Honda’s road to a safer future starts with education

Honda’s commitment to road safety is unwavering and is highlighted by its bold promise for there to be zero traffic collision fatalities involving any of its automobiles and motorcycles in the next 25 years. Announced in 2021, this far-reaching policy is on course to deliver a 50% reduction in fatalities by 2030, on the way totally eradicating fatal collisions by 2050.

According to the World Health Organisation, around 1.35 million people worldwide are killed on the roads each year, with 60 percent of those deaths, split roughly equally, occurring while in a car or riding a motorcycle. Such significant numbers make Honda’s work to eliminate these kinds of outcomes in its vehicles more urgent than ever, but already it is making great strides toward achieving its goals.

Education is key

When it comes to enhancing safety, particularly for motorcycles, Albert Cavero, PR & Safety Department Manager at Honda Motor Europe Espa?a, believes education plays just as big a role as technology: “90% of all traffic accidents are due to the human factor. That means that working with people, with drivers and riders, it's key.”

Once again, Honda has been ahead of the curve in reducing accidents through education for road users. It started its first motorcycle training facility in Japan in 1964, while one of its biggest success stories in Europe has been the Honda Safety Institute in Barcelona, Spain. Safety training operations started in Spain back in 1992, and the Honda Safety Institute began operating at its current location in 2009.

Albert continues: “We are based on a 20,000 square metre site where we have lecture rooms, garages, motorcycles and so on. We also have three test areas where the participants can experience different terrain conditions - not only asphalt, but also off-road surfaces. And we have a skid plate where we conduct braking exercises with a low grip surface.”

Since 2009, the Honda Safety Institute has become one of the leading training facilities in the region and educated 30,000 motorcyclists and undertaken 2,500 courses. In 2024 alone, 1,800 participants will have taken part in training, with courses run seven days a week to ensure it can reach the maximum number of riders.

More importantly, in keeping with Honda’s ‘safety is for everyone’ philosophy, the Honda Safety Institute is open to all, not just owners and riders of the brand’s own motorcycles. The course also caters to different levels of experience and varying age groups. “This is open to everyone,” explains Albert. “Our training programme has a total of 12 courses, each of which is designed for different motorcyclist profiles, starting from beginners to average riders through to the expert riders. In addition, we also train kids from 6 to 12 years old as we have specific bikes and safety programmes for the youngest ones.”

The effects on those taking part in the courses has been invaluable, with Albert highlighting the overwhelmingly positive feedback from attendees. “For me, one of the most important outcomes is the participant satisfaction level, as we are currently at 9.52 (out of 10). We also ask all participants to score their riding before and after the course from 0 to 10. Before, most of them said they have room for improvement rating themselves below 5. After the course, the overall average of the scores has increased by 2.7 points. So the participants in our safety training programme really feel a clear improvement. So after the course they feel safer and better skilled as riders.”

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What does the future hold?

Ultimately, Honda’s relentless drive to improve rider assistance technology will prove crucial in driving down fatalities. Already Honda motorcycles are available with the latest generation of anti-lock braking and combined braking systems, while adoption of LED lighting helps make motorcyclists more visible.

Automobile technology will also play a big part in this process, with state-of-the-art advances such as Honda’s SENSING 360 already providing significant safety gains. Available on the CR-V SUV, this system uses a combination of cameras, radar, and sensors to monitor the vehicle's surroundings, proactively alerting the driver to any potential dangers and even actively steering or slowing the car if evasive action is not taken. This continued evolution of equipment on automobiles will bring lasting benefits, with systems that offer greater detection and collision avoidance for motorcycles.

Honda is also working on its Safe and Sound Network Technology, which in future will be able to predict and avoid risks before collisions occur by allowing all traffic participants (people and vehicles) to be wirelessly connected to each other. By knowing where other road users are, cars, motorcycles and pedestrians will be given advanced and enhanced warning of any potential accidents.

However, Albert believes that future technology will complement education but not replace it: “We have to balance both concepts because both are very important for the motorcyclist community. In Spain, we have 4 million bikes in operation, yet we are training 2,000 participants per year. So the next step is to develop digital online training to have a lot more reach. But however we do it, we have to associate safety training to a fun and sensitive concept. Mixing these two concepts, I think it's the key to attract more people to safety training.”

To sign up to the Honda Europe Environmental Event visit: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/how-we-move-you-a-safer-and-more-sustainable-future-tickets-1079228253759?utm-campaign=social&utm-content=attendeeshare&utm-medium=discovery&utm-term=listing&utm-source=cp&aff=ebdsshcopyurl

To find out more about Honda’s sustainability journey visit: https://global.honda/en/sustainability/