2021 Honda Ridgeline Driver assistance Problems

This involves the paddle shift operation on the steering wheel. There are two paddles, one at 3 o'clock and 6 o'clock where the hands come into contact with the steering wheel. On four separate occasions, while driving at a relatively high rate of speed, my hands accidentally activated the gear mode by lightly touching one or both of the paddles. Very little pressure is needed to activate the gears. When this occurs, the vehicle shifts to a lower gear, and the vehicle rapidly decelerates from a high rate of speed to a low rate of speed while traveling. In addition to the unexpected and dangerous change in speed while in traffic, the shift into low gear causes the engine to rev and the noise from this caused me to panic while in traffic. On one occasion this occurred when I was trying to cross a road with oncoming traffic. The paddles are very close to where the hands come into contact with the steering wheel and very little pressure, only a tap, will activate the paddles and switch the vehicle into low gear. I have contacted Honda and there is no way to deactivate the paddles.

NHTSA ID

11756223

Incident

Aug 5, 2026

When driving the vehicle suddenly displayed warning and failure lights for the following: Adaptive Cruise Control, Lane Keep Assist, Road Departure, High Beam Support, and Collision Mitigation. The vehicle in the past regularly experiences issues with oncoming traffic (especially on 2 lane roads) when it comes to auto braking and forward crash warnings so I immediately brought the vehicle home as I was worried for my safety and the safety of others on the road that if these systems were now warning of malfunction the vehicle might auto brake in traffic for no reason and cause a crash. I took the vehicle in following this as I looked online and discovered there were multiple recalls on this vehicle for other various issues and I wanted the dealer to fix those in addition to determining if this was part of one of the recalls also. The dealership has diagnosed the issue as the forward multi-purpose camera and is stating it needs to be replaced to correct the safety issues of the vehicle. I reviewed online and found that just a coupe years ago this part was approx $800 and the dealer is not charging over $1600 for the part. The other issue is that I paid for the part and the dealer claims this part will not even ship until August 26 (over a month away). Additionally I have further researched this issue and found that it is a common failure on Honda and Acura vehicles and creates a major safety concern, yet Honda Motors has refused to address the issue and handle this as a recall as it should be done. New vehicles should not be regularly experiencing catastrophic safety system failures regularly and the manufacture not be held liable for the damages and not be able to fix the part or car in a timely manner. The fact the parts are in such short supply and backorder further attests to the common failure of this part. I would appreciate your immediate review and action of this matter to ensure that Honda is held accountable for the major safety failures they have created.

NHTSA ID

11752301

Incident

Jul 19, 2026

My 2021 Honda Ridgeline Sport experienced failure of the forward-facing Honda Sensing camera system. This camera controls safety features including Collision Mitigation Braking, Lane Keeping Assist, and Adaptive Cruise Control. The failure disables safety assistance features. Honda acknowledged the issue but refused to provide full repair coverage and only offered $941 toward a repair costing significantly more. I believe a safety-related camera failure should be investigated as a potential defect

NHTSA ID

11750429

Incident

Jun 12, 2026

Front camera system failed lights that are on are brake system, Lane assist lkas and acc

NHTSA ID

11740889

Incident

May 20, 2026

I was involved in a rear end collision earlier today. My vehicle sustained significant front end damage and the air bags did not deploy. The vehicle had to be flat bedded to a Massachusetts State Police Barracks, pending further action by my insurance company. There were no injuries.

NHTSA ID

11736770

Incident

May 9, 2026

Forward brake assist, collision mitigation, auto headlight dash lights came on sporadically. As of today the lights are now on constant and unable to clear. Advised that the forward facing camera most likely died and a replacement due to recalibration would be 1500-2000..

