Honda may market a car with a level 3 automated driver assistance system in Japan. The system is capable of taking full control of the vehicle from the driver under certain circumstances. Consider, for example, congested motorway driving. Honda plans to launch a model with the technology on the Japanese market in the near future.
Japan's Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism (MLIT) approves the use of the system in vehicles approved for use on Japanese public roads. The technology has been added to a list of devices for vehicles that meet applicable safety standards in the country. Honda announced its intention to market a Honda Legend with the technology before the end of its current fiscal year, which ends on 31 March 2021.
Requirements
To receive such approval, automated driver assistance systems must meet several requirements. For example, the equipment must not raise concerns about the safety of vehicle occupants or other road users. Also, the equipment must only operate if all specified environmental requirements are met. Consider, for example, how busy the road is.
Is the system being used and do road conditions no longer allow it? Then the system should warn the driver and transfer control of the vehicle to the human. Is this not possible? Then the vehicle should come to a safe stop. The presence of a monitoring function that monitors the driver is also mandatory, as are security measures to prevent misuse of automated systems.
Capturing data while driving
Another requirement imposed by the Japanese government is the presence of equipment that collects information on the operation of automated driver assistance systems during journeys. This includes recording when the driving assistance is switched on or off. It should also be clear when the equipment tries to transfer control to the driver, and at what times this proved impossible. Finally, cars using such driving assistance systems must have a sticker at the rear that makes other road users aware of this.
Honda has been betting on driver assistance systems for some time. For instance, the company has been supplying Honda SENSING on various models for some time. This safety package supports the driver with, among other things, an out-of-parking sensor, a blind spot sensor, active lane correction, traffic sign recognition, a collision and injury mitigation braking system and adaptive speed control at low speeds. Honda SENSING comes as standard on the Honda CR-V and Civic.
Author: Wouter Hoeffnagel
