- NHTSA investigation reveals 44 complaints of unintended braking in 2019 VW Atlas models.
- Phantom braking complaints include four injuries and one crash, raising serious safety concerns.
- ODI analysis shows 2019 Atlas has highest rate of braking complaints among VW vehicles.
The Volkswagen Atlas is now under closer scrutiny after multiple reports of its Automatic Emergency Braking (AEB) system engaging without warning and without cause. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) has upgraded its investigation into the 2019 Atlas from a preliminary evaluation to an “engineering analysis,” signaling that the issue may be more widespread and potentially serious.
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Concerns about the Atlas first surfaced last year when the NHTSA’s Office of Defects Investigation (ODI) received complaints about the SUV’s AEB system. Drivers reported sudden, unexpected braking even when the road ahead was clear of obstacles. Volkswagen, for its part, acknowledged 226 reports related to the issue but suggested that customer misunderstanding of the AEB system’s operation might be partly to blame.
Read: Feds Investigate 2018-2019 VW Atlas For Phantom Braking Issue
Some Atlas owners claim that VW dealerships have told them that this braking behavior is normal or have been unable to reproduce the problem.
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An ODI analysis reveals that 2019 Atlas models have the highest rate of unique incidents alleging AEB problems compared to other VW models. To date, the department has received 44 customer complaints that claim the AEB can activate inadvertently and has reviewed 187 reports for the claimed defect. Four of these cases involved injuries, and one report involved a crash.
In a statement, the ODI said it’s opening the engineering analysis to assess the scope, frequency, and potential safety-related consequences of inadvertent ABS activations. The investigation encompasses 101,066 Atlas models.
Other models on the market allegedly suffer from phantom braking. Earlier this year, the ODI started to investigate select Honda Accord and CR-V models, and the Mazda CX-90. There have also been many alleged incidents of Tesla Model 3s that have experienced the same problem.
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