Toyota shifts future plans from driverless cars to increased safety

Toyota shifts future plans from driverless cars to increased safety

The Japanese automaker wants to equip all of its cars with advanced safety features in lieu of developing driverless cars.

Google is developing driverless cars and Toyota had given indication it had a similar plan for the future. Now, it seems the Japanese automaker’s leadership have changed their mind. Toyota now plans to introduce several collision-prevention technologies by 2017 in its entire vehicle lineup, according to the Associated Press.

The technology would assist drivers keep their cars centered in a lane and avoid drifting over to another lane, while a camera installed in the dashboard will monitor the driver’s eyes to ensure his or her hands are on the steering wheel. A warning would sound off if the driver is distracted or is not steering the car.

Toyota executives previewed the key technologies in the works at the company’s annual Toyota Advanced Safety Seminar held in Ann Arbor, Mich., this week, according to PCMag.

The above-mentioned features called Automated Highway Driving Assist, and Dynamic Radar Cruise Control – which would use a radar to monitor the distance in front of a car during cruise control – as well as Lane Trace Control were highlighted along with Toyota’s Predictive and Interactive Human Machine Interface.

Toyota is not the first company to tout safety technologies but its plans to make them standard across vehicles from economy to premium models signifies a more ambitious plan, AP reported.

While Toyota believes there is “a gradual shift toward cars doing most of the driving work,” according to the AP, it has all but abandoned plans to push a driverless car agenda. The company executives said that “is more than a decade away … due to technology limitations and legal issues.

“And unlike Google, Toyota doesn’t see the day where a human won’t be needed behind the wheel,” according to the AP.

 

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