Will Honda Malaysia introduce this app to help young Malaysian drivers too?
These days while many new cars are starting to feature more and more safety features and even some form of autonomous driving but with a new breed of younger drivers who are more distracted than ever with digital infotainment screens and smartphones, sometimes they are not driving safely, luckily, Honda has a solution.
Japanese automaker, Honda, hopes that its new smartphone app can help teens and new drivers improve their driving skills. It goes beyond just delivering common safety tips. The Honda Driver Coaching app can also access the onboard computer for a more detailed learning experience that incorporates gaming as well.
Moreover, while the Honda app is only available through the Apple App Store for now, once it’s installed and the iPhone is connected to the vehicle, it can analyze the driver’s inputs in real-time and provide lessons on safe driving practices. The app monitors steering, braking, and acceleration while providing instructions as needed.
Once the driver completes a lesson, the app provides a summary of their driving, specific tips, and a score to track their progress. This app seems like something that many new,a s well as parents of young and new drivers will appreciate as well. Hopefully Honda develops an Android version soon.
On top of that, MJ Foxley, Safety Strategy Leader of American Honda Motor Co., Inc., said, “With schools getting out and summer driving season just around the corner, we hope our new Honda Driver Coaching app can positively influence young drivers and the safety of everyone sharing the road.”
At the moment, the app only works on Honda and Acura models equipped with Apple CarPlay limited by model year including the Honda Civic (2019-2020), Honda Insight (2018-2022), Honda Accord (2018-2020 and 2023 and newer), Honda HR-V (2023 and newer), Honda CR-V (202 and newer), Honda Pilot (2023 and newer) and Acura Integra (2023 and newer).
According to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 16- to 19-year-old teens are almost three times more likely to have a fatal crash than someone 20 or older. In 2020, car crashes killed about 2,800 teens and injured another 227,000. This cannot be fixed overnight, but Honda is at least taking the first step with this app.
The app could be a valuable resource to new drivers as it includes lessons on driving position, steering wheel operation, brake operation to start, and likely several more related topics once it analyzes a driver’s inputs. It’s nice that it also provides more than general tips, using the driver’s inputs to dictate the lessons and tips.
There are many advantages to helping make the roads safer and teaching more inexperienced drivers how to be safer on the road can only benefit everyone so I hope that Honda soon rolls out this app globally and for more Honda models.
We got all this from Motor 1 and their full article is linked here. Thank you Motor 1 for the information and images.
