Indoor Crash Test Facilities
The Dream: Develop New Technologies that Improve Safety in the Real World
Safety for everyone has always been of the utmost importance for Honda. Some of our most important advances in enhancing safety for our customers have occurred as a result of research conducted at Honda's unique car-to-car collision test facility -- the world's first indoor multi-directional crash test safety facility, which we opened in Japan in 2000.
Why spend so much time, energy and resources building a safety research facility that's as large as a major league baseball field?
Because this is a place where our engineers can gain a deeper understanding of what happens in real-world collisions through studying vehicle-to-vehicle collisions. Our Indoor Crash Test Facility allows us to conduct crash tests from a variety of directions, at varying speeds, and between vehicles of different sizes. This multi-directional/multi-speed/multi-vehicle test capability is a necessity if we are to design for, and enhance protection against, the consequences of real-world collisions.
The crash test facility is capable of conducting a wide variety of both real-world and simulated crash tests, along with simulations of various tests related to the performance of safety systems such as airbags and seat belts. Another key feature of this massive indoor facility is the world's most sophisticated high-resolution crash-barrier block, a 100-ton cube with sides that can be configured for different types of tests. Our crash test facility in Ohio, which is where we test many of the vehicles developed in America, also has a similar high-resolution crash-barrier block.
The Indoor Crash Test Facility is a shining example of how we improve safety for everyone. It truly is one of the best test beds for us to continue creating new technology that improves the lives of Honda customers and supports our goal of making the world safer for all road users.