Like all new Honda models, our CR-V comes with City Brake Active as a standard fitment. City Brake Active is Honda’s version of Autonomous Emergency Braking (AEB) and it proved its worth on a recent trip following a moment’s inattention. 

In a queue of traffic waiting to enter a roundabout, I was distracted for a split second, not noticing that the vehicle in front had come to a standstill.

Normally, it would have resulted in a rear-end shunt and a costly repair bill, but Honda’s system intervened and stopped the vehicle before any damage was done.

The most obvious lesson learned was to pay complete attention at all times, but what was also clear was how valuable such a safety system is to both fleets and company car drivers.     

City-Brake Active is specifically designed to help avoid or mitigate low speed accidents. It uses laser radar technology to scan the road ahead, automatically applying the brakes if an imminent risk of collision is detected. The system is designed to operate at speeds below 32km/h (20mph).

If the system identifies a risk of collision then pre-braking as well as audible and visual warning will occur, eventually followed by full autonomous braking.

There are growing calls for all manufacturers to make AEB a standard fitment but, thankfully for me, Honda has already done that with the CR-V.

The safety credentials of the CR-V can be further enhanced by choosing the Driver Assistance Safety Pack. It is available on SE models and above for £800, though cannot be selected with Honda’s standard CR-V model, the S.

The Driver Assistance Safety Pack offers company car drivers choosing the SE, SR and EX models a host of additional features, including, blind spot information, lane departure warning and traffic sign recognition.