When there’s nothing in front of you, a car braking hard can be unsettling. There was just an open road with no pedestrians, stopped trucks, or unexpected obstacles, and then your car suddenly threw its weight against itself. That isn’t just a hypothetical situation for some Subaru owners. It’s now a common and terrifying aspect of driving.
That experience is being put into legal language in a proposed class action lawsuit that was filed in federal court in New Jersey in May 2026. The automaker’s EyeSight Driver Assist Technology, which Subaru has promoted as one of its most alluring safety features, is the subject of the lawsuit, Hall et al. v. Subaru of America, Inc. The complaint claims that EyeSight’s automated emergency braking can activate in the absence of an actual obstacle and, in other circumstances, completely fail to activate when one is present.
The fact that both failures are alleged in the same lawsuit is an interesting detail. In addition to being glitchy, a system that misses actual threats and brakes without cause is unreliable in the most serious way.
The vehicles listed in the filing include a variety of nameplates and model years. Included are the 2023–2026 Legacy, Outback, and Ascent models as well as the 2022–2026 Forester and WRX. The list includes the 2025 and 2026 BRZ, as well as the Impreza and Crosstrek from 2024 to 2026. Even if nothing has gone wrong yet, this case directly affects you if you own one of these cars.
The complaint’s technical core concerns how EyeSight actually instructs the brakes. It’s not a straightforward circuit. When the system’s stereo cameras detect what they interpret as an obstacle, EyeSight instructs multiple modules simultaneously — the ABS Control Module applies the brakes, the Transmission Control Module shifts gears, and the Engine Control Module cuts power. The plaintiffs allege that the calibration connecting these systems is flawed, tuned in a way that treats nearly any stationary object as a collision threat, triggering full braking regardless of actual risk.
One named plaintiff described decelerating from around 40 mph to 15 mph during an unwanted activation. That’s not a nudge. That’s the kind of sudden stop that can cause a rear-end collision from the car behind you — which makes the irony almost painful. A system designed to prevent crashes may, in certain circumstances, be setting the stage for one.
What gives the lawsuit some historical weight is a detail the plaintiffs surfaced from 2015. Subaru issued a recall that year covering Legacy, Outback, Impreza, Crosstrek, and WRX vehicles after an integration failure between the Driver Assist System and the Brake Lamp Switch led to a complete loss of automatic braking. The remedy was a software reprogramming. The complaint points to that recall as evidence that Subaru has known for over a decade that these systems can miscommunicate — and that the consequences can be serious.
It’s still unclear how Subaru will respond to the allegations on the merits. The company has until July 31, 2026 to file its response to the complaint, after the court granted a deadline extension by stipulation in late May. There’s been no admission of wrongdoing, and the case remains at its earliest stage. The court has not certified the class, and no ruling on the substance of the claims has been made.
Still, more than 25 NHTSA consumer complaints involving these vehicles are cited in the 87-page filing, which suggests the issue isn’t isolated to a handful of edge cases. When people file federal safety complaints about their brakes activating on empty roads, that’s worth taking seriously — whatever the eventual legal outcome turns out to be.
The auto industry hasn’t provided a complete response to the larger question the lawsuit poses. As driver-assist systems become more common and more capable, who is responsible when the software gets it wrong? Concerns about automated braking are not unique to Subaru. Similar complaints have been handled by other manufacturers. But the Hall case is specific, detailed, and now moving through federal court — and for any Subaru owner who has ever felt their car brake for a shadow, it probably feels long overdue.
