Driver Says Faulty AEB System Traumatized Her

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Source: The following is excerpted from an article by Sean Davidson on CTV News about a Canadian driver who experienced several automatic-emergency brake (AEB) incidents in her new Hyundai Tucson.

The woman said the vehicle came to a sudden stop on these occasions following the warning dashboard warning light indicating an impending frontal collision – despite, according to the woman, the absence of anything in the road.

An inhibitor switch was changed twice by Hyundai dealers, but the issue reoccurred.

TORONTO — An Ontario driver said she’s been left traumatized and fearing for her safety after her Hyundai SUV randomly slammed on the brakes on its own multiple times.

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Unionville resident Erica Mesa spent $47,000 on a new Hyundai Tucson in July 2019 and had no issues with the vehicle until three months later when she was driving to Blue Mountain in Collingwood.

The 25-year-old said she was driving on the highway with four other people when a light came on falsely indicating she was in danger of a front-end collision. Seconds later, the brakes slammed on and the vehicle came to a sudden halt, she said.

Shaken up, Mesa said she continued driving but later that week brought the car into a Hyundai dealership. She said she was told by mechanics that something might have temporarily blocked a safety sensor in the car that is used to avoid collisions.

Mesa said she was told the issue would not happen again and she could continue driving it.

The issue has happened four times now, Mesa says, and although Hyundai told CTV News Toronto her car has been repaired, she still feels it’s unsafe.

The second time it happened was two months following the initial incident.

“Hyundai said they were going to replace the inhibitor switch,” Mesa said. “They said there was moisture in there and somehow it was tricking the car’s computer into thinking there was a vehicle in front of me.”

She said the next day she picked up the car and was told “it’s not going to happen again.”

Everything was fine for more than a year, until one day in February 2021 when Mesa was driving nearly 120 km/h on Highway 407.

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She said the warning light blinked out of nowhere and the car slammed on the brakes.

“It was 120 km/h to zero in seconds. I really thought I was going to die,” Mesa said. “The person behind me almost hit me. I was bawling my eyes out. I told my partner ‘I need you to come pick me up.'”

The entire article can be viewed by clicking HERE.

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