On all 2017 and 2018 CR-Vs at or above the EX trim level, the Honda Sensing suite is standard equipment. Honda Sensing includes a series of cameras and sensors that actively help the driver pay more attention to the road and traffic. Attempting to prevent accidental lane departures or fender benders, Honda Sensing is also paying attention when the driver neglects to do so. And although Honda’s technology isn’t quite as robust as Tesla’s Autopilot 2.0, it does have a similar Tesla-like feature that allows it to execute low-speed following in bumper-to-bumper traffic during rush hour.
Suffice to say the first few times using the system left me skeptical, but I’ve now come to rely on low-speed follow to ease the pain of my evening commute on the Santa Monica Freeway (I-10) between the 405 interchange and downtown Los Angeles. That particular stretch of asphalt is clogged more often than not, and it is a perfect place to activate the system and allow the CR-V’s computing power to relieve my commuter stress. It’s worth mentioning the CR-V does not have full autonomous abilities, and yes, a driver from another lane cutting in front of you when there really isn’t any space to do so can confuse it, but generally it is a great way to maintain low blood pressure in thick, frustrating traffic. Learning to activate the system and understanding its limitations comes naturally for the driver. And although Honda does not officially endorse using low-speed follow in heavy traffic, the situation I’ve described entails speeds of less than 15 mph on real-world roads, sun up or down, and it works.
Low-speed follow works better on freeways than boulevards partially because the lower speeds of a thick-trafficked boulevards allow drivers to forcefully change lanes in front of you, which causes nail-biting situations for the driver and/or a hard, jolting jab of the brake by the CR-V.
Also of note is that Honda offers this same technology in its affordable Honda Civic LX sedan when equipped with CVT transmissions, so for $21K, you can significantly ease the pain of big-city commuting via Honda Sensing.