Striving to realize a collision-free society based on its global safety slogan, "Safety for Everyone," Honda has long been at the forefront globally in researching and developing safety technologies. With a vision to encourage people to explore their curiosity and to realize a joyous future where everyone can go anywhere freely with total peace of mind, Honda is introducing this Legend model equipped with the Honda SENSING Elite which represents the new step forward in the area of advanced safety technology.

Honda SENSING Elite is a variation of Honda SENSING, a suite of advanced safety and driver-assistive technologies currently available for Honda vehicles around the world. The name "Elite" represents the outstanding and "elite" technologies included in this latest variation.

One of the "elite" technologies is the "Traffic Jam Pilot" function, an advanced technology qualifying for Level 3 automated driving (conditional automated driving in limited area), for which Honda has received type designation from the Japanese Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism (MLIT).(1) Traffic Jam Pilot technology enables the automated driving system to drive the vehicle under certain conditions, instead of the driver, such as when the vehicle is in congested traffic on an expressway.(2)

For vehicle control, the system determines the position of the vehicle and road conditions using data from the 3-dimensional high-definition maps and the global navigation satellite system (GNSS(3)) and detects the vehicle's 360-degree surroundings using a number of external sensors. At the same time, the system tracks the conditions of the driver using the monitoring camera mounted inside the vehicle. Based on such a wide range of information, the main ECU makes proper recognitions, predictions and decisions and applies a high-level control of acceleration, braking and steering to assist the driver to achieve high-quality and smooth driving.

Placing the highest priority on safety and reliability, the system development employed simulations where a total of approximately 10 million pattens of possible real-world situations were simulated, and a number of demonstration tests were conducted while driving test vehicles on expressways for a total of approximately 1.3 million kilometers (800,000 miles). Moreover, the system incorporates redundant system design paying due consideration to safety and reliability in case some kind of problem occurs to any of the devices.

Exterior equipment designed exclusively for this all-new Legend model includes blue accessory lights and a dedicated aluminum wheel. A number of sensors are embedded to make them less noticeable so that dignity and a stately appearance befitting a flagship sedan are further enhanced while discreetly calling out the fact that it is a vehicle equipped with automated driving equipment.

Interior equipment exclusive to this model includes Honda SENSING Elite indicator lights which feature carefully selected respective positions, sizes, colors, brightness and other details, as well as the 12.3-inch full-LCD graphic meter. This equipment was adopted with due consideration to enabling the driver to intuitively understand the operating status of the system, driving situation and requests for the transfer of control back to the driver issued by the system.

(1) Reception of the type designation was announced on November 11. 2020.Please refer to the press release: https://global.honda/newsroom/news/2020/4201111eng.html(2) There is a limit to the capabilities (e.g. recognition capability and control capability) of individual functions of Honda SENSING Elite. Please do not overestimate the capabilities of each Honda SENSING Elite function and drive safely while paying constant attention to your surroundings. Please remain in condition where you can respond to the handover request issued by the system, and immediately resume driving upon the handover request.(3) GNSS stands for Global Navigation Satellite System, a collective name for satellite positioning, navigation and timing (PNT) systems.

For more information, visit https://global.honda/newsroom/.

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