The Infiniti JX is the luxury marque's first 3-row, 7-passenger crossover.
Federal safety regulators have launched an investigation into reports that the emergency braking system on the new 2013 Infiniti JX crossover may activate inadvertently while driving, bringing the vehicle to a sudden and complete halt.
For the moment, at least, the issue is under investigation by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration and is not necessarily going to trigger a recall. Infiniti parent Nissan said it is aware of the problem and looking into it on its own.
The JX is Infiniti’s first 3-row, 7- passenger crossover-utility vehicle and is loaded with a variety of luxury features and advanced safety equipment. That includes a driver assistance package with so-called intelligent braking assist that can, if necessary, bring a vehicle to a complete halt if it senses the driver failing to slow down when an obstacle is spotted ahead. The system is capable of bringing the JX to a complete halt.
Two complaints filed with the NHTSA content the braking system activated without justification. Notably, both incidents happened on the same bridge – though the federal agency does not provide information on where that bridge is located.
One of the incidents occurred in April, soon after the JX went on sale, the unnamed owner reporting that, “brake assist suddenly stopped my car to a complete stop on a bridge.” The complaint continues that, “There were no cars in front of me and luckily the car behind me wasn’t driving too close or I would have been hit.”
Even though the owner says the dealer deactivated the intelligent braking system the problem reportedly occurred again on the same bridge. And the location was cited in a report by a second JX owner soon afterwards.
A variety of manufacturers have begun offering smart braking systems, some programmed to simply issue a warning, others to bring a vehicle to a complete stop. They typically use low-powered radar to watch out for obstacles ahead, though manufacturers have also been working with laser, sonar and even vision systems to help new safety systems detect obstacles and other potential problems.
One possibility under consideration for the JX reports is that the bridge contained too much metal and might have appeared to the emergency brake system to be an obstacle in the road ahead.
For the moment, Nissan says it does not plant to recall the JX, of which 8,000 have so far been sold, nor issue a warning to owners of vehicles equipped with the driver assist package.