What's all this about?

There's a new Honda Jazz inbound, along with a crossover-inspired model called the Crosstar, and the Japanese company wants to shout about the safety benefits of this supermini.

In what way is it particularly safe?

It features ten airbags in total as part of its passive-safety systems, which include its proprietary Advanced Compatibility Engineering body structure, but the new one here is the front-centre airbag. With Honda claiming this as a first-in-class feature of this type, the front-centre airbag is mounted in the driver's seat and inflates into the space between the front-seat occupants in the event of a side-impact collision. Along with seatbelt pretensioners in the front and a higher centre armrest, these devices all work together to reduce injury to the head by 85 per cent for the nearside passenger and 98 per cent for the farside passenger in Honda's own internal side-impact testing procedures. And just in case you're thinking people in the back are forgotten, a set-up called i-side Airbag System is fitted in the seat pad, which deploys to protect rear occupants from impacts against the door and C-pillar. Clever, compact packaging means iAS has no effect on the practicality of the Jazz's trademark Magic Seat functionality in the back.

Do the Jazz/Crosstar models have any active safety functions?

Plenty. The Honda Sensing suite of driver-assist systems - which incorporates City-Brake Active System, Collision Mitigation Braking System, Adaptive Cruise Control, Lane Keeping Assist System, Road Departure Mitigation System, Traffic Sign Recognition System, Intelligent Speed Limiter, Auto High-Beam and finally Blind Spot Information, complete with Cross Traffic Monitor - will be available on the superminis, either as standard-fit items or cost options.

Anything else to add?

Just some words from Takeki Tanaka, large project leader for Honda, who said: "Occupant safety is of the utmost importance for our designers when we develop a new car. We completely redesigned the latest-generation Jazz from the ground up, which meant that we were able to incorporate new advanced structural technologies and the latest passive safety features to provide exceptional protection from all kinds of accidents. With the addition of an upgraded suite of advanced safety features and driver aids as standard, we are confident that the all-new Jazz remains one of the safest cars in its class."