2021 Honda CR-V: brakes engage by themselves (phantom braking)

Filed Apr 17, 2026 · Driver assistance · 81,000 miles · AL

The contact owns a 2021 Honda CR-V. The contact stated that while driving at various speeds, the vehicle experienced phantom braking. Additionally, while driving with the cruise control set at 72 MPH, the vehicle unexpectedly decelerated to 66 MPH before accelerating to 73 MPH. No warning light was illuminated. The vehicle was taken to the dealer, but the cause of the failure could not be determined. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 81,000.

Filed Apr 13, 2026 · Brakes, Driver assistance · OR

The automatic emergency brakes deployed for no reason while I was driving through traffic. There was nothing in the road and nothing that should have triggered the emergency brakes. It could have caused an accident

Filed Nov 13, 2024 · Driver assistance · AK

I have experienced at least 4 occurrences in the last year of the automatic emergency braking system activating when there were no obstructions while crossing a bridge. I have also experienced at least 2 occurrences of the automatic emergency braking system activating while going under an overpass. I live in interior Alaska and in the most recent occurrence I was going over an icy bridge in the dark in below zero temperatures when the car automatically applied the brakes for no reason. Brakes need to be applied carefully on icy roads - had someone been behind me or had I lost control of the car because of the unexpected braking, this could have resulted in a serious accident.

Filed Oct 22, 2024 · Driver assistance · FL

I was driving on the street with no one in front of me going about 45 miles per hour when the car did "Phantom Braking" and the car tried to stop on its own. It beeped 3 times and BRAKE! flashed on my dashboard as if I was going to hit someone and the car overtook my brakes and tried to stop. There was no one in front of me. The very next day, it did it again. This is extremely dangerous and can cause an accident if someone is driving behind me and the car suddenly decides to stop on its own.

Filed Oct 7, 2024 · Driver assistance · NJ

The car's forward collision warning system is defective. The car will randomly bring up "BRAKE" on the dashboard with nothing even close to the car. This has started happening many times over the past few weeks, with even at least one instance of the car braking on its own. I brought this up to the dealership during my last oil change recently, and they inspected and looked into it. They said there was nothing wrong with the sensors/system and they documented it (specifically saying no problem found vehicle is operating normally at this time). However, a day or two after the dealership, the problem returned and it continues to persist. In addition to this, the blind spot warning system also randomly goes off when nothing is nearby, but not as often as the braking system, which is more dangerous in my opinion.

Filed Aug 6, 2024 · Acceleration, Brakes · CA

A few times while using the vehicle’s cruise control system, our 2021 Honda CRV suddenly started braking on its own automatically, for no apparent reason. It was sudden, surprising, jarring, and scary. Thank goodness no one was injured. The vehicle components have not been inspected yet by any party and is available for inspection. There were no warnings prior to the sudden automatic braking. We are reporting this to Honda today as well.

Filed Apr 2, 2024 · Driver assistance · HI

Driving in the highway when I was signaling to exit going right, My car suddenly brakes on its own and continue to drive. I did shoulder my vehicle to check my vehicle. No vehicle was around me that time and I check my car surrounding and it was clear. Incident happen multiple times which I did adjust my sensor to low distance but still happens.

Filed Mar 20, 2023 · Driver assistance, Electrical · LA

My cars automatic braking system engages when nothing is around. This has happened multiple times. One of these time I recall traveling with my child at a sped of 50-+mph. It was fearful for the both of us. This alone is dangerous, it could become deadly given different weather conditions causing loss of control of the car. I believe this issue will eventually cause someone injury and/or death. During this time my child was recovering from traumatic brain trauma. The dealership is waiting on a part the they feel should repair the issue. The emergency brake light flashed, beeped and slammed on breaks. I believe this is more than a sensor issue I believe it’s an electrical issue. The lights sometimes brighten instead of deeming in on coming traffic, there have been times that the usb port don’t work an then times that they do with the same charger, the windows an sunroof open on it’s on, the volume will max out an not turn down or off, the pixels on the screen become broken up(I have pictures) also when the car is idling the rear exhaust smalls like fumes from spray paint or something similar. I bought the car in May 2021 w/5miles - March 2023 w/about 7,500miles, I’ve had to call roadside assistance 3/4 times. I am a single mom with a young son who suffers from 4 rare diseases. I am unable to run out an get a new car. If these issues fix I’ll be on my own in the next 13 months with unnecessary expenses.

Filed Nov 29, 2022 · Driver assistance · NV

My car has done this phantom braking multiple times before, however this time it managed to pull my car into a curb and pop my brand new back tire and ruin my front tire. This is a huge safety issue because if there was anyone in front of or behind the car could’ve caused a major collision. I have done some research and noticed this has been an issue on previous years of my vehicle. I feel unsafe driving my car and my dealership has basically told me there is nothing than can do and that is not acceptable with me. The fact that my life was put in danger due to a malfunction with the forward collision warning is absolutely ridiculous. I will probably never buy another Honda if something is not done to correct the issues.

Filed Sep 17, 2022 · Driver assistance · GA

I was driving at about 35-40 MPH and the automatic emergency braking engaged for no reason. There was nothing on the road ahead of me. The vehicle braked very hard and had there been a vehicle behind me I suspect there would have been an accident. This is not the first time this has occurred - it has happened several times before - but it was the most severe braking that has occurred. There was no damage, so the police were not involved. I have not yet reported this to the manufacturer.

Filed May 20, 2022 · Airbags, Driver assistance · IA · crash

I'm trying to report an incident that involved my Honda CRV running into a totally stopped Tesla in the HOV lane on I-75 in Atlanta Georgia on Sunday, May 8, 2022, at around 9 AM. We came around a large curve and had no time to avoid running into the TOTALLY STOPPED Tesla in the HOV lane. I have seen reports of "phantom braking" in Teslas. The driver of the Tesla stated to us that he was using cruise control and when the Tesla sensed a car pulled off into the breakdown lane, it stopped completely and there was nothing he could do. Our car sustained serious damage. Fortunately, we were not injured, but I believe the federal safety agency should be investigating Tesla for these incidents. If this is not the correct form to report this, please advise. There was no problem associated with my CRV in this incident.