Honda announced that the 2014MY British-built Civic models will be available with a new Driver Assistance Safety Pack featuring the latest laser-radar-camera-sensor technologies. This £780 option will be available for Civic Tourer and Civic hatchback model on all SE Plus, SR and EX Plus models.

The safety gears you get with this package include the City-Brake Active system, a laser radar system that scans the road ahead and applies the brakes automatically if necessary. It works at speeds of 18mph or below, hence the name city-brake.

Next is the Forward Collision Warning system that uses a multi-purpose, forward-facing camera that detects obstacles and offers audible and visual warnings. It works at speeds above 9mph, and its warning distance can be adjusted to the driver’s preferences menu.

The High Beam Support System is another useful system, more suitable for open road driving. It works at speeds of more than 24mph to switch High Beam headlights on / off automatically depending on oncoming / preceding vehicles.

Compared to the aforementioned systems, the Lane Departure Warning is less exciting but just as useful. It alerts the driver with audible and visual warnings. The system operates at speeds of more than 39mph where the road has a curve radius of 250m or more.

The 2014 Honda Civic safety pack also includes the Traffic Sign Recognition System that uses the multi-purpose camera to detect road signs whenever the vehicle is moving forward. The fact that it uses a camera instead of GPS data makes the information shown to the driver always accurate and up to date.

The radar-based features included in the safety pack include the Blind Spot Information and Cross Traffic Monitor system. They are basically the car’s eyes and scan the areas not in direct sight of the driver.