February 19, 2009 - Honda Motor Co., Ltd. announced that it will participate in the ITS-Safety 2010 public demonstration (sponsored by the ITS Promotion Council) to be held February 25 to 28, 2009 in Tokyo. Honda will demonstrate its latest Advanced Safety Vehicles, including automobiles, motorcycles, and electric carts, equipped with active safety driving support features that utilize "information technologies."

These Advanced Safety Vehicles are designed to exchange speed and positional information and other data between vehicles or between a vehicle and an electric cart (vehicle-to-vehicle communications), as well as between the vehicle and road infrastructure (vehicle-to-infrastructure communications), in order to provide the drivers with information which may help to prevent an accident. Honda will unveil the results of its research into HMI (Human Machine Interface) using vehicle-to-vehicle and vehicle-to-infrastructure communication technologies optimized for a variety of vehicles and traffic situations.

Honda's Advanced Safety Vehicle research model, based on an Odyssey minivan for the Japanese market, represents the next stage in the development of its vehicle-to-infrastructure driving support systems, including DSSS^*1, developed principally by the Universal Traffic Management Society of Japan (UTMS: overseen by National Police Agency); Smartway^*2, promoted by the Road Bureau of the Japanese Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism (MLIT); and ASV^*3, promoted by the Road Transport Bureau of MLIT. The Forza-based research motorcycle used in the same project represents a further evolution of the vehicle-to-vehicle communications system developed from the previous model's preventive safety technologies and further enhancements of the FACE and LONG conspicuity designs, which make motorcycles more noticeable and correctly identifiable to other motorists. In addition, the Honda IT Monpal 4 electric cart has also been equipped with wireless communication capabilities to take advantage of vehicle-to-vehicle communications. Honda will continue to move forward with research and development directed at the practical implementation of these component technologies.

Since January 2009, Honda has been participating in ITS-Safety 2010, a large-scale verification testing project for DSSS, Smartway, and ASV in Tokyo's waterfront subcenter district and surrounding freeways.

Honda will also display a Japan market Odyssey equipped with Honda's latest active safety technology, Multi-view Camera System, and a Life mini-vehicle equipped with the Honda Smart Parking Assist System at ITS-Safety 2010's outdoor exhibition venue (located near the National Museum of Emerging Science and Innovation (Miraikan) in a specially prepared parking lot at the south corner of Aomi 1-chome intersection). A booth will be set up here to give general event-goers an opportunity to experience for themselves the active safety technologies contained in these production vehicles.

Honda Advanced Safety Vehicles are equipped with HMI (Human Machine Interface) technologies, which utilize communications infrastructure to effectively convey information to the driver on the presence of small motorcycles and electric carts and other vehicles obscured by buildings that would be difficult to detect based only on the use of independent on-board sensors.

With the goal of enhancing "Safety for Everyone," Honda is focusing its work in the development of its motor vehicles on practical solutions in three areas: passive safety, aimed at minimizing injuries in the event of an accident; active safety, or accident avoidance; and pre-crash safety, aimed at mitigating injuries when a collision is unavoidable. At the same time, Honda is also cooperating in the development of driving safety support systems aimed at reducing traffic accidents through its participation in DSSS, ASV, and other public-private joint projects involving testing on public roadways. 

Honda has participated in the Advanced Safety Vehicle (ASV) project from Phase 1 (April 1991- March 1996), and in that time has developed and commercialized a number of advanced safety systems including Honda Intelligent Driver Support System, Collision Mitigation Brake System and Intelligent Night Vision System. Activities during the current fiscal year have included participation in testing on public roadways in Utsunomiya City, Tochigi Prefecture, Japan using the Honda DSSS research vehicle equipped with vehicle-to-infrastructure communications technologies and the Honda ASV-4 research vehicle equipped with vehicle-to-vehicle communications technologies. For the ITS-Safety 2010 large-scale verification testing and public demonstration, Honda is participating with Honda ASV-4 vehicles equipped with Smartway and HMI systems. 

The Honda Advanced Safety Vehicles on public display at ITS-Safety 2010 are the embodiment of Honda's preventive and pre-crash safety technologies developed for its motorcycle, automobile, and power products to help achieve real-world Safety for Everyone, including the occupants of other vehicles, cyclists and pedestrians. Honda supplies Odyssey- and Forza-based vehicles equipped with these technologies for use in a variety of projects, and will continue its efforts to promote the development of driving safety support systems through joint public-private enterprises aimed at reducing traffic accidents.