A Collision-Free Society, The Honda Sensing Suite Of Active Safety

‘Safety for Everyone’, is Honda’s global safety concept, and they’re striving towards a collision-free society with their intelligent and exclusive suite of active safety systems dubbed the Honda Sensing.

Claimed by the automaker, the Honda Sensing suite of driver-assistive systems can detect and take actions to curb unwanted scenarios and alert drivers to things regularly overlooked while driving.

To break it down, the default Honda Sensing suite comprises six advanced features that can be grouped together in pairs. However, for selected Honda models, they come with extra additional features topping the default suite.

In no particular order, first is the Collision Mitigation Braking System (CMBS). Also known as the automatic emergency braking, which comes with a Forward Collision Warning (FCW) function.

The CMBS functions with a set of sensors fitted on the front end of the car. It is triggered when the vehicle is rapidly approaching another vehicle or a pedestrian in a way that may result in a collision. 

It does so by emitting an audible and visual alert to the driver with a prompt to hit the brakes. Also, when the brakes are not applied in time, the system will start the emergency braking function itself to prevent or mitigate a collision.

Next is the Lane Keeping Assist System (LKAS), which uses a camera to sense lane lines and keep the vehicle centered in its lane with automated steering assistance. It works best on well-marked lanes with gentle curves and when activated the instrument cluster illuminates in green.

Furthermore, the LKAS is triggered when the vehicle steers out of its lane without signaling and it will issue an audiovisual Lane Departure Warning (LDW), prompting the driver to steer back into the right path.

Failing to do so will initiate another system called the Road Departure Mitigation System (RDM), which has a function that adjusts the steering and brakes to realign the vehicle.

Last but not least, is the Adaptive Cruise Control (ACC). This system allows the driver to set the intended speed and the following distance desired. 

For instance, when the vehicle is travelling at the selected speed and senses a vehicle ahead, it will apply the appropriate brake pressure to maintain the preset distance. 

Vice versa, when the car ahead speeds up or changes lanes, the ACC system will apply throttle pressure to gradually ease the vehicle up to speed.

As aforementioned, selected Honda models come equipped with a few extra features that adds on to the default suite. The extras include features such as Traffic Sign Recognition (TSR), which uses a camera to notify drivers of posted speed limits and other road signs.

Information detected using the system is projected on the instrument cluster and for cars with higher interior specifications, it will be on the head-up display.

Another one would be the Auto High-Beam Headlights function. It works during nighttime driving, which is triggered when driving at a speed above 40 km/h. 

This feature toggles between high- and low-beam headlights to provide maximum visibility without blinding drivers traveling in the opposite direction.

On another note, the automaker has recently presented a higher level of semi-autonomous driving with ‘Level 3’ capabilities in Japan, called the Honda Sensing Elite. 

They will feature it in the Honda Legend Hybrid, which will be the world’s first production vehicle to be installed with the Elite suite.

Notably, the Honda Sensing Elite suite comes equipped with additional cameras, light detection and ranging sensors (LIDAR), radar sensors with high-accuracy 3D maps and a global navigation satellite system (GNSS), all to enable hands-free driving for an extended period.

Additionally, the Honda Sensing Elite also can perform overtaking maneuvers autonomously. It works when the system detects a car in front being driven at a lower speed, the system notifies the driver and then assists with the overtaking before returning to the original lane.

Moreover, a function called the Traffic Jam Pilot will autonomously drive the car, controlling the braking, acceleration, and steering. It will do all of these while maintaining a proper following interval in accordance with the speed of the vehicle detected ahead.

One more useful function is the Emergency Stop Assist feature. For instance, if a driver loses consciousness while the car is in ‘hands-off’ mode, the Honda Sensing Elite system will gradually slow the car down, steer itself to the side and alert other vehicles using the hazard lights and horn.

Wrapping it up, in Malaysia, the Honda Sensing default suite has been made available in all the TC-P variants of the Honda Civic, Honda CR-V, Honda Accord and the all-new Honda City RS eHEV.