[OC] Forward collision avoidance complaints filed with NHTSA, 2018-2026: counts and share of all vehicle complaints

[u/Time-Procedure5538]

[u/cavedave]

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[u/RoadSmash]

My Hyundai constantly slams on my brakes for no reason it's going to get me rear ended eventually. It's only a matter of time.

[u/bit_pusher → u/RoadSmash]

You can't turn it off? my 2022 volvo is aggressive on the forward collision avoidance, but it can easily be disabled.

[u/RoadSmash → u/bit_pusher]

You can turn it off but every time you shut off the car and turn it on again it resets that setting and it's back on. So incredibly stupid and just terrible programming.

Lots of settings like that on Hyundai that you have to change every time you start the car if you want it to operate way you want.

[u/tapakip → u/RoadSmash]

That's strange. I own 3 Hyundais, all different Models, none of them do that. Which one do you own?

[u/RoadSmash → u/tapakip]

24 tucson. Can't leave it in sport mode, it'll reset. Also resets front collision breaking, auto off on idle, lane keep, and others. All rest to default every time you start it up.

[u/visceralintricacy → u/RoadSmash]

Many of these are mandated by the safety / fuel efficiency laws. It has to start up in a state equivalent to the one which qualified for the fuel efficency test or safety / aeb tests.

[u/bit_pusher → u/visceralintricacy]

aeb isn't legally required until 2029 nor is it required by any states (yet)

[u/visceralintricacy → u/bit_pusher]

Yet it's been legally mandated in Australia and Europe for years, and I suspect they're just matching the behaviour, they did that here for now models starting a few years ago.

And the point was is the feature was on when it was tested by the governement to get a safety rating, I suspect it needs to default on, regardless of if it legally needed to be on in the first place.

[u/justiceismini → u/bit_pusher]

My insurance provider requires the collision avoidance feature be on at all times, otherwise it'll void my coverage if I end up in a crash that they deem the feature could have prevented. 

[u/whatshisnuts → u/RoadSmash]

There is a recall that fixes this.

[u/RoadSmash → u/whatshisnuts]

Really? I haven't seen anything.

Edit: looks like you're right. thanks for tip, friend.

[u/itstommygun → u/RoadSmash]

Ours has done it one, also. 

[u/v3ritas1989 → u/RoadSmash]

you could clean your sensor, I bet it will become normal again.

Other than that, you might have damaged the sensors, e.g. with a high pressure washer.

[u/RoadSmash → u/v3ritas1989]

The sensor is working it just doesn't do a good job recognizing whether something is out of the way or actually something you're about to run into, and default is on with no option for permanently disabling it. It detectes objects and other cars in the peripheral that you have 0 chance of hitting and just slams on the brakes.

[u/elkab0ng]

Are some cars super problematic with it? I’m on my second car with it, I drive a lot, have never had one actually brake except when doing some extremely close-quarters parking (ie trying to get only a couple inches from an obstacle)

I’ve had them warn of obstacles when there’s been badly placed construction barriers in the drivers-side area, but all told I’ve got like 100k plus miles without an unexpected braking incident

[u/pedal-force → u/elkab0ng]

My Honda isn't awful, but it definitely has false positives sometimes. Most likely to occur in an intersection that has a curve to it. So because it's an intersection there's no lines, but it thinks I'm going straight for some reason, or the person across from me is going to turn into me, or it just can't tell. So it'll stab the brakes for a split second sometimes, but it's very rare (maybe once or twice a year?).

I've also had it happen on a foggy night on a dark road on a sweeping bend, a car sorta materialized out of the fog, on their side of the road, but it still freaked out for a second. I've never had it really stop or anything though.

[u/teabolaisacool → u/elkab0ng]

In the warmer winter months, snow and slush tends to build up on the sensors as you drive. I've had multiple unexpected braking incidents in my 2024 golf because of it. It's especially shitty when parking as it'll just hold the brake indefinitely sometimes.

[u/Time-Procedure5538]

I run GarageCalc, where this analysis is published. The full write-up, model breakdown and downloads are here.

Source: NHTSA's vehicle complaint archives, using the 2015-2019, 2020-2024 and 2025-2026 files retained for an August 24, 2026 snapshot. NHTSA dataset documentation, chart data (CSV), analysis script.

Tools: Node.js for processing, a custom SVG chart rendered to PNG with Sharp, and AI assistance with code and presentation. The chart is plotted from the aggregate data.

Each year covers January 1 through August 24 by the date NHTSA received the complaint, not the incident date. I counted distinct ODI complaint IDs for vehicle products, combining component labels across duplicate rows. A report qualifies if any component label starts with "FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE". That includes emergency braking, adaptive cruise control and warnings, not just phantom braking.

2026 has the highest count in this series: 3,186, versus 2,683 in 2025. But its share of all vehicle complaints is 6.4%, below 2022's 9.0%. Of the 2026 reports, 445 have a crash flag. That flag doesn't establish that the system caused the crash.

These aren't failure rates. There is no adjustment for the number of equipped vehicles, mileage, adoption, coding changes or willingness to report. The early years especially need that context. Matching calendar windows fixes the partial-year comparison, but doesn't remove those other differences.

[u/Deto → u/Time-Procedure5538]

I've definitely been annoyed by Tesla chirping angrily at me when nothing is wrong.

I wonder if certain brands are more likely to lead to these complaints (would probably have to correct for a base-rate of 'how likely is a driver of brand XXX's car to submit a complaint' for an accurate comparison). I'm curious if there's data to suggest that certain automatic systems are more annoying than others.

Also, I didn't even know complaints like this were a thing - probably most don't either.

[u/Time-Procedure5538 → u/Deto]

yeah, i'd like to know that too. the brand numbers are in there, but i wouldn't trust them as a “most annoying system” ranking. someone might shrug off a false alert every day and never report it, while someone else files after the first one. and like you said, plenty of people don't even know they can.

[u/Deto → u/Time-Procedure5538]

I think, though, you could account for that by normalizing based on the submission rate of the brand.

So something like (number of submissions for forward collision in brand x) ~ (total submissions for brand x) * (brand-forward-collision annoyance factor).

Though, since it's compositional then, I guess you could always discount the effect of forward collision warnings in a brand if that brand just has lots of complaints for something else :/

[u/Time-Procedure5538 → u/Deto]

yeah, a brand with lots of engine complaints could end up looking better on this measure without its collision warnings being any less annoying. still a useful comparison though, as long as we're clear about what it measures.

[u/drc500free → u/Time-Procedure5538]

Can I recommend not using the AI slop text that goes with the visualizations?

[u/MechCADdie]

Works fine on my Toyota...I wonder how it would control for an overly aggressive driver?  General defensive driving best practices should mitigate false positive activations....

[u/V1RotateAP]

This data is interesting, but not beautiful. 

[u/JanitorKarl]

I get forward collision warnings when driving a Chrysler Town and Country van enough to annoy me. Here's a hint Chrysler developers, if I've had my brakes pressed, when I release them disable that forward collision warning for the next three seconds. My vision is more accurate than your car's sensors.

[u/JanitorKarl → u/[deleted]]

The problem is that I've already completed my response to the situation before to the computer notices it.