The rush to impose advanced driver-assistance systems (ADAS) across the European Union has triggered a a new state investigation amid concerns the systems may be behind road accidents.
Drivers in Europe are reporting repeated cases of unexplained, violent braking – known as phantom or ghost braking – that have already led to rear-end collisions and prompted investigations in several member states.
The issue drew wider attention after an incident in April 2025 involving a French woman driving a 2020 Peugeot 208 on the A40 motorway in France at approximately 120 km/h.
According to her, the vehicle suddenly applied full braking without any visible obstacle or apparent reason, causing a rear-end collision.
While no fatalities occurred, the crash highlighted potential safety risks associated with the technology.
Her testimony to local media prompted hundreds of similar reports from drivers across various brands.
Many described vehicles braking abruptly on motorways or clear roads, in some cases coming to a complete stop.
By mid-2025, more than 300 detailed accounts had been recorded.
Lane-keeping assistance and automatic emergency braking (AEB) became mandatory for new vehicles in the EU under the General Safety Regulation, with full application from July 2024.
These systems rely on cameras and sensors to detect lane markings, traffic signs and potential hazards, applying corrective steering, warnings, or braking to prevent accidents. Manufacturers state the use of indicators or active driver input typically overrides or deactivates these interventions.
In practice, though, traffic signs and road infrastructure are not always consistently installed or clearly distinguishable, causing the technology to miss contextual cues and malfunction.
In October 2025, the French Ministry of Transport launched an online questionnaire and a technical survey with manufacturers to measure the extent of the phenomenon of ghost braking.
Now Belgium is following suit. Newspaper Het Nieuwsblad is reporting that, due to increasing notifications of similar problems, the Belgian Road Safety Institute is launching its own investigation into possible problems with drive-assist programmes.
Identified problems include situations where, for example, a 30 or 50 km/h speed-limit sign on a parallel road alongside a motorway is mistakenly interpreted as a standard motorway speed limit.
Under EU regulations, traffic-sign recognition cameras combined with cruise-control systems that automatically adjust vehicle speed are now mandatory in new cars. Yet these systems can and do misinterpret their surroundings.
Drivers report sudden, sharp braking on motorways because a system detects a 70 km/h sign intended only for vehicles taking an exit, or misreads small speed-limit signs displayed on the back of trucks.
AEB systems rely on cameras, radar and, in some cases, Light Detection and Ranging (LiDAR). False positives can occur when sensors misinterpret shadows, road markings, overhead signage, or are hampered by dirty windscreens or even a recently replaced windscreen that has not been properly recalibrated.
Once triggered, the system may apply full braking without driver input and, in many vehicles, the driver must actively override the brakes to regain control.
Carmakers insist overall safety is improved and issue over-the-air updates but the sheer volume of complaints since the 2024 mandate took full effect suggests the technology was not ready for blanket compulsion.
A fatal motorway collision in Romania in January 2026, costing the lives of seven people, was initially suspected to be linked to driver-assistance systems.
Subsequent investigations, though, found that the car did not a use lane assist system and that the driver was under the influence of alcohol, cocaine and cannabis.
