Honda has recently introduced considerably more demanding targets with regard to pedestrian safety, and the objective with new Civic was the attainment of 3 stars in the Euro NCAP test. Included among the measures aimed at achieving that goal are the adoption of energy-absorbing sliding wiper pivots, bonnet hinges that compress under impact, an energy-absorbing front bumper beam together with the rounded shape of the front section of the body and headlights and an 'H' badge that slide backwards by 2cm in the event of a light impact.

Moreover, Honda continues to conduct extensive research into pedestrian safety centred on its Active Safety Vehicle, the ASV3, together with sophisticated pedestrian dummies, road accident analysis and computer-assisted accident simulation. The effectiveness of that programme was recently demonstrated by the previous Civic 5-door which recorded the highest ever rating in the Euro NCAP tests for pedestrian protection (old protocol).

Children are also very well protected inside the new Civic and naturally the outer rear seats have built in ISOFIX fixtures and tether anchor points for the secure attachment of child seats.

The rear seat has three independent headrests and some versions include a central arm rest with an integrated double cup holder.

Active front seat headrests on SE, ES, Sport and EX models play a key role in protecting against whiplash injury in the event of an accident, and Honda has received a 'Good' rating in the neck impact alleviation study conducted by the independent research institute, Thatcham.

Special attention has also been paid to the front seat structure in order to meet the highly demanding Thatcham safety standards for cervical injury arising out of a rear impact. The Civic's new seat structure is such that in the event of a rear impact, the occupant's torso moves back and is progressively cushioned by the seatback, while the new active headrests move to support the head. Forces acting upon the neck are therefore dramatically lowered and the risk of injury almost disappears.

Passive safety has always been paramount at Honda, and the new Civic has an innovative seat belt reminder system for the rear passengers. The system interprets the opening and closing of the rear doors and displays the rear seat belt sign on the instrument panel. The SRS unit then determines the status of each seatbelt buckle and sends the information to the display (showing no belts in use, or one, two or three in use).

The front seats are fitted with double pre-tensioners (one on the pillar and one on the exterior mounting).There are side airbags and side curtain airbags fitted as standard in all models in order to increment side protection in case of a lateral collision.



WARRANTY, MANUFACTURING AND SALES

Insurance Ratings, Warranties & Maintenance

Considerable effort has gone into designing front and rear body structures that do not result in expensive repair bills in the event of slow speed impacts. The light crash damageability assessment (DDV/Thatcham standard) has proved very positive, and only required the replacement of plastic parts, considerably reducing repair costs and enabling the new Civic to receive more favourable insurance ratings.

Paintwork anti-scratch resistance has been enhanced by adopting a hard coating technology.

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