— A Honda unintended braking class action lawsuit is under debate in court, but Honda argues the lawsuit doesn't qualify to last another day in any courtroom.
California plaintiff Margaret Amaru and non-California plaintiffs Howard Barkan, James Khargie, Andrea Sivakova and Ricky Urena claim all 2019-2022 Honda Insight and 2019-2022 Honda Passport vehicles are equipped with unsafe automatic emergency braking systems.
According to the unintended braking lawsuit, the vehicles suddenly brake even though no forward objects are in the roadways.
The class action lawsuit wasn't filed until a few weeks after the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration opened an investigation into unintended braking in 2019-2022 Honda Passport and Insight vehicles.
Honda calls its automatic emergency braking system the "Collision Mitigation Braking System."
Honda describes the system:
"Featuring a radar transmitter mounted in the front grille trim, CMBS™ can determine the distance and closing speed of obstacles ahead of you. If the radar and high-resolution camera detects another vehicle or a pedestrian in front of the car, it will provide both visual and audio warnings. If you do not immediately respond, the system will automatically apply the brakes."
What should be a safety feature is allegedly a faulty system that can harm safety.
According to the Honda unintended braking lawsuit, Honda never warned consumers about the pitfalls of the automatic emergency braking systems. But Honda says the Insight and Passport owner's manuals clearly warn customers the braking systems aren't perfect.
The Insight and Passport owner's manuals warn drivers the automatic braking systems might suddenly activate “when there is no vehicle ahead.” In admitting the limitations, the owner's manuals list conditions when unintended braking may occur.
- Driving through curves
- Driving “under low or narrow bridges”
- Driving over speed bumps, steal plates or train tracks
- Driving past traffic signs or guard rails
The Honda class action lawsuit alleges the braking system uses cheap components that can't tell the difference between common features of a road and dangerous obstacles.
Motion to Dismiss the Honda Unintended Braking Lawsuit
Honda argues the class action lawsuit should be thrown out because the plaintiffs allegedly do not define what they mean by “sudden,” either by describing the duration or braking force or otherwise. Honda also says it is unclear what the plaintiffs mean by "unintended."
If the plaintiffs mean, "unintended," Honda says it's not clear why they seem to be positive that every brake activation was unnecessary. After all, automatic emergency braking exists to help distracted or inattentive drivers.
Honda alleges the plaintiffs fail to allege facts about the root cause of a so-called "defect" and what allegedly triggers sudden unintended braking. The class action also allegedly doesn't say how often these events occur in the real world.
In its motion to dismiss the unintended braking class action lawsuit, consumer protection claims allegedly fail based on a "failure to plead the allegedly omitted information and where the omitted information should or could have been revealed, as well as provide representative samples that allegedly failed to include the allegedly omitted information."
The plaintiffs also allegedly do not plausibly plead a "certainly impending threatened injury that is not conjectural or hypothetical."
Express warranty claims also allegedly fail because the plaintiffs plead there is a design defect, and that type of defect is not covered by the Honda warranty. Honda also argues none of the plaintiffs claim they have presented their vehicles to dealerships for repairs under the warranties.
The Honda unintended braking class action lawsuit was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California: Andrea Sivakova v. American Honda Motor Company, Inc.
The plaintiffs are represented by Smith Krivoshey, PLLC.
