HART (Honda Australia Roadcraft Training)

Raising awareness to improve skills

Honda Australia established HART in 1999 as part of its global focus on increasing road user safety for drivers, passengers, motorcycle riders and motorcycle pillion passengers. Traffic safety education provided by HART is built on a theme of ‘street smart’ techniques. A majority of crashes are the result of poor judgment: to combat this, HART programs concentrate on risk-lowering techniques rather than teaching advanced driving skills. To improve safety, it is more important for drivers to acquire awareness and techniques that can be used to prevent loss of control than to attain race-level driving skills. The HART training facility, located on 40 acres of natural bushland on the outskirts of Sydney, features a 2-km, closed-road circuit track, along with dedicated training areas. A variety of programs are in place to meet the needs of everyone from children to seniors, with the aim of contributing to the Road Traffic Agency’s objective of halving the current road toll by 2010. As part of its ongoing effort to improve road safety, Honda currently has similar programs in place in 26 Honda Group companies in 20 countries.