Honda’s Advanced Future Safety Technologies, Aiming For Zero Traffic Collision Fatalities By 2050

Driving towards a society liberated from the risk of traffic collisions, Honda Motor Co., Ltd. held a world premiere of its advanced future safety technologies.

Primarily, this initiative is to attain Honda’s goal of realising ‘zero traffic collision fatalities involving Honda motorcycles and automobiles globally by 2050’.

It utilises two key technologies, one is the world’s first artificial intelligence (AI)-powered ‘Intelligent Driver-Assistive Technology’ and second, the ‘Safe and Sound Network Technology’.

In a nutshell, the former provides assistance suited to the ability and situation of each individual to reduce driving errors and risks, in turn helping the driver achieve safe and sound driving. 

The latter connects all road users, both people and mobility products, through telecommunications, enabling the prediction of potential risks and helping avoid collisions before it occurs.

Honda R&D Co., Ltd.'s president and representative director, Keiji Ohtsu, expressed, “Striving to eliminate mobility risks for everyone sharing the road, Honda will offer safety and peace of mind to each and every road user as a new value. Applying our future safety technologies, which will embody such new value, Honda will work toward the realisation of ‘zero traffic collision fatalities’ involving Honda motorcycles and automobiles globally by 2050. For the realisation of a collision-free society where all road users care for each other, and the freedom of mobility becomes possible, we will further accelerate our industry-wide and public-private initiatives.” 

Expanding on the first, the ‘Intelligent Driver-Assistive Technology’ aims for ‘zero human error’ through its original fMRI-based study of the human brain and analysis of risk-taking behaviours. 

Said system deduces predictors of driving errors based on data obtained through a driver monitoring camera and pattern of the driving operations.

This technology is being developed to enable each individual driver to mitigate driving errors and enjoy mobility without any sense of anxiety.

Speaking of which, to eliminate such feeling, Honda has been conducting research and development of ‘technologies to understand people’ with an original method that utilises fMRI.

Significantly, it uses ADAS sensors and cameras to recognise potential risks in the vehicle’s surroundings, which enables the AI to detect driving risks.

At the same time, the AI determines optimal driving behaviour on a real-time basis and offers assistance suited to each driver's cognitive state and traffic situations.

That said, with the next generation of driver-assistive functions currently under research and development, Honda strives to offer the new value of ‘error-free’ safety.

Broken down into three sub-values, they are ‘No driving operation errors (Operational assist)’, meaning the vehicle offers AI-based assist to reduce drifting and prevent a delay in operations.

Then, ‘No oversight or no prediction errors (Cognitive assist)’, in which the vehicle communicates risks with visual, tactile and auditory sensations.

Third, ‘No errors due to daydreaming and careless driving (Attentiveness assist)’, it is when the vehicle helps reduce driver fatigue and drowsiness.

Currently, Honda is avidly advancing the ‘Intelligent Driver-Assistive Technology’ and is continuing making progress in its development.

Notably, the company has a goal to establish underlying technologies during the first half of the 2020s, then launch practical applications during the second half of the 2020s.

Moving on to the second, the ‘Safe and Sound Network Technology’ establishes safe coexistence, a ‘cooperative safety society’ which connects all road users through telecommunication. 

Interestingly, this system understands and recognises the situation and surrounding environment of each driver and road user.

Through the communication network, data of potential risks in the traffic environment are collected in the server and predicted using the reproduction of the traffic environment in the virtual space.

Meaning, in that virtual space, considering the conditions and characteristics of each driver, the system predicts and simulates the behaviours of road users at high risk of a collision. 

Ensuing that, the system derives the most suitable support information, relays it to each road user and encourages them to take actions to avoid potential risk before it happens.

Plus, such support information is communicated intuitively to automobile drivers, motorcycle riders and pedestrians through ‘cooperative risk human-machine interface (HMI)’. 

Ingeniously, this system obtains all the data stored in the server from roadside cameras, onboard cameras and smartphones.

Honda aims for real-world implementation of this technology after 2030, and to fully build the system and complete verification of its effectiveness in the first half of the 2020s. 

Succeeding that, the company plans to accelerate industry-wide and public-private collaboration to standardise the technology in the second half of the 2020s.

On another note, Honda’s strive for a collision-free society for everyone is driven strongly by its goal of ‘zero traffic collision fatalities by 2050’. 

As such, the company aims to expand the introduction of Honda SENSING 360, a new omnidirectional driver-assistive system, to be on all models and to go on sale in all markets by 2030. 

Besides that, Honda is continuing the work to expand application of a motorcycle detection function and further enhance the functions of its ADAS (advanced driver-assistance system). 

Furthermore, it is also continuing to make progress in expanding application of its motorcycle safety technologies and offering of its safety education technologies (Honda Safety EdTech). 

All in all, through these initiatives, Honda strives to reduce global traffic collision fatalities involving Honda motorcycles and automobiles by half by 2030.