Has anyone had an experience with a car AEB system (autonomous emergency braking system) activating for no reason, or for little reason? Or has anyone experienced a near miss due to the brake activating for no reason?
There have been media reports in past years where AEB systems in some vehicles have been faulty leading to unexplained braking.
There have also been reports of some vehicles braking when approaching vehicles on sweeping corners - possibly from mistaking the direction of the approaching vehicle.
If you have an issue with AEB system on your vehicle, contact the manufacturer, explain the issue and ask for it to be addressed under warranty/Australian Consumer Law - Consumer Guarantee.
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Welcome to the Community @SMcK
Have you checked for recalls on your model of vehicle?
Have you searched the web for info regarding your vehicle type and any braking problems?
Certainly your post here may have members or searchers that have information they can share but if you provide details of the make, model and year that will help identify if we can help answer your questions better.
There is quite a recall section here being updated by @Fred123 that on a search of the Community might be able to give you an answer.
Some results on searches re AEB both on the Community and the Web
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Welcome to the forum.
Are you asking these questions because you have had this happen? If so, what make, model, and year vehicle do you have.
Do you belong to a motoring organisation? Have you contacted them to ask these questions? They should be in a position to provide advice and possibly assistance.
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Thank you, I have tried that approach. The car was towed to the dealership service centre, where they deemed it safe and with no issues after a week. I don’t agree with them.
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Thank you, yes this happened to me.
New car. MG HS. Bought it this year. The AEB system activated for no reason. 60 kms an hour, just stopped dead. Got whiplash injuries, have been having treatment for a month, off of work for 3 weeks. The dealership and an ‘MG specialist’ have assessed the car and tell me either a) nothing is wrong with the system or b) there must have been a kangaroo on the side of the road, that I didn’t see, that activated the braking system. I don’t agree.
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Oh and sorry, do you mean do I belong to the RAA or something similar? I do belong to RAA but they are none the wiser as to why this happened.
I just am trying to see whether there are other people out there who have experienced a similar experience with their system, maybe not in an MG as example, but I assume other car makes would use the same AEB system.
Basically MG have washed their hands of the issue. I’m still injured. I won’t drive the car as I’m too scared it will happen again and next time maybe someone will rear end me and I’ll be even more injured or dead.
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You certainly would not want to be driving it in a 110km/h zone on a rural highway.
Sounds like a fob off for a dodgy design.
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As noted above AEB systems have had some issues, even having been/being the subject of class actions.
Is there a MG owners group on social media eg Facebook? These could be good places to also pose your question.
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Thank you, I totally agree. They have given the excuse of: I went around a corner too fast; or I got too close to a post; or there was a rabbit on the side of the road; or that a car exited from a road and I didn’t see it; to there must have been a kangaroo in the road that I didn’t see but that the car did.
I don’t agree with any of it. I drive semi rural every day. I encounter kangaroos often. I feel that with all those lame excuses just proves more to me that they are covering something up.
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I have looked but just can’t find any social media group to back up what I am saying. Thank you for your link, I appreciate all the help I am getting here. I will have a read. There is an MG Complaints page, but that is referring to their electric vehicle. But I am very curious about the link you have posted me and will be reading now.
I have had things confirmed by an ex employee of the dealership that in fact there are a lot of problems with their vehicles, but that they ignore them. The person left that company for that reason, but won’t go on record as they don’t want to lose their current employment.
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Here’s a thought. Turn it off.
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Thanks for your insight Greg, however why would anyone have to turn off a safety system in a new car in order to protect themselves or their children from injury or rear collisions? Makes no sense to me.
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Well an auto braking system that activates for no apparent reason is pretty much guaranteed to get you rear-ended.
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My Renault has an adaptive cruise control. In the first week of ownership I had it engaged on an 80 kph stretch. The main road bent to the right and there was a turn lane to the left about mid-bend to go onto a narrow side road. A vehicle turning left would be going very slow prior to turning off.
The adaptive sensors thought a car on the turn lane (going very slowly to turn left) was dead ahead and ‘we’ were closing rapidly. It braked smartly to reduce the rate of closure, although I was atop it quickly disconnecting the cruise and there were no negative outcomes. It greatly enhanced my understanding of the limitations of an adaptive cruise system.
AEB systems probably share the sensor and firmware technology with adaptive cruise and could thus make the same type of error. When I bought the car the salesman told me if I was going sufficiently fast in traffic (that was not very fast but the number escapes now) and closing on a car the AEB system and warning horn would be something I might not want to experience a second time. I have not experienced it once so that remains hearsay.
An issue I have always wondered about, especially with the law suits about sudden deceleration, AEB anomalies, and so on, is why vehicle control systems are not mandated to register in a log any time a safety feature engages, with the code that triggered it.
As I understand it the only failures recorded are operating failures of interest to a tech, not safety feature triggers. More logging would not be fail safe because an actuator could have a failure mode beyond the control system, but it would be a step up similarly to the airplane black box. Of course with enough resolve it could be made all but bullet proof…
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On some models of cars the AEB sensors are on the windscreen . If it has to be replaced due to breakage the AEB sensors must be correctly recalibrated or else they can give false readings . A car I had borrowed from a dealer kept braking when its sensors picked up pedestrians approaching to cross the road .They were at least 2 metres away from the road when the brakes were activated . I was nearly rear ended so I had to deactivate the system .
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Correct. This is what I’m trying to tell the manufacturer. Something terrible is going to happen to someone. Not good.
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I consider AEB to be of dubious value as a safety feature that could cause more problems than it’s worth.
So you have a problem. The manufacturer says it is working as designed, and there is no problem. You say it is faulty. Good luck with pursuing that issue.
So you have a perfectly good car with useful safety features like airbags, anti-lock braking, presumably stability control, and maybe blind spot warning. Is that not enough?
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The driver of a vehicle is currently required to always be in control of a vehicle. There is no leeway, although there are active Govt level committees looking at how the road networks and legislation transitions to greater autonomy of vehicle operation.
Whether the purchaser was made aware of the potential for false activation of the AEB prior to sale would be relevant to any claim under consumer law. Whether some false activation is able to be classified as ‘expected operation’, a ‘minor defect’, or a ‘major defect’ is also relevant in seeking remedy under the ACL.
What the owners manual says concerning the expected operation of the AEB would be a good place to start. @SMcK
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That can be challenging when the AEB brakes are suddenly applied.
Given the debate about vaccine, would you like to explain how that would go in more detail 
Since there is no logging just the driver’s claim, no evidence no problem!
Another issue has been sudden limp home mode causing an unannounced sudden, quick deceleration and reduced maximum speed. Limp home mode is usually referenced as a feature to protect the drive train rather than a potential driving hazard if it happens in dense traffic on the M1 at 110 kph…
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