Toyota's new pre-crash technology directs steering
July 21, 2011 By YURI KAGEYAMA , AP Business Writer
Toyota is developing a safety technology that takes control of the steering so the vehicle can veer away when it isn't able to stop before impact.
Toyota Motor Corp. showed some of its up and coming safety innovations in a demonstration to reporters Thursday at its facility in this town, west of Tokyo, near Mount Fuji.
All the world's automakers are working on special safety technology in an effort to woo customers, as competition intensifies among manufacturers already neck-and-neck in delivering the regular features for their products.
Cars that stop or slow down automatically before an object or person in anticipation of a possible crash are not new. But Toyota's latest pre-collision system adds a steering-control feature.
In the new system, Toyota uses cameras and a super sensitive radar called "millimeter-wave," both installed in the front of the vehicle, to detect possible crashes such as a pedestrian crossing the road.
The vehicle calculates how braking and steering must be applied to avoid a crash, said chief safety technology officer Moritaka Yoshida.
"We must learn from accidents and keep making improvements in safety features," he said.
The Japanese automaker declined to say when the feature may be offered on a commercial model, or in which markets, but officials hinted it was ready to be offered soon.
Toyota said it was aiming for zero fatalities and injuries, although it did not say when that goal would be achieved.
Fatalities have been declining in auto accidents, because of better safety features, but deaths among pedestrians in traffic accidents have not gone down in Japan.
Protecting pedestrians is increasingly key, according to Toyota, which makes the Prius hybrid and Lexus luxury models.
Toyota showed what is called a pop-up hood, which rises slightly in a crash, to mitigate the impact of a pedestrian getting hit by a car, similar to features offered by European makers.
It also showed how parts of the rays from high-beam headlights could be blocked so that drivers could still see clearly what was ahead while headlights would appear to be on low beam to the driver in a car coming from the other direction.
Toyota also showed a steering wheel in development that measures the heartbeat of the driver to prevent crashes that can happen when drivers suffer heart attacks.
©2011 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
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Jul 21, 2011
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Jul 21, 2011
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Jul 21, 2011
Rank: 2.3 / 5 (3)
Precisely.
I'm also wondering if the manufacturer is planning to accept responsibility for injuries which can be shown to be the result of their self steering technology. I hope Toyota thinks about that. It might not be an issue in Japan, but it certainly will be in the U.S.
Jul 21, 2011
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Jul 21, 2011
Rank: 5 / 5 (1)
Jul 21, 2011
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Jul 21, 2011
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There are pending accidents/accidents where avoidance is not possible or avoidance of the primary accident may result in a secondary accident which may be worse than the primary accident.
When an accident cannot be avoided, a careful driver may be able to guide his vehicle in such a manner as to minimize injury/death. The driver cannot do this is the steering is taken out of his control.
I worry about foolishness like this. There are already cars on the road with no direct linkage between the steering wheel and the wheels. Electronic failure could leave the driver with an inability to drive. The proposal in this article is really scary.
Jul 22, 2011
Rank: 5 / 5 (1)
The main cause of accidents is human drivers and not physical failures. So if yes some new type of accidents are introduced but a large part are solved it is worth-ed. 0 accidents will be nice and can happen with an all automatic transport system.
I am sure all car manufacturers are studying current exiting accidents in which their vehicles have been involved and are developing new technology based on it. ABS, airbag, belts have all been introduced to improve safety of the vehicle and occupants.
Jul 22, 2011
Rank: 3 / 5 (2)
Cars with electric steering have been around in Europe for at least ten years now, I've had cars with electric steering for the last 8 years.
I just had a quick Google and found no major accidents reported due to electronics failure.
As an experienced race car driver I can say that instinct seems to work quite well in potential accident scenarios. It's not as if you sit there thinking 'I'm going to have an accident what should I do?', experience related instinct takes over considerably quicker thank actually thinking about what to do.
I have a car that can self park but I really don't want it being able to take avoiding actions for me as I will be more aware of everything around me than the car will ever be.
Jul 22, 2011
Rank: 5 / 5 (2)
Jul 22, 2011
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Jul 22, 2011
Rank: 5 / 5 (1)
But whilst you're thinking "oh shit" you'll find that your hands and feet are off doing other stuff to attempt to avoid the accident.
Self preservation plays a large part even with an inexperienced driver.
Oh, and my wife tells me I'm a special case as well. :-)
Jul 22, 2011
Rank: 1 / 5 (1)
Let me discuss a real accident I was involved in some years ago as an illustration of why an automated system may cause injury/death.
I was in a town with a four lane plus turning lane main street. As I was driving down the outside lane, a car with four teenage girls was passing me in the middle lane when the driver saw someone in the parking lot of a car dealership. The driver immediately turned right in front of me (certainly did not even see me). I could not avoid hitting the car. There was not enough distance between us to steer out of the accident nor was there enough time to stop. I was about to hit the front door passenger side which would have caused injury or death to the occupant. I managed to steer into the area between the front and back seats. This caused considerable damage to the car (and mine) but no one was injured in either car.
An automated system which would try to steer away from the accident would have killed/injured the passenger in that car.
Jul 23, 2011
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Jul 24, 2011
Rank: 0.3 / 5 (23)
The U.S. market is becoming less and less relevant by the second.
Jul 24, 2011
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"Veering to one side may crash into other cars, telephone poles, or fly off cliffs." - Vern
Jul 24, 2011
Rank: 1 / 5 (1)
You are just a troll.
Why don't you occasionally try to participate in a positive way to the discussion?
Jul 24, 2011
Rank: 1 / 5 (7)
Look up the Dunning-Kruger effect. You are foolish if you think you can react faster than a computer.
Racing cars doesn't give you the Flash's reflexes.
I barely escaped that singularity of irony.
Jul 24, 2011
Rank: 1 / 5 (7)
The "oh shit" maneuver saved me once. Took a turn too fast and the car went 180. "Oh shit" and I took my hands off the wheel because I accepted I was going to crash and didn't want to get my shoulders dislocated from locking onto the wheel. The car whipped itself back around on its own and I ended up stopping virtually bumper to bumper with a car in the opposing lane.
Gave him a wave, put it in reverse, got back in my lane, and drove off. I drive much more carefully now.
Jul 24, 2011
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Jul 24, 2011
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Back in the day I walked 20 miles to school up hill BOTH WAYS and all I had to scrub my balls were Brillo pads!
Jul 25, 2011
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FH, you are quite correct that being a race driver doesn't give me the reactions of the Flash and, whilst my reactions are probably quicker than a lot of drivers, I will never beat a computer in a head-to-head situation however there is the situation that the drivers senses will always give him more input into a given situation than any on-board sensors ever will and that will allow the driver to react better although not necessarily faster.
Modern car ecu's are good but I suspect it will be a good while before they are capable of matching data input from outside of the vehicle with a drivers abilities to do the same.
Aug 02, 2011
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Existing auto-brake systems are only active at lower speeds, it is likely this would be the same?