Toyota reveals future safety systems, currently under development

Toyota has announced its latest advances in vehicle safety systems, with a focus on protecting older drivers and pedestrians. This is in response to Japanese road accident statistics that show that more than half of road traffic deaths are of people aged 65 and over and that pedestrians now account for more fatalities than vehicle occupants.

Building safer vehicles is central to Toyota’s global vision. Learning from real-world accident data, it continuously improves its testing, products and services, and to support this, it recently set up the Collaborative Safety Research Center in the USA to work with North American universities, hospitals and research organisations.


Pre-Crash Safety (PCS) with collision-avoidance assist
PCS is an important element in Toyota’s work to develop vehicles that are less likely to be involved in accidents. Currently the system can predict when a collision is imminent and instigate measures to reduce damage and the risk of injury.

The latest development of the technology is designed to help avoid a collision happening. Using the same millimetre-wave radar and miniature camera to monitor the road ahead, it works to help avoid a collision if the driver fails to apply the brakes (its effectiveness depends on driving conditions and circumstances).

It is being further developed to help the driver steer a safe course in an emergency. PCS will monitor a wide range of external factors, including the location of roadside obstacles and approaching vehicles, to judge the collision risks and change the course of the vehicle to help avoid an accident happening.

Adaptive Driving Beam
Toyota introduced an automatic high beam function on some of its cars two years ago, which switches the headlights to low beam when a camera detects the tail lights of vehicles ahead or the headlights of oncoming traffic, then restores high beam as soon as the road is clear.

Toyota has improved this technology with an Adaptive Driving Beam (ADB). This partially shields the high beam light so that it doesn’t shine directly in the face of drivers in vehicles ahead. This means it can prevent glare while maintaining near-high beam illumination of the road, reducing the risk of accidents.

Pop-up Bonnet
Toyota has developed the design of its vehicle body structures to reduce the risk of injury to pedestrians and other road users, using data obtained from conventional crash test dummies and from its THUMS (Total Human Model for Safety) virtual-human computer models.

It has developed a new pop-up bonnet that can reduce the risk of head injury in a collision with pedestrian. It automatically raises the rear of the bonnet to increase the space between it and the engine, which means it can be effective even on vehicles where the bonnet is set low, with limited clearance underneath.

Emergency response technology
Drivers collapsing at the wheel due to a heart attack or a sudden black-out can cause serious accidents. Toyota has developed a new system that can monitor cardio-vascular functions through the driver’s grip on the steering wheel and detect risks.

Toyota plans further research with a view to bringing a system to market, and it has recently presented details of the concept to the Japan Medical Congress.



| Toyota

future-Giugiaro Quaranta

Despite its flat, highly compact shape, the Italdesign Giugiaro Quaranta features a single-volume shape characterized by a continuous body line stretching from its clipped nose to the tail that exploits the almost horizontal rake of the windscreen.

Access to the cabin is "step-in" via an upper door incorporating the side ones. At the touch of an electric on/off button, the door opens upward in a downwind direction, regulated by proximity sensors. The door is hinged to the hood pillar and is aligned with a second upper rear door, for access to the engine compartment and boot.

The roof houses the array of solar panels, necessary to power the electric battery, in the space between the two doors. Along with the other solar panels positioned on the front end, these create a central opaque strip, a distinctive signature of the model, thanks to the interplay of light with the bright paint of the bodywork. The solar panels can generate a power of up to 250 W, sufficient for the functioning of the cockpit conditioning system and for recharging the electric battery.

The styling of the Italdesign Giugiaro Quaranta prototype is further enhanced by the attention dedicated to surface aerodynamics, designed to ensure maximum possible efficiency and penetration, also by using sharp edges on the rear.

This can also be noted in the front end of the vehicle where the radiator grille has been eliminated and replaced by two side air inlets, positioned above the lighting clusters, which perform the delicate function of front stabilizers. The rear of the vehicle has also been conceived to improve overall aerodynamic performance: an attentively-molded spoiler, with a perfectly square-edged cut and a very technical design, has the scope of supporting the lower wing, modeled according to latest generation F1 styling, that makes up for the absence of the traditional upper stabilizer.

Styling research aimed at top aerodynamic performance is also reflected on the sides, characterized by extremely generous glazing stretching from the front fender to the tail and in which the air vents are housed, located after the doors but also along the sill, in which the water cooling ducts are inserted. The most innovative feature of the side profile is certainly the contour line, between the door-windows and the sill, which is "negative" in the shoulder section, a particular, absolutely innovative feature for super sports-cars.