Incident: Steering Defect Investigation in 2013-2015 Honda Accord.

Published Date: 2021-05-10

Postmortem Analysis
Timeline 1. The software failure incident involving the steering defect in the Honda Accord happened when a petition was filed in October [115009]. 2. Published on: 2021-05-10 3. The incident occurred in October 2020.
System unknown
Responsible Organization unknown
Impacted Organization unknown
Software Causes unknown
Non-software Causes 1. Steering defect in the Honda Accord leading to a sudden loss of control behind the wheel [115009].
Impacts 1. Two crashes and two injuries potentially recorded due to the alleged steering defect in the 2013-2015 Honda Accord [115009].
Preventions 1. Implementing thorough software testing procedures during the development phase to detect any potential steering control software bugs or faults [115009]. 2. Conducting regular software quality assurance checks to identify and address any software defects related to the steering system [115009]. 3. Ensuring timely software updates and patches to address any identified software vulnerabilities that could lead to a sudden loss of control behind the wheel [115009].
Fixes unknown
References 1. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) [Article 115009] 2. Honda [Article 115009]

Software Taxonomy of Faults

Category Option Rationale
Recurring unknown unknown
Phase (Design/Operation) operation (a) The article does not mention any specific software failure incident related to the design phase of system development, system updates, or procedures to operate or maintain the system. Therefore, it is unknown if the reported steering defect in the Honda Accord investigation is related to design issues. (b) The reported steering defect in the Honda Accord investigation seems to be related to the operation phase or the operation of the vehicle itself. The complaints described drivers experiencing veering or a "jerk out of its intended path" with no prior warning, indicating a failure during the operation of the vehicle rather than a design issue introduced during development or updates [115009].
Boundary (Internal/External) within_system (a) within_system: The software failure incident related to the steering defect in the Honda Accord appears to be within the system. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) opened an investigation into a possible steering defect that leads to a sudden loss of control behind the wheel [115009]. This defect is described as causing the vehicle to veer or jerk out of its intended path with no prior warning, indicating an internal issue within the vehicle's system. Honda is cooperating with the investigation and conducting its own internal review of the available information, suggesting that the issue is related to the vehicle's internal components or software.
Nature (Human/Non-human) unknown (a) The article does not mention any software failure incident related to non-human actions or contributing factors introduced without human participation. Therefore, it is unknown. (b) The article does not mention any software failure incident related to human actions or contributing factors introduced by human actions. Therefore, it is unknown.
Dimension (Hardware/Software) unknown (a) The article does not mention any hardware-related contributing factors to the steering defect investigated in the Honda Accord. Therefore, there is no information provided regarding a hardware-related failure incident in this case. (b) The article does not specifically mention software as a contributing factor to the steering defect in the Honda Accord. The focus of the investigation is on a possible steering defect that leads to a sudden loss of control behind the wheel, with complaints from drivers describing veering or a "jerk out of its intended path" with no prior warning. The article primarily discusses the investigation by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) into the potential steering issue, without attributing the problem to software failure [115009].
Objective (Malicious/Non-malicious) unknown The article does not mention any software failure incident related to a malicious or non-malicious objective. Therefore, the information to determine the nature of the software failure incident is unknown.
Intent (Poor/Accidental Decisions) unknown The article does not mention any software failure incident related to poor decisions or accidental decisions. Therefore, the intent of the software failure incident in the provided article is unknown.
Capability (Incompetence/Accidental) unknown (a) The articles do not mention any software failure incident related to development incompetence. (b) The articles do not mention any software failure incident related to accidental factors.
Duration unknown The article does not mention any software failure incident related to the Honda Accord steering defect investigation. Therefore, the duration of the software failure incident in this case is unknown.
Behaviour crash, omission, other (a) crash: The article mentions that there have been two crashes potentially recorded due to the alleged steering defect in the Honda Accord [115009]. (b) omission: The complaints regarding the steering defect in the Honda Accord include drivers describing veering or a "jerk out of its intended path" with no prior warning, indicating an omission in performing its intended functions [115009]. (c) timing: There is no specific mention of timing-related failures in the article [115009]. (d) value: The article does not provide information about the system performing its intended functions incorrectly [115009]. (e) byzantine: The article does not mention any inconsistent responses or interactions related to the steering defect in the Honda Accord [115009]. (f) other: The other behavior described in the article is the sudden loss of control behind the wheel due to the possible steering defect in the Honda Accord, which could be categorized as a system failure leading to a loss of control [115009].

IoT System Layer

Layer Option Rationale
Perception None None
Communication None None
Application None None

Other Details

Category Option Rationale
Consequence harm, theoretical_consequence (a) death: There were no reports of deaths related to the software failure incident mentioned in the article [115009]. (b) harm: The article mentioned that there were two crashes and two injuries potentially recorded due to the alleged steering defect in the Honda Accord [115009]. (c) basic: There was no mention of people's access to food or shelter being impacted by the software failure incident [115009]. (d) property: The article did not mention any impact on people's material goods, money, or data due to the software failure incident [115009]. (e) delay: There was no mention of people having to postpone an activity due to the software failure incident [115009]. (f) non-human: The focus of the article was on the potential steering defect in the Honda Accord affecting drivers, and there was no mention of non-human entities being impacted by the software failure incident [115009]. (g) no_consequence: The article did not state that there were no real observed consequences of the software failure incident [115009]. (h) theoretical_consequence: The article discussed the investigation by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration into the steering defect in the Honda Accord, indicating potential safety concerns, but did not mention any theoretical consequences that did not occur [115009]. (i) other: There were no other consequences of the software failure incident described in the article [115009].
Domain transportation (a) The failed system in the incident reported in Article 115009 was related to the transportation industry. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) opened an investigation into the Honda Accord due to a possible steering defect that could lead to a sudden loss of control while driving [115009]. This incident directly impacts the transportation sector as it involves a safety concern with a vehicle's steering system, which is crucial for moving people and things.

Sources

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