All stop for Honda’s self-braking Jazz

HONDA has unveiled a city-friendly self-braking system for the Jazz small car.

Known as the City-Brake Active System, Honda says a laser mounted high on the windscreen can detect if a collision with the car in front is about to happen.

The car-maker says once a collision is deemed likely, the car will sound an alarm and flash a visual warning at the driver.

At speeds below 30km/h, the system will even apply the brakes in an attempt to either avoid or minimise a collision.

The system is also designed to stop Jazz drivers from the embarrassment of jumping on the accelerator in tight spots rather than the brake.

As long as the car is going at less than 10kmh, the Jazz can recognise when the driver mistakenly steps on the throttle instead of the brake. If there is another obstacle within four metres of the front of the car, the Jazz will again sound and flash warnings before killing the engine’s revs.

However, don’t expect the self-braking Jazz on sale in Australia any time soon. While it will soon be included on versions of the Jazz sold in Japan, a spokeswoman for the car-maker’s Australian operations said there were no plans to bring it here.

Volkswagen was the first brand to introduce a self-braking system on a small car, fitting it as standard equipment to its $13,990 Up sub-compact runabout late last year.

Honda’s slightly larger Jazz starts from $14,990, and now includes a $22,900 hybrid version.