• Toyota plans to roll out accelerator suppression function in new cars.
• The automaker will sponsor the Tokyo Olympics exhibiting its self-driving e-Palette pods.

Toyota Motor Corp, a Japanese automotive manufacturer, recently launched an emergency safety system which essentially uses big data to overlook the accelerator in case it determines if the driver has stepped on the pedal unintentionally. The automaker will be rolling out accelerator suppression function in all the new cars starting from Japan.

Apparently, with increasing traffic accidents in Japan, the system has been built as a response to their common cause wherein elderly drivers tend to confuse accelerators for brakes. Government reports suggest that 15% of the accidents in Japan prove to be fatal and are caused by drivers over the age of 75 years or older. The Japanese government encourages the elderly drivers to relinquish their licenses.

The announcement was made as Toyota has been heavily investing in active safety features while working to develop cars that are fully autonomous. Toyota will also be an exclusive mobility sponsor for the upcoming Tokyo Olympics, wherein it shall exhibit its self-driving e-Palette pods, a transportation system that will be carrying athletes in the Olympic village at low speeds.

According to reliable sources, Honda Motor Co Ltd has also been planning to launch a car that shall be fully autonomous in situations like highway traffic jams. Nissan Motor Co Ltd had released its second generation of ProPilot driver-assist system that can operate hands-free in a single-lane highway driving.

Seemingly, Toyota had deployed its first-generation Safety Sense package in the year 2015 that included automatic emergency braking as well as lane departure alert. The second generation was later made available in 2018 with the addition of assisted single-lane highway driving that made the car capable of identifying bicycles and pedestrians at night.

The feature has been developed with the help of collected data from all the internet-connected cars on road. The new system does not need an obstacle to function unlike the existing safety options of Toyota.

Source Credit- https://in.reuters.com/article/us-toyota-adas/toyota-uses-big-data-to-guard-against-accelerator-brake-mix-up-idINKBN1ZX0FR