People’s Lives at Stake
“As long as we are dealing with transportation, we absolutely must be responsible. Those who cannot take responsibility, must quit now.”
Soichiro Honda said this in a speech at a training session for new employees in 1969. Honda is a company that deals with transportation, and it is nearly impossible for vehicles to completely avoid accidents. He demanded that the company take responsibility as a manufacturer of their products that takes care of human lives, and spoke in equally strong terms.
At that time in Japan, the momentum for automakers to actively promote safe driving was not as strong as it is today. Despite this, Michihiro Nishida, then senior managing director of Honda, described “the social responsibility of an automobile manufacturer” in the Honda Company Newsletter the same year. In order to fulfill this responsibility, details of mid- to long-term initiatives were discussed within the company and implemented.
In 1970, the following year, Honda launched a campaign to encourage customers to take their vehicles in for regular inspections. In October of the same year, the company established the Traffic Safety Promotion Operations. This was the first time in Japan for an automobile manufacturer to promote safe driving. Since that time, Honda has accumulated expertise in promoting safe driving, eventually expanding its activities globally, and continues to actively evolve its activities today, more than 50 years later.
In 1974, the International Association of Traffic and Safety Sciences (IATSS) was established as a public interest foundation with the aim of creating a forum for free discussion and research on themes beyond safe driving, such as the role of automobiles in society and the current state and future of traffic society, by bringing together a wide range of academic experts, intellectuals, and industrialists. The IATSS was established in 1974, and continues its activities to this day.
In May 1971, Honda became an associate member of the Experimental Safety Vehicle (ESV) program proposed by the U.S. Department of Transportation. At the end of 1974, the company announced the prototype Honda ESV, immediately raising its level of commitment to safety technology.
Honda ESV
Pioneering Safety Initiatives
Honda’s deep commitment to safety can be seen by the fact that in 1964, although still a newcomer to the automobile market in its second year, the S600 was the first car in Japan to be equipped with a three-point seat belt, ahead of its time. Honda’s manufacturing has always been filled with this spirit. In terms of safety technology, this is spirit of not setting regulations as the standard. Michiyoshi Hagino, who later served as senior managing director, said, “Anyone will do what it takes to meet regulations, because if you don’t do it, you can’t sell the product. It is only by leading the laws and leading safety that we can benefit the world.”
The development of airbags is a typical example. In 1975, when there were no laws at all, Honda began full-scale development of its own airbag system for automobiles after several years of basic research.
In developing its own airbag system, Honda adopted a “concurrent implementation of heterogeneous projects” principle. Research of two systems, an external air intake system and an all-gas system, competed with each other. In the 1970s, airbag research was being undertaken by various manufacturers. The impetus for this work came in 1970, when the United States, where seat belt use by passengers tended to be low, began considering legislation that would require passive restraint devices (such as passive belts and airbags) that do not require action by the occupant. However, when the legislation failed to pass in 1981, many manufacturers withdrew from airbag research. Honda, however, does not set regulations as its standard, and continued its research. The road it chose was extremely difficult.
Research Room 6, which had been conducting airbag research for many years, was known as “Neko-matagi Room 6,” roughly translated as “so bad, not even cats take them seriously,” because of its long history of extremely difficult research. They nonetheless worked relentlessly to improve airbag reliability, and the Legend, launched in September 1987, was equipped with Japan’s first SRS (driver side) airbag system. Twelve years had passed since development had begun. Tadashi Kume, then president, decided to continue the development of the airbag, saying, “Even if the world does not accept the airbag, the reliability technology will remain with Honda.” This deep pocketed approach was part of Honda’s corporate culture.
SRS airbag system configuration
Airbag deployment for Legend equipped with Japan’s first SRS airbag system.
For motorcycles, Honda began research in 1990 on motorcycle airbags as a system to mitigate rider injuries in the event of a frontal collision. It collected and analyzed data on various types of collisions and the unique behavior of motorcycles through a number of real-world collision tests and computer simulations. By making full use of the airbag systems, data, know-how, and other technologies accumulated by the automobile division over the years, Honda succeeded in its efforts, and in 2007 launched the Gold Wing with the world’s first mass-produced motorcycle airbag system.
Data collection and analysis of real-vehicle crash tests and simulations for the development of
motorcycle airbag system
Gold Wing with world’s first motorcycle airbag system.
In 1982, the company launched Japan’s first four-wheel antilock brake system (4W-ALB) with the Prelude, the prototype of which was the ESV prototype released in the 1970s. Honda led the world. Honda had continued to take on the challenge of safety ahead of the times.
In 1982, Honda launched the Prelude with 4W-ALB.
In 1987, Honda release the Prelude with its four-wheel steering (4WS) system.
