tech

Toyota's pre-crash technology takes control of steering

27 Comments

The requested article has expired, and is no longer available. Any related articles, and user comments are shown below.

© Copyright 2011 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

©2024 GPlusMedia Inc.

27 Comments
Login to comment

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.

THIS is the best technology of them yet. Would be interesting to know more. Could a car detect oncoming traffic in a video image and then block the parts of the headlight beam so as not to blind the other driver? That would really improve night-time safety and driver comfort...

2 ( +2 / -0 )

Will this system also shut down the driver's TV so he or she can watch the accident?

2 ( +2 / -0 )

Around here auto-steer to avoid collisions is too dangerous - too many drains, ditches and walls. But Toyota could use this same technology to solve some really frequent driver problems: 1) People who park blocking half the road to grab something from a vending machine, 2) People who don't indicate until they're already turning, and 3) People who drive at night with no lights (I kid you not!). Their car should sound the horn repeatedly the first two times they do any of these, then auto-steer them into a rice paddy after the third offence.

2 ( +2 / -0 )

When driving on a typical Japanese road, to veer away would send you into a store or into bikes. Ouch.

But at least the hood would buckle up a bit to not damage grandma so much.

1 ( +2 / -1 )

A good driver knows when a deer or goat or any animal that larger than 1 meter, your response should be to speed up if impact is unavoidable (Send that sucker over your car if you can).

Really? Ever seen the results of cars hitting camels or horses? It is not pretty, the sucker does not go over the car, it takes out the screen, roof and passengers.

1 ( +1 / -0 )

This is a very Japanese concept. Take all the responsibility away from the driver, and make everything as automatic as possible. No thinking required. I once knew a woman who couldn't back up unless she was watching the tiny camera through her GPS screen. She couldn't even drive across town (a town she grew up in) without relying on her GPS for every single turn.

1 ( +1 / -0 )

Everyone here is criticizing the stated safety features, but I'm sure they have taken care of the obvious and many more scenarios no one has stated here.

Fixing human stupidity is end goal of the world. Google "Ray Kurzweil"

1 ( +1 / -0 )

Wow Toyota really wants to get sued... if the car auto steers into someone else killing them or miscalculates and kills someone etc...

0 ( +1 / -1 )

Preventing collisions is good. But what if the system's action just results in a different collision, who would be liable, the driver or the software engineer? It would take a lot to convince me to use such a complex device.

Why not put air-bags on the outside of cars to protect pedestrians?

0 ( +0 / -0 )

I can imagine someone like me darting in front of cars stopped at a light and putting the system into enertia..

0 ( +0 / -0 )

a safety technology that takes control of the steering so the vehicle can veer away when it isn’t able to stop before impact.

What of it veers away from one pedestrian and into another? Or is it just going to make the car spin in circles or something?

0 ( +0 / -0 )

How about educating older pedestrians and younger bicycle riders walking and driving on the road in the first place?

0 ( +1 / -1 )

How about educating older pedestrians and younger bicycle riders walking and driving on the road in the first place?

Because Toyota is in the car business, not the pedestrians/biker rider common sense business.

But that would be a money maker if all were required to attend such a class;>)

0 ( +0 / -0 )

In the military the rule is that you can have automatic targetting systems, but a human has to actually press the button. Why? Because machines make mistakes and it allows the human operator the opportunity to say, "No, stop being silly machine, that's Timmy playing with a water gun, not an Al'Queda operative!".

That's why I dislike this idea, there's no planned option for the human to say, "No car, that's silly, I refuse to avoid that cardboard sign of a kid that's fallen into the road by driving over than bank and into the rice field." . I faced precisely this situation last winter. Near all the elementary schools in my area there are brightly signs that look like a little kid running across the road and they're designed to remind motorists that there might be kids in the area. Last winter one the pole snapped on one of them and it was leaning across the road. My options were: a. Hit the sign b. Try to brake suddenly on slippery roads c. Veer off into the rice paddies on the right (with a 2 meter drop) or hit a building on the left.

Unsurprisingly I slowed and tapped the sign, scuffing the left side of my bumper (it buffed out, although the city hall did offer to pay when I went to apologise for destroying their sign).

With this car I would have been sent veering into the rice paddies. If it had been a real kid then yes, I would have slammed on brakes and risked veering off into a rice paddy, but for a sign.... ? No.

Technology is great... when it works. I'd like at least the option to over-ride it.

