Honda to make all cars safer

[BaliBabyDoc]

Yahoo

The package of safety goods would include stability control, side-curtain air bags and anti-lock brakes, premium hardware that most manufacturers don't offer on low-price vehicles and usually charge hundreds for on others.

The other change, a more crash-worthy front end, used now only on a minicar sold in Japan, must await full redesigns but should be in all Hondas worldwide within seven years, says Takeo Fukui, Honda president and CEO. First to get it in the USA: redesigned Honda Odyssey minivan and Acura RL sedan, both coming next fall.

A test at Honda's research facility here showed that it protected occupants in a 30-mph front-end collision with a vehicle 1.8 times its weight, significant because a heavier vehicle has an advantage. "No matter what the size of the car, you can have both less aggressiveness and better self-protection," says Tomiji Sugimoto, senior chief research and development engineer.

Now if only you can avoid the soccer dad in his H2, Escalade EXT, or Excursion.