New Honda driver tech previewed in next Legend

HONDA has revealed details of its new Honda Sensing driver assistance system which will make its debut in the next-generation Legend luxury sedan going on sale in Japan at the end of this year.

While Honda already equips many of its vehicles with driver assistance features such as adaptive cruise control, automatic braking and lane departure warning, Honda said the technology – which it says is the first of its kind to swerve the car to avoid a pedestrian collision – has been significantly improved.

The system uses two sensors including a new millimeter-wave radar located on the grille which has been enhanced to detect pedestrians and their speed, and a windscreen-mounted monocular camera which identifies people and other objects up to 60 metres ahead of the vehicle.

Faster data processing means the system can recognise its surroundings and the intentions of the driver and applies what Honda calls “collaborative control” to brake and steer to avoid collisions in normal driving conditions and during emergency manoeuvres.

Hailed by Honda as a world first, the Pedestrian Collision Mitigation Steering System monitors people on the side of the road, providing audio and visual warnings on the head-up display if a collision is forecast before turning the steering wheel to avoid an impact.

Also key to Honda Sensing is the Collision Mitigation Braking System, which now detects vehicles in front, as well as oncoming traffic and pedestrians. If the system predicts an imminent crash it will alert the driver and if no action is taken it will brake hard while steering to avoid an impact.

Road Departure Mitigation warns the driver if the car strays from a lane and will apply corrective steering to bring it back, with braking applied if the vehicle is about to leave the road.

Other features of Honda Sensing include Adaptive Cruise Control which functions down to speeds of 0km/h for use in traffic jams. With Traffic Sign Recognition the camera reads road signs and relays the information to the driver on the head-up display.

There is also a False Start Prevention Function which prevents the driver accelerating too hard in traffic and colliding with the car ahead and Lead Car Departure Notification System which alerts the driver to the vehicle in front moving off.

While the Legend will be the first model to get the tech overseas, it will be another model that premieres it in Australia, with the car-maker’s local arm confirming that the new luxury flagship will not be making it Down Under.

The move to keep the new Legend – which looks set to share underpinnings with the Acura RLX sedan – out of the local line-up is not surprising given the slow sales of the current-gen version which has been discontinued.

Instead, the new tech is likely to debut on the facelifted CR-V due in December and potentially other models set for release next year, such as the Jazz-based HR-V crossover.