Mazda CX-5 in auto-brake accident on Japanese test drive

Thu, 14 Nov 2013

As we slowly march towards a world where our cars will drive for us, there will be mishaps. Systems will act up, not behave has intended or we'll simply forget to turn them on. We all remember when Volvo tested the S60's City Safety system. Now Mazda has had an issue of its own.

During a test of a Mazda CX-5's Smart City Brake Support on a dealership lot in Japan, a prospective customer and a dealership employee were injured when they hit a urethane barrier used for testing the system. According to Bloomberg, which spoke with the Saitama Prefectural Police, the impact with the barrier left the customer with an injured neck while the dealership employee suffered a fractured arm. Considering the injuries, we imagine this wasn't a small barrier.

"For any safety function, it's impossible to be 100-percent free of accidents. These technical functions aren't always the easiest to understand," IHS Automotive auto parts analyst, Hiroshi Ataka told Bloomberg.

Mazda's Smart City Brake Support is available as standard equipment on the Mazda6 Grand Touring and as an optional extra on the CX-5 and Mazda3, in the US market. A Mazda spokesperson in Japan told Bloomberg that it will be cooperating with the local authorities and that the company will not comment on any other issues involving Smart City Brake Support at this time.

By Brandon Turkus