What Is Honda Sensing?

New Honda vehicles standardize this active safety technologies bundle.

Evan McCausland | 

Apr 11, 2022 | 3 min read

Honda

Updated June 5, 2025

Honda Sensing Is a Suite of Active Safety Equipment

The automaker introduced Honda Sensing in 2015, and the systems bundled under that brand name have evolved. Today, the suite's core list of standard technologies includes:

• Adaptive cruise control automatically adjusts the vehicle's speed to maintain a set distance from other traffic
• Forward-collision warning provides audible and visual warnings if the driver approaches traffic too closely or quickly
• Collision mitigation applies the brakes if the vehicle determines a collision is imminent
• Lane-departure warning alerts the driver when the vehicle senses it's drifting out of visible lane markings
• Lane-keeping assist applies corrective steering to keep the vehicle in its lane
• Road-departure mitigation: warns the driver with audible and visual alerts when the vehicle begins to veer off the road and makes corrective steering and brake inputs to try to prevent it

Honda Sensing May Include Additional Features

Select Honda models or trim levels may also include additional driver-assistance tech as part of the Honda Sensing suite. These features include:

• Auto high-beam headlights automatically turn on high-beams and revert to low-beam headlamps when the system detects oncoming traffic
• Blind-spot monitoring warns the driver of adjacent traffic that may not be immediately visible in side-view mirrors
• Cross-traffic monitoring uses side-facing sensors in the rear bumper to warn drivers of pedestrians or traffic traveling perpendicular to the vehicle
• Low-speed braking control can warn the driver and partially apply the brakes of the vehicle — traveling at speeds of up to 6 mph — if it senses an object ahead of or behind its path
• Traffic sign recognition can detect posted speed limit signs and display the limit within the gauge cluster

Some Features Require a Package or Specific Trim Level

While the core group of Honda Sensing features is standard across the Honda line, the availability of other Honda Sensing technologies differs between models and occasionally requires selecting a more expensive trim level.

For instance, in the 2025 Honda HR-V, blind-spot monitoring is available only on the Sport and EX-L trims, which, compared with the base HR-V, costs an additional $2,100 and $4,100, respectively.

Some features also vary slightly between model lines. The adaptive cruise control system on most 2025 Hondas includes low-speed-follow functionality, which will bring the vehicle to a stop should traffic come to a halt.

The driver must then reengage ACC by hitting a button or the accelerator. However, the adaptive cruise control system on the manual-transmission Civic and the 2025 Ridgeline lack this functionality and require the driver to apply the brakes manually in stop-and-go traffic.

While many Honda vehicles offer traffic sign recognition on certain trim levels, the feature is available on the electric Prologue only to those who have an active subscription to HondaLink Connected by OnStar.

Evan McCausland

Car, truck, train, or bus—if a vehicle has wheels, chances are Evan McCausland is interested in it. More importantly, he’s interested in helping others learn more about cars and trucks, especially when it comes time to make a decision on their next vehicle purchase. For nearly two decades, he’s been fortunate to have the opportunity to do just that, writing for major automotive publications, automotive clubs, and automakers alike.