NHTSA ID

11719722

Incident

Feb 22, 2026

2021 Honda Ridgeline RTL-E. Part number 36160-T6Z-A62-M1 failure, hard code U3000-49. Results in total loss of Honda Sense Safety system. Including Collision Mitigation Braking System, Road Departure Mitigation System, Adaptive Cruise Control, Lane Keeping Assist System, Traffic Sign Recognition, Auto High-Beam Headlights. This appears to be a fairly common issue across Honda models where the multipurpose camera fails, generally due to heat from exposure to sun. The replacement cost and required re-calibration via the dealer is ~$2000. Living in northern California with extreme heat, I will assume this problem will resurface after a few years resulting in another $2000+ repair.

NHTSA ID

11690126

Incident

Jul 30, 2025

The forward collision system frequently goes off from a vehicle simply driving in their lane normally. The truck alarms, shakes the wheel, and sometimes brakes automatically. This is alarming for my kids riding in the car and the braking is dangerous for cars behind me. This could cause a rear end collision.

NHTSA ID

11686830

Incident

Sep 12, 2025

At 48,000 miles, the vehicle began to experience multiple Advanced Driver Assistance Systems problems, including Adaptive Cruise Control, Forward Collision Warning, Automatic Emergency Braking, Forward Collision Warning, Lane Departure Warning, and Lane Keeping Assistance, which rendered all these systems inoperable. Systems that were designed to mitigate collisions became non-functional, and continuous warnings on the dashboard were a distraction while driving. Dealer scanned the vehicle with a code U300-40 Multipurpose Camera Unit/Millimeter Wave Radar Internal Electronic Failure, and diagnosed a failure of the multipurpose camera, which was then replaced and recalibrated. I have retained the failed unit after paying to have the replacement installed and calibrated. All warning lamps for the above mentioned systems flashed on my dashboard every time the vehicle was started, prior to the dealer repair. The safety of the driver and those around them was affected because repairs for this safety feature suite may be cost prohibitive to some ($2000) and they just won't fix it.

NHTSA ID

11636846

Incident

Jan 4, 2025

The contact owns a 2021 Honda Ridgeline. The contact received notification of NHTSA Campaign Number: 24V321000 (BACK OVER PREVENTION); however, the part to do the recall repair was unavailable. The contact stated that the manufacturer had exceeded a reasonable amount of time for the recall repair. The manufacturer was made aware of the issue. The contact had not experienced a failure. Parts distribution disconnect.

NHTSA ID

11626417

Incident

Nov 11, 2024

The contact owns a 2021 Honda Ridgeline. The contact received notification of NHTSA Campaign Number: 24V321000 (BACK OVER PREVENTION); however, the part to do the recall repair was unavailable. The contact stated that the manufacturer had exceeded a reasonable amount of time for the recall repair. The manufacturer was made aware of the issue. The contact had not experienced a failure. Parts distribution disconnect.

NHTSA ID

11625009

Incident

May 9, 2024

The contact owns a 2021 Honda Ridgeline. The contact received a notification of NHTSA Campaign Number: 24V321000 (Back Over Prevention) however, the part to do the recall repair was not yet available. The contact stated that occasionally while in reverse, the reverse camera image display would flicker a distorted image. The local dealer was not contacted. The contact stated that the manufacturer had exceeded a reasonable amount of time for the recall repair. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 15,000.

NHTSA ID

11619957

Incident

Apr 15, 2024

Mileage

15,000 mi

The contact owns a 2021 Honda Ridgeline. The contact stated while driving approximately 65 MPH and attempting to slow down for slower traffic ahead, the vehicle then failed to accelerate above 30 MPH. The vehicle was driven across three lanes of traffic onto the shoulder. After stopping and restarting the vehicle, the failure self-corrected and the vehicle operated normally. The cause of the failure was not yet determined. The local dealer and manufacturer were notified of the failure, but no assistance was offered. The failure mileage was 22,000.

NHTSA ID

11616248

Incident

May 1, 2024

Mileage

22,000 mi

While driving on a 4 lane road with a passing lane the automatic emergency braking system started slowing the vehicle down for a vehicle in the left hand turning lane. It was not directly in front of me. The warning tone and BRAKE flashing alarm come on frequently when driving on 2 lane roads and a vehicle is coming from the other direction. I have taken it to the dealership 3 times to have it corrected and was told everything is working correctly and for me to turn the system off.

