Better drivers, safer roads

Surrounded by Honda’s newest motorcycles and the Honda Legend premium sedan, Honda Cars PH president Toshio Kuwahara welcomed guests to the inauguration of the Honda Safety Driving Center’s new lobby.

The forthcoming Holy Week holidays, when droves of people leave the city for resorts and hometowns far and near, underscore the importance of road safety.

No wonder motorcycle riders and enthusiasts as well as automotive industry leaders, government officials, academe and the motoring media turned up in Taguig, Metro Manila one morning recently for the public launching of the One Honda Road Safety Program at the Honda Safety Driving Center.

Guests including Chamber of Automotive Manufacturers of the Philippines, Inc. (CAMPI) president Rommel Gutierrez, who is concurrently 1st vice president of Toyota Motor Philippines, Isuzu Philippines Corp. division head for sales Joseph Bautista, and Land Transportation Office Assistant Secretary Edgar Galvante were welcomed by top executives of the three companies of the Honda Philippines Group led by Daiki Mihara, president of Honda Philippines, Inc., the manufacturer of motorcycles and power products; Toshio Kuwahara, president of Honda Cars Philippines, Inc., the manufacturer and distributor of automobiles; and Yasuhara Ikida, president of Honda Parts Manufacturing Corp., the manufacturer of engine parts and transmissions.

Unify and guide

The group introduced the One Honda Road Safety campaign to unify and guide Honda operations in the promotion of road safety by building a community of safe and responsible road users in partnership with different segments of society.

During a short program before lunch, the top honchos of the Honda Group companies signed the Road Safety Manifesto, an enlarged reproduction of which was displayed onstage.

Citing evidence that human error is the leading cause of road accidents, the project’s organizers said that the number of road crashes rose to 34,000 in 2014 from 22,000 the previous year.

With the theme “Road Safety for Our Family,” the One Honda Road Safety campaign carried three major components: 1) educate the public to become safe and responsible road users; 2) promote vehicle safety technology through actual customer experience, and 3) collaborate with concerned sectors of society.

External roll out

Piloted internally in July 2016 in each of the three Honda companies, One Honda Road Safety is now ready to be rolled out externally, starting with the two industrial parks where Honda manufacturing plants are located.

The four-year road safety campaign will then move out farther to cover the communities of Sto. Tomas and Tanauan in Batangas and Sta. Rosa in Laguna where Honda facilities are situated.

The ultimate objective of the campaign is to provide safer roads for the public by reaching and educating as many road users in the country so that Honda customers and all road users can safely and confidently enjoy the freedom of mobility.

The One Honda Road Safety campaign is inspired by the words of Honda founder Soichiro Honda, who said: “As long as we are handling a mode of transportation, we are entrusted with human lives.”

World-class HSDC

The March 27 Honda event also marked the formal inauguration of the new lobby of the Honda Safety Driving Center (HSDC) where the latest models of Honda motorcycles and the Honda Legend luxury sedan were displayed.

Among the VIPs present during the event were, from left, Isuzu PH division head for Sales Joseph Bautista, CAMPI president/Toyota Motor PH 1st vice president Rommel Gutierrez, Honda Cars PH Human Resources division head Noel Barrachina, and LTO Assistant Secretary Edgar Galvante.

After Honda Cars Philippines president Toshio Kuwahara delivered his welcome address, an annotated video presentation of the state-of-the-art safety features of Honda cars and motorcycles followed.

The HSDC has been operating for 10 years now as Honda’s centerpiece public facility directly promoting road safety through responsible motoring and education.

It is the country’s only world-class driving facility that offers basic and comprehensive driving training for two-wheel and four-wheel motor vehicles, and even heavy duty trucks and vans.

Honda Group plans to open within the month of April safe driving facilities at the newly renovated Honda dealerships in Cebu and Davao.