2015 Subaru Outback and Legacy may have problems in emergency braking

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2015 Subaru Outback and 2015 Legacy (Liberty) have been recalled in Australia. What’s the potential issue with the brakes?

Subaru Australia announced a recall of the 2015 Liberty (Legacy in the U.S.) and 2015 Outback vehicles equipped with Pre-Collision Braking (PCB) and Adaptive Cruise Control (ACC). Subaru of America has not announced a recall in the U.S.

What’s the problem?
 
Subaru says that if there is a brake lamp switch (BLS) failure in an affected vehicle, the PCB system may not operate as intended in an emergency braking situation. This could occur when the driver has failed to apply the brake. The system could also fail to properly engage the brakes when the vehicle has been placed in ACC mode. This is due to a software programming issue.
 
Subaru says the issue does not affect the performance of the brakes when engaged by the driver. If the Liberty or Outback suffers a BLS failure, the Vehicle Dynamics control (VDC) warning light will illuminate in the Multi-Information Display located in the driver’s instrument cluster, notifying the driver that there has been a malfunction. 

Fuji Heavy Industries, manufacturer of Subaru vehicles, found the issue while they were doing some internal checking and the recall is a precaution to ensure safety. There have been no reports of accidents locally or in any other global markets.
 
Which vehicles are affected?

The 2015 Subaru Liberty 2.5, Liberty 3.6, 2015 Outback 2.5 and Outback 3.6 equipped with Pre-Collision Braking and Adaptive Cruise Control are the vehicles being recalled in Australia.

What should owners do?

Owners will be contacted by mail soon and will be asked to bring their 2015 Subaru Outback or Liberty vehicle to their authorized Subaru dealer for rectification. The procedure consists of downloading a modified program into the potentially affected vehicle and takes approximately 30 minutes.
 
Image source: Chicago Tribune