Jeep braking probe closes with no recall

DETROIT — U.S. safety regulators have closed a year-long investigation into the Jeep Grand Cherokee’s automatic braking system without seeking a recall.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration began the probe in June of last year after getting complaints that the system braked for no reason, increasing the risk of rear-end crashes.

But investigators, in documents posted Friday, found in testing that there was no single cause for unintended braking, and that the brakes came on only for short periods and didn’t cause any crashes. The agency says the Jeep system performs as well or better than similar systems from other automakers. Its tests found that the braking at the root of the complaints reduced the SUV speeds by less than five km/h.

Forward collision alert and automatic emergency braking are available on many high-end luxury vehicles and are moving rapidly into more mainstream cars. The systems are an important step in the march toward self-driving vehicles, and are being championed by safety advocates and NHTSA as a breakthrough in reducing crashes and deaths.

The Jeep investigation covered just over 95,000 SUVs from the 2014 and 2015 model years. It began after the agency received nine complaints that the Grand Cherokees braked on their own without reason “with no pending threats in the line of travel.” Investigators eventually found 176 complaints to the agency and to Fiat Chrysler, which makes Jeeps.