Tweet
Accident-prone drivers will no longer have the excuse that they don't have eyes in the back of their heads. Car maker Toyota is demonstrating how smart technology could make a car virtually crash-proof.
From the packed maze of Manhattan, to the sleepy suburbs of Rhode Island to the tangled streets of Tokyo, when its car versus pedestrian the pedestrian almost always loses.
Toyota in its test course puts up a special sensor that detects the signal turning red by picking up a signal emitted from the light and stops the car on its own.
It's not just red lights; engineers are conceptualizing cars that can even detect a pedestrian about to run in front of you or another car's about to sideswipe you. Special sensors swath an area in front of the car and can detects any motion in its path (from sides as well) and alerts the driver of the supposed inevitable.
The goal, says Toyota engineer Hiroyuki Kanemitsu, is to warn drivers before they get into an accident but not to become dependent on the safety devices. That's where a New York City pedestrian group believes this technology could actually cause more accidents.
"These kinds of devices send drivers the message ok drive however you wish, this technology will make you and your family and the people on the street safe and that's just not true," says Paul White with Transportation Alternatives.
[Well, I would personally say that all these are politically/business interest motivated. If such were the case then, when safety air bags were introduced; then why didnt these people object to it stating that now the drivers would drive rashly because their life is going to be saved by these devices. The fact is this techno is from Japan and they have patented it.]
How much technology can do to save lives no engineer could say for sure. But they say there is one certainty, as long as drivers and pedestrians share the streets, accidents are inevitable.
The device will be installed in the luxury Lexus LS which is due to go on sale in Japan next month. Toyota has yet to decide when it will be available in the U.S. and has no immediate plans to sell it in Europe.
Honda already is marketing cars in Japan equipped with night vision and hoods that reduce the extent of head injury if there is an accident.
Skoda laura and other elite luxury cars have similar sensor devices in their armory used as a Parking aid control, providing an animated display of obstructions around the car's perimeter(range adjustable). A device useful in low visibility conditions.
This comes at a mere cost of ~Rs.24L+taxes.
From the packed maze of Manhattan, to the sleepy suburbs of Rhode Island to the tangled streets of Tokyo, when its car versus pedestrian the pedestrian almost always loses.
Toyota in its test course puts up a special sensor that detects the signal turning red by picking up a signal emitted from the light and stops the car on its own.
It's not just red lights; engineers are conceptualizing cars that can even detect a pedestrian about to run in front of you or another car's about to sideswipe you. Special sensors swath an area in front of the car and can detects any motion in its path (from sides as well) and alerts the driver of the supposed inevitable.
The goal, says Toyota engineer Hiroyuki Kanemitsu, is to warn drivers before they get into an accident but not to become dependent on the safety devices. That's where a New York City pedestrian group believes this technology could actually cause more accidents.
"These kinds of devices send drivers the message ok drive however you wish, this technology will make you and your family and the people on the street safe and that's just not true," says Paul White with Transportation Alternatives.
[Well, I would personally say that all these are politically/business interest motivated. If such were the case then, when safety air bags were introduced; then why didnt these people object to it stating that now the drivers would drive rashly because their life is going to be saved by these devices. The fact is this techno is from Japan and they have patented it.]
How much technology can do to save lives no engineer could say for sure. But they say there is one certainty, as long as drivers and pedestrians share the streets, accidents are inevitable.
The device will be installed in the luxury Lexus LS which is due to go on sale in Japan next month. Toyota has yet to decide when it will be available in the U.S. and has no immediate plans to sell it in Europe.
Honda already is marketing cars in Japan equipped with night vision and hoods that reduce the extent of head injury if there is an accident.
Skoda laura and other elite luxury cars have similar sensor devices in their armory used as a Parking aid control, providing an animated display of obstructions around the car's perimeter(range adjustable). A device useful in low visibility conditions.
This comes at a mere cost of ~Rs.24L+taxes.
Comment