2020 Mazda CX-5 Driver assistance Problems

While driving on the highway in traffic, I was applying the brakes (slowly and smoothly) and moving with the flow of traffic when the SBS system activated the brakes harshly and slammed me to a stop without reason. In addition to throwing me forward against my seatbelt, it also resulted in the car behind me rear-ending me. I did not hit the car ahead of me, since I was far enough behind them BEFORE the smart brake support engaged, but the feature caused an accident that could have been avoided.

NHTSA ID

11729750

Incident

Jan 27, 2026

The contact owns a 2020 Mazda CX-5. The contact stated that while the cruise control was activated and driving 65 MPH in the middle lane of a busy six-lane highway, the contact depressed the accelerator pedal, and the vehicle was suddenly stalled and coasted to a complete stop in the middle of the highway. The contact was able to restart the vehicle to continue driving. The vehicle was later taken to the local dealer, who was unable to determine the cause of the failure and was unable to confirm that the failure had occurred. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The failure mileage was 32,000.

NHTSA ID

11689633

Incident

Sep 20, 2025

Mileage

32,000 mi

While driving my vehicle the systems sensors are affected by nearby drivers which cause the car to stall in the middle of traffic going between 40 and 75 miles per hour.

NHTSA ID

11683539

Incident

Aug 27, 2025

The vehicle reboots the screen/infotainment system while driving. The dealership has updated the software and replaced the screen (Screen was at my cost). They reset the codes and it comes back. This is a safety hazard as it could cause non compliance with the FMVSS in regards to rear-view cameras being required. There is currently a settlement in place under a class action.

NHTSA ID

11669094

Incident

Jun 25, 2025

Forward Smart city brake support malfunction Camera Sensors Screen Ghost

NHTSA ID

11665018

Incident

Jun 5, 2025

My car has started braking when objects arnt there almost causing a crash Mazda denies this

NHTSA ID

11662071

Incident

May 19, 2025

During snowfall, the front camera becomes obstructed, leading to a malfunction in the smart brake system. When this occurs, an alert appears indicating a “Smart Brake Failure,” accompanied by an audible warning and the illumination of the check engine light. The vehicle then exhibits unpredictable behavior, including unintended braking and sudden acceleration, creating a hazardous driving situation. The only temporary resolution is to restart the vehicle; however, the check engine light remains on for several days before eventually turning off. This issue occurred while I was driving on the highway on February 19, 2025, posing a significant safety risk. This is not the first time the car has done this.

NHTSA ID

11643730

Incident

Feb 19, 2025

Forward Braking Safety Sensor Was on transmission after braking check engine light . Was driving car from work it lost all power . And those warning ⚠️ light indicators where on . Car wouldn't go over 15mph . Took vehicle to mazda and dropped it off as my husband requested information do so . Mazda called say diagnostic saying it needed plugs ,coil packs serpentine belt and adjuster pulleys replacement. I called my husband he's a mechanical engineer he said no way it needs a tune up that early. He requested information go get the car as he flew home from working outta town. We took it to scooter's place certified mechanic in Indian Head md . Scooter's place diagnostic scan said completely the opposite. Say it was the cars brain aka cpu send false signals causing misfire to all components of vehicle . He change one spark plug and car ran normal. He told us it wasn't a fix it was cpu and no matter tune up or not . The computer was the issue. I went back to passport mazda in Suitland Maryland to give them second opinion issues the GM wouldn't give my money back for false diagnostic readings and refused to listen or hear what I had to say I was to upset to continue and decided to leave . He kept saying he wasn't a technician so he doesn't know but was explaining technician issues that were incorrect i have both diagnostic detail paperwork which i will attach with report

NHTSA ID

11642604

Incident

Feb 13, 2025

"ghost touch" issue on my cars touch screen operates by itself or doesn't respond. I was driving down a dark road when it went black, the screen had adjusted its brightness down to zero! The radio will change stations then freeze and the manual controls won't even work.

NHTSA ID

11626121

Incident

Oct 26, 2024

I was in the drive thru at a restaurant and had my foot on the brake. After a couple of minutes of sitting with my foot on the brake, I gently pressed the accelerator to slowly move forward. All of a sudden the car sped up on its own like I had floored it. The speed of acceleration threw my head back and the car whipped around the front of the building as that's where I was steering. I braked and it thankfully stopped, but if a car had been in front of me I would have slammed into it. I could have hit a pedestrian. This was very scary and its an obvious safety concern. Mazda needs to look into this issue as I see there are other reports on this website and on the internet by numerous people for the same issue of sudden acceleration by the vehicle on its own.

NHTSA ID

11623379

Incident

Oct 31, 2024

Display went dark and did not display. This is not the only time it happens. It acts like someone’s touching the screen even when in motion. It prevents the reverse camera from displaying.

NHTSA ID

11620857

Incident

Oct 20, 2024

The vehicle accelerated on its own, while I was parking. My foot was on the brake when the vehicle just took off. It continued to accelerate until a building stopped it. I continued to brake but the vehicle did not stop. Once the vehicle collided with building, saw on the digital read out the "Brake System Malfunction" and then Camera Malfunction. The vehicle was towed from the site and the insurance adjuster has sent me word that the vehicle is a total loss.

NHTSA ID

11616109

Incident

Sep 18, 2024

Emergency braking brought car to a complete stop while traveling around at approx. 35 MPH with no car or anything else in front of the car on a wide and clear town street. Car would then not go into park and only after a couple of mins did it go into park and car was able to be driven.

