecting GPS and most importantly the adaptive driving system including cruise control system. I have stopped using these services to due an intermittent failure while driving. The adaptive cruise will disengage itself. Also the collision avoidance system will initiate braking randomly. I was told that the replacement parts are not available and or “extremely long wait time”. I’m not comfortable driving this vehicle and have no options but to continue until the lease is up.

Filed Sep 17, 2025 · Driver assistance · WI

Driving down rural highway (Interstate 43 in northern Walworth County, WI, divided access restricted freeway) the car panic braked with no car or obstacle in front of it. No warning sign, no error message, called Onstar and they reported no faults, took to Chevrolet dealership and they reported no issue. Car also has had phantom alerts from the forward collision warning system.

Filed Mar 23, 2025 · Brakes, Driver assistance · NY

Yesterday while approaching a hairpin exit, all of a sudden lights went on for the Stabilitrack, Collision alert and a number of other lights. Messages popped up saying braking assist was not available, cruise control was not available. Basically, the braking assist was gone and I had to press REALLY hard on the brake pedal to get any slowdown. All regen was gone and it was like driving a car without power brakes. I also got a message saying it would not go faster than 62mph. There was no indication of any issues prior to the Brake assist failure. This put me at extreme risk because it was essentially a power braking failure and it was extremely difficult to slow down. I had to really push hard on the brake pedal. I was able to drive my car back to the dealership where it is sitting now, waiting to be looked at in the morning of 3/24/25. I have attached a PDF of the OnStar diagnostic report, cryptic as usual, but it is a record of the codes that were thrown. Also seems like some modules were not communicating properly. I have also attached some photos of the error messages that were showing this morning.

Filed Jan 4, 2025 · Driver assistance · NJ

When I activate adaptive cruise control with cruise braking my car will follow the the car ahead of me as it speeds up or slows down. But if that car slows down to a stop light, my car will not slow down enough before the red collision warning activates and I need to apply the brakes immediately to avoid impact. Happens every time at any gap distance or set speed.