CARS THAT BRAKE WHEN YOU DON'T.

It's not just the snazzy paint job that tells you the Honda ASV-3 prototype is no ordinary version of the Accord sedan. Five years in the making, the ASV-3 is crammed with as many gizmos as a fighter jet, including navigation systems, radar, and infrared cameras.

This is Honda Motor Co.'s Advanced Safety Vehicle, and the gadgetry is all about avoiding accidents. Turn that corner too quickly and the ASV-3 uses satellite technology to calculate the optimum speed, and applies the brakes accordingly. If you're about to drive into a collision at an intersection, a radio signal alerts the onboard computer and sets off an alarm. If a collision can't be avoided, data including the driver's heart rate and respiratory condition are transmitted to emergency personnel. "The ASV-3 offers the prospect of safer, more comfortable, worry-free driving," says Akihiro Kubo, executive chief engineer at Honda's research and development center in Tochigi.

In mid-October, Japanese carmakers gathered in Hokkaido to show off their latest safety gadgets, which they had been testing on Japan's northern island. The technologies used in the ASV-3 and other vehicles are not yet in mass production, and may not be for years. But such bells and whistles put an exclamation point on Japan's growing leadership in the field. All carmakers do safety research, but "it's the likes of Honda and Toyota that are getting them out there and into cars," says Andrew Phillips, an analyst at Nikko Citigroup in Tokyo.

High-tech safety equipment began marring its way into automobiles about five years ago. In February, 2003, Toyota introduced a safety system into the Harrier SUV, the Japanese version of the Lexus RX 330, that uses radar technology to warn drivers if a collision is likely. Now it has been upgraded so that if a driver fails to react to a dangerous situation, the precrash safety system sets off an alarm, tightens the seat belt to get the driver's attention, or applies the brakes. "The ultimate aim is to create a car that cannot crash," says Shiro Monzaki, general manager of Toyota Motor's vehicle control system engineering department in Shizuoka.

Honda is also upgrading existing safety features. A night vision system on its Legend luxury sedan projects on a screen above the dashboard infrared images of hard-to-see pedestrians who cross in front of your car in the dark. Not to be outdone, Mazda Motor Corp. has a device on its new MPV minivan that automatically moves headlights from side-to-side to avoid blinding oncoming drivers at night. And Nissan, which pledges to cut by half the number of deaths and serious injuries suffered in its vehicles by 2015, is working on equipment that enables specially equipped traffic lights to communicate with vehicles -- to tell them, for instance, if they are approaching a school. "If you don't have your fundamentals on safety right, you can't compete," Nissan CEO Carlos Ghosn says. "We're making sure we're at the top level."

Turning prototypes like the Honda ASV-3 into reality for most drivers won't be easy. Engineers expect the rollout of vehicle-to-vehicle communication to take until 2010. One issue is cost. Most of the new safety gear is only being added to top-end models. It's too expensive for a run-of-the-mill car. Toyota's newest safety system -- including air bags and a radar-controlled cruise control system -- costs $4,300. Shoji Shiraishi, a partner at Bain & Co. in Tokyo, reckons each safety option will need to be available for as little as $100 before it becomes standard. "Many customers are not ready to pay much for extra safety features," he says.

There is also the question of who takes legal responsibility for accidents involving vehicles equipped with safety devices. Every automobile maker's worst nightmare is that it will introduce advanced safety equipment, only to be sued by drivers Who hold it responsible when an accident happens anyway.

CARS THAT TALK TO EACH OTHER

Toyota and Honda are testing radio links that let vehicles communicate.

PROTECTING PEDESTRIANS

Mazda is working on radar and cameras that detect pedestrians in the road.

AIR BAGS FOR MOTORCYCLES

Honda has developed an air bag for motorbikes that inflates just 0.15 seconds after a collision.

NO MORE BLIND SPOT

Nissan has a camera that films the area just beyond a car's roof supports to eliminate the blind spot.

Data: BusinessWeek

The McGraw-Hill Companies, Copyright 2005

PHOTO (COLOR): FACE OFF: Safety isn't cheap. Will drivers pay?

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By Ian Rowley

The table accompanying "Cars that brake when you don't" (Global Business, Nov. 14) should have clarified that Honda's air bag for motorcycles takes just 0.15 seconds after a collision to absorb the force of the rider. The air bag inflates in 0.06 seconds.

The McGraw-Hill Companies, Copyright 2005