NHTSA ID

11573346

Incident

Feb 22, 2024

While driving forward in a straight line during broad daylight at approximately 40mph, the car in front of me slowed and turned right onto a side street. I applied brakes to slow myself (to ~25mph I estimate) until the car in front of me was fully out of my lane. Once the car in front of me was out of my lane, I released the brake in order to accelerate back up to the speed limit, but before I could press the gas pedal the car suddenly slammed on the brakes, beeped warning beeps, and displayed BRAKE on the dash. It did this for less than a second before deactivating. It did not fully stop the car. It just caused a sudden, severe braking event and then the car returned to normal operations. This exact road scenario (car in front turning right onto a side street while traveling at city speeds of ~30-40 mph during daylight) has caused the sudden temporary automatic braking twice, and two other times in this same scenario the BRAKE warning displayed and sounds activated but without automatic braking. These four events occurred within the less than one year that I have owned the car. One of the automatic braking incidents happened in cold temperatures on snowy/icy road conditions. The other occurred in traffic with vehicles following behind my car close enough to risk a rear-end collision. I have reached out to a dealership to request the safety sensors be inspected, but I have seen on internet communities [XXX] and [XXX] ) that many people have encountered this exact behavior (sudden unexpected braking) in the exact same scenarios (car ahead turning right). INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)

NHTSA ID

11554529

Incident

Nov 9, 2023

Automatic Emergency Braking (Mazda's Smart City Braking Feature) will randomly trigger even when there is no vehicle/person/object/obstruction present in the road infront of you. It has occurred going over railroad tracks and made by car go from 30 mph to 0 in a second. It has occurred switching lanes into an empty lane and triggered it. It has also picked up the center medians as an object it should hit the emergency brake for. This is insanely problematic when a vehicle is following behind you and this system is essentially brake checking them out of nowhere. In the past, dealers have said to just turn the sensitivity down. This does not fix it. In addition, I have gotten "BRAKE" warnings from the car on the highway (does not engage because I am at a speed faster than the emergency braking allows) but this is quite unnerving when you are on an open highway going 75 mph and your car is wanting you to brake.

NHTSA ID

11544224

Incident

Sep 13, 2023

The rear camera and warning system has failed numerous times. On one occasion I hit a vehicle because of the failure. Also, the windshield has a leak that sometimes is like a waterfall causing serious visibility problems.

NHTSA ID

11531591

Incident

Jun 14, 2023

I was traveling behind a propane truck, that was going to make a right turn. I disengaged the adaptive cruise control by tapping on the break. I began coasting to a stop, suddenly the car began accelerating again with no warning. I was forced to make the turn with the propane truck and side swiped the truck in the process.

NHTSA ID

11522742

Incident

May 18, 2023

The infotainment system experiences a "ghost touch" at random times. Usually it is when it is warm out or in direct sunlight. This has caused some of the safety features of the car to be randomly turned off. The system becomes unresponsive to manual controls while the ghost touch is occurring. This is frequent and dangerous. It is shut off lane control warnings, lighting, dimmed the entire system, etc. This has been a known issue on past models and the dealer is telling me they are aware of this but it is not covered under the warranty on my model. The first time this occurred was around 35,000 miles but I didn't realize what was happening. When I asked the dealer about it, they couldn't repeat it and ignored my concerns. It didn't start regularlly occurring until after my 36,000 mile warranty was up.

NHTSA ID

11516741

Incident

Apr 12, 2023

1st issue - System monitor restarts without warning. Just driving along with only one iPhone plugged in the monitor shows a spinning "wheel" saying restarting while driving, 2nd issue - with two iPhones plugged in it starts having more issues. Stops charging second iPhone connects then reconnects constantly. Then stops (see picture) 3rd issue - With only one iPhone plugged in and running navigation from iPhone, the system disconnects from iPhone but no voice unless we disconnect, 4th issue - While driving in adaptive cruise control and braking for people stopping the cruise control will not re-start. It shows on- keep pressing resume - but will not engage (above 40 mph) then after a few minutes it does respond to the resume command

NHTSA ID

11437616

Incident

Oct 19, 2021

The contact owns a 2020 Mazda CX-5. The contact noticed that while driving at approximately 70 MPH, the passenger blind spot monitoring light and sound failed to operate. The contact mentioned that the vehicle failed to let her know when a vehicle was nearby her. The vehicle was taken to the dealer where they reset the monitor however, the failure recurred days later. The contact mentioned that the failure recurred several times. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 10,000.

NHTSA ID

11434194

Incident

Sep 1, 2021

Mileage

10,000 mi

I WAS PARKED AT A FAST FOOD RESTAURANT THAT HAD AN OUTDOOR KIOSK FOR PAYMENT. I GOT OUT OF MY CAR TO PAY AND GOT BACK IN. AFTER ABOUT A MINUTE OR TWO MY CAR ACCELERATED FORWARD, GOING OVER A SLOPED CURB AND DOWN A SHORT LOW GRADE HILL, HITTING A POLE. I WAS CONFUSED TO HOW THE CAR WOULD GO FORWARD BECAUSE I WAS IN PARK THE WHOLE TIME.

NHTSA ID

11405931

Incident

Mar 28, 2021

DUE TO THE STEERING WHEEL CONTROLS NOT BEING ILLUMINATED I ACCIDENTALLY INCREASED THE SPEED RATHER THAN DECREASING WHILE DRIVING AT NIGHT.

NHTSA ID

11351838

Incident

Aug 26, 2020

Mileage

700 mi