Safety for Everyone!

03/25/2008 - Torrance, Calif. -
Honda has a long history of leadership in the development and application of advanced safety technologies and designs. This commitment to safety is based on the company’s goal of being a company that “society wants to exist” and complements the company’s leadership in reducing vehicle emissions and improving vehicle fuel efficiency.

Safety for Everyone

The Honda “Safety for Everyone” initiative in North America is a comprehensive approach to vehicle safety that seeks to provide enhanced levels of occupant protection and help with crash avoidance in all Honda and Acura passenger vehicle designs, while also making an active commitment to enhance safety for the occupants of other vehicles and pedestrians.

In 2006, the company fulfilled its October 2003 commitment to equip 1virtually all Honda and Acura vehicles with a core suite of standard safety features, regardless of vehicle size or price. This includes:

o Driver and front passenger front and side airbags (passenger side with Occupant Position Detection System)
o Side curtain airbags for all rows
o Anti-lock brakes (ABS)
o Vehicle Stability Assist (VSA) with rollover sensor is standard on all light truck models.
o Pedestrian safety measures, and other standard safety equipment and features.

VSA

Honda proactively began research on Vehicle Stability Assist (VSA) technologies in the late 1990s as an extension of its ABS development activities. Since then Honda has proactively introduced this technology into vehicles starting with those which have a higher center of gravity such as SUVs. Currently, VSA is standard equipment on all Honda and Acura light trucks. For the 2008 model year, more than 75% of all Honda and Acura vehicles will be equipped with VSA and rollover sensor as standard equipment. With the introduction of the TSX this spring, ALL Acura vehicles will be equipped with VSA. (Note: Electronic Stability Control (ESC) technology is mandated for introduction in all vehicles in the U.S. in 2011)

Crash Test Safety Leader

ALL Honda and Acura light truck models earn top 5-Star government crash ratings in NHTSA NCAP Frontal and Side Impact tests, including the Ridgeline, the first 4-door pickup truck ever to earn fivestar NCAP and SINCAP ratings.

VEHICLES ACHIEVING NCAP/SINCAP FIVE-STARS AND IIHS "GOOD" RATINGS

The NHTSA’s NCAP frontal crash test tends to focus on occupant injury scores, measured by anthropomorphic crash test dummies. In general, a vehicle with a relatively softer body that can absorb a great deal of crash energy tends to achieve higher NHTSA crash test ratings. In contrast, the IIHS Frontal Offset crash relies on a relatively stiff body structure that does not deform too much in this severe test configuration. Due to the conflicting nature of these two tests, it is difficult to design a vehicle that can perform well in both tests. It is even more difficult to design a vehicle that achieves the highest ratings in both of these different tests, but the fact that a vehicle does is significant because it indicates that the vehicle has excelled in tests which are designed to simulate a variety of real world crash situations. Honda is an industry leader in achieving this engineering challenge with more vehicles than any other automaker.

Honda and Acura Vehicles Achieving NCAP/SINCAP Five Stars and IIHS "Good" Ratings
1Only the Honda S2000 roadster does not come standard with side curtain airbags or side airbags with OPDS.

MDX
RDX
Pilot
Element
Odyssey
CR-V

Compatibility and the ACE™ Body Structure

Honda has played a leading role in addressing the issue of compatibility in collisions between vehicles of different size, mass and ride height.

In 2005, Honda introduced the Advanced Compatibility Engineering (ACE™) body structure on the Acura RL, to enhance occupant protection in a frontal collision between vehicles of different sizes and ride heights.

9 of the 16 Honda and Acura models sold in the U.S. in model year 2008 will incorporate the ACE body structure. These include the Civic Sedan and Coupe, Accord Sedan and Coupe, CR-V, Odyssey, Acura RL, MDX and RDX. Before the end of this year, American Honda will introduce four new models with ACE technology: the 2009 Honda Fit, Honda Pilot, Acura TSX and Acura TL.

Pedestrian Safety

As part of its commitment to improving safety for all road users, Honda has also led the U.S. industry in the application of features designed to reduce injuries to pedestrians in a collision -- such as collapsible hood hinges and breakaway windshield wiper pivots, with a focus on reducing severe head injuries, which account for 60 percent of pedestrian fatalities.

In advancing its designs, Honda first sought to better understand the dynamics of pedestrian collisions with the development of POLAR II, widely recognized as the world’s most advanced pedestrian safety dummy. Tests conducted with POLAR II led to the development of the above noted features.

More than 7.5 million Honda and Acura vehicles already on the road, and all model year 2008 vehicles (except the S2000), feature pedestrian safety features and designs.

Advanced Safety Testing
Honda operates two of the world’s most sophisticated crash test laboratories for development of improved safety designs and technologies.

The Tochigi, Japan, facility was the world’s first indoor omni-directional car-to-car crash testing facility and has played a critical role in the development of enhanced designs for occupant and pedestrian safety as well as vehicle-to-vehicle compatibility.

Honda R&D America’s Raymond, Ohio, development center performs advanced testing on all U.S.- developed models. The facility features the world’s first pitching test sled, which aids efficiency by enabling economical and speedy crash test simulations with certain interior safety components, such as seats and seatbelts, prior to conducting a crash test with an actual vehicle. It also features one of the world’s highest resolution impact barriers, which enables precise measurement of the distribution of impact load forces on a vehicle allowing for even more advanced vehicle designs.

Industry-Leading Air Bag Technologies

Honda has long been a leader in introducing the industry’s most advanced air bag systems, including:

The first front passenger airbag to deploy vertically from the instrument panel, rather than directly at the passenger.

The outboard seating positions of every row of every Honda (except S2000) and Acura vehicle is protected by side curtain airbags.

Other Pioneering Efforts

Honda has been a leader in developing next generation safety technologies, including a Collision Mitigation Braking System (CMBS) (introduced on the 2006 model year Acura RL) as well as continuing research toward future collision avoidance systems and designs for automobiles and motorcycles.

The 2006 Honda legendary GoldWing was world’s first production motorcycle to offer an airbag, and continues to be available to customers today.