What I think would be a MUCH better idea Toyota would be HUD (heads-up display) that identified "threats" (cars, cyclists, people, etc) within a certain range. It would be a huge benefit when trying to park if a little outline popped up on my screen warning me that little Timmy had stopped behind my car to eat his ice-cream while his mom was distracted packing groceries. Then I could see there was a problem and react accordingly. Wrenching the steering out of my control... no, that's just stupid.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

Say the vehicle swerves away from a potential collision and hits and kills someone who is then responsible? As the driver was not in control of the vehicle will Toyota be held responsible? There is no way l would buy a car that has this technology. As other posters have said technology is good when it works correctly. To risky for my liking

0 ( +0 / -0 )

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.

Great, that is all I need, drivers driving around with the lights on highbeam... I live near a highway and these wankers drive around with their highbeams on and light go all through my living room and bedroom!

0 ( +0 / -0 )

I'm just wondering how good is this steering control, if the photo provided is of two cars flying into each other head-on?

I was thinking the same thing. Especially when the caption under it says:

Toyota cars crash during a collision test in a demonstration of its safety technology at its facility in Susono, near Mount Fuji, Thursday.

So... the safety technology is...bad??

0 ( +0 / -0 )

Maybe people should learn to drive properly first - most Japanese are paper drivers and drive 30 when there is 50, my experience in Okinawa

0 ( +0 / -0 )

I think the point of crashing the cars was this:

"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."

Japan still has a long way to go regarding STANDARD safety features on cars. On European cars most, if not all of the safety features are available on the base model. On many, many Japanese cars, you have to go 2 or more grades up just to get a curtain airbag.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

borscht - no, the TV will automatically switch to let the driver view his own accident in real time, animated, from bird's view, with bubbles like "ドッカアン!!”or "バカヤロ!”

0 ( +0 / -0 )

It's been said that the best safety device in a car would be a large spike pointing at the driver from the middle of the steering wheel.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

This was just one example of intelligent vehicle technology being developed by all automakers and suppliers such to warn drivers of impending accidents before they happen and in theory, prevent them.There is a race for this technolgy. Besides Toyota, Bosch, who is a parts manufacturer, is investing heavily into smart technology and if they the right combination and use as a standards in most of the cars produced, they will make alot of money. Especially if you have the patent.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

How about an engine immobilizer that makes it impossible to start the car if there are people present not wearing a seatbelt? A 30 second 'slowdown' would also occur if someone removed their seatbelt whilst the car was already running

-1 ( +0 / -1 )

This is the worst idea from Toyota yet.

Learn how to drive defensively first.

This system is a Christine waiting to happen with a faulty accelerator as well. You might as well have Alien Hand Syndrome.

You are driving down a country ride in mountains. A deer jumps out in front of your car. Then he stops there and just looks into your HID headlights "What's this? A Prius?" Is the deer stupid? Not anymore. He knows you have that new technology in your car. So he stays there. Your Prius takes control, drives right off the cliff or side of the mountain, game over.

A good driver knows when a deer or goat or any animal that larger than 1 meter, your response should be to speed up if impact is unavoidable (Send that sucker over your car if you can).

You can't have your car taking over when you are dire need of control.

Bottom line is this. We are far away The Jetsons generation. This is not going to happen. Furthermore, this is a publicity article designed to recover your trust in Toyota when in fact they've done nothing. Every automaker out there has a R&D division.

Here's an idea for Toyota. Why don't you try build batmobiles with A.I technology. I want to go up buildings and park sideways.

*Best car tech is Nissan alcohol sensor which shuts off the car. That's good tech!! Now we need tech that stops women from putting on make up and text messaging while driving or sitting at red lights.

-3 ( +2 / -5 )

Ok how does the voting working here?

is Good, Bad similar to like, dislike ?

or

If the comment is true but something that is "bad" for example dieing, do you vote it a statement is is true but you think is not good.

for example a comment:

"you might die"

is bad... to die... but it might be a good point... people are voting "bad" for things that they don't want to happen rather than voting a comment they "dislike".

JT you need to rename the good | bad to the normal "like" and "dislike".

-3 ( +0 / -3 )

Login to leave a comment

Facebook users

Use your Facebook account to login or register with JapanToday. By doing so, you will also receive an email inviting you to receive our news alerts.

Facebook Connect

Login with your JapanToday account

User registration

Articles, Offers & Useful Resources

A mix of what's trending on our other sites