NHTSA ID

11583549

Incident

Oct 5, 2023

The contact owns a 2021 Honda Ridgeline. The contact stated that the back over prevention camera was distorted. The vehicle was taken to the dealer, who informed the contact that the back over prevention camera needed to be replaced; however, the part to repair the vehicle was on backorder. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 20,000.

NHTSA ID

11520945

Incident

Apr 15, 2023

Mileage

20,000 mi

Automatic emergency braking has engaged on a two way highway curve a couple times until I disabled it for the remainder of the trip. The “Brake” forward collision warning screen and alarm sounds frequently on 4-lane 2-way 30 mph road with a slight curve which it mistakes car in adjacent oncoming lane as a car it may collide with, I was able to eliminate it from applying brakes be adjusting sensitivity to low but the warning still pops up. Additionally, the automatic brights feature is inadequate resulting in flashing/blinding oncoming drivers, I have resulted in turning the feature off which process is more complicated than it should be.

NHTSA ID

11465178

Incident

May 12, 2022

First incident happened 3/10/2022. Went to start my 2021 Ridgeline (12k miles) in the morning, started traveling down my driveway when all warning lights flashed. Truck went into limp mode rendering it unable to drive. Towed it to Honda dealership where I was told a rodent chewed threw my harness wires. Honda repaired it and I went on my way. Second incident happened 4/27/22. I am traveling down I95 going 70mph for about an hour. I exit onto SR 200 and immediately my truck goes into limp mode with the exact same problems that occurred on 3/10/22. I am in rush hour traffic with no warning that my truck was about to go into limp mode. I towed it to my Honda dealership again. They said my harness wires are fine and have no idea what is wrong with my truck. This is a very dangerous safety hazard as my truck without warning will go into limp mode WHILE DRIVING.

NHTSA ID

11462718

Incident

Apr 27, 2022

On 2/23/2022, I was driving my Ridgeline on local roads with 40 MPH speed limits. On 2 separate occasions, the "BRAKE" flashed on the dashboard for no reason. There were no obstructions ahead. The warning appeared for a second or two and then disappeared. I felt no braking of the vehicle. I have previously reported this incident by Email, and has been assigned #491499 2021 Honda Ridgeline-BRAKE Warning on Dashboard.

NHTSA ID

11454956

Incident

Feb 23, 2022

This is a general issue that you can find in the forums of the Honda Pilot/Ridgeline/Passport. Is affecting all of them. Very easy to replicate. When using adaptive cruise control and the person in front of you changes lanes. If that person that moved to another lane slows down your vehicle will slow down too, thinking that the car is still in front of you. This is a huge security risk that can cause a rear-end collision if the person behind you is distracted.

NHTSA ID

11453766

Incident

Feb 1, 2022

Vehicle veering constantly while Lane Keeping Assistance is engaged causing persistent swerving and inviding adjacent lanes as well as requiring additional distraction while system is engaged. Adaptive Cruise Control erratically and some times violently applies brakes, causing the following vehicles to constantly apply their brakes to avoid rear collision with the Ridgeline.

NHTSA ID

11422075

Incident

Jun 23, 2021

I have a 2021 Honda Ridgeline Sport equipped with CMBS an automatic braking system that is supposed to be a safety feature, but actually makes the car more dangerous. The problem with the Ridgeline Sport collision mitigation braking system is that it attempts to mitigate crashes when the system thinks an obstacle is ahead, but it is a false warning, and there are no actual obstacles. It appears there is a software or sensor defect in the Honda Sensing technology causing the vehicle to issue warnings and alerts to the driver and the potential to automatically hit the brakes without warning when there are no obstacles in front of the vehicle and it has not deviated from its lane. Service Advisor/Mechanic at dealership called it a computer glitch. Nothing they can do. Taking it back again to have it on record; dealership tried to fix vehicle. This vehicle is potentially dangerous with no way to correct concern at this time. Problem continues since March 2021.

NHTSA ID

11418436

Incident

Mar 1, 2021