Toyota Uses Big Data to Evade Accelerator-Break Confusion

In an effort to thwart against accelerator-break mix-up, Toyota Motor Corp, earlier this week, divulged a new emergency safety system that leverages big data. The new system, named accelerator suppression function, will be rolled out in the company’s new cars starting from Japan. It is cited that the most crash on roads caused by mistakes done between the accelerator and the brake. Thus, the system has been designed as a response to their common cause wherein elderly drivers confuse accelerators for brakes.

Considering reports, nearly 15 percent of fatal accidents on roads in Japan in 2018 were caused by drivers who were 75 years or older. Even the government in the country actively encourages elderly drivers to give up their licenses.

Meanwhile, the latest announcement from Toyota comes as automakers across the world are investing heavily in active safety features while they are putting their efforts to develop fully autonomous cars. The announcement also comes out in the same year where Toyota will be an exclusive mobility sponsor for the upcoming Tokyo Olympics. The motor giant will demonstrate its fully self-driving e-Palette pods, a transportation system that will be carrying athletes in the Olympic village at low speeds.

Nearly 5 years back, in 2015, Toyota rolled out its first-generation Safety Sense package, which included automated emergency braking and a lane departure alert. The company’s second-generation was made available just three years later, in 2018, with the addition of assisted single-lane highway driving that made the car capable of identifying pedestrians and bicycles at night.

Now the company’s new feature is built using data gathered from all the internet-connected cars on road. Also, unlike the other existing safety options of Toyota, the new system does not require the presence of an obstacle to function.

It is said that driverless and connected cars will make driving less of a drudge by handling the stop-n-go mundanity of commute for people. Even driver assistance tools that require human oversight, such as Tesla’s Autopilot, Cadillac’s Super Cruise, and Audi’s Traffic Jam Pilot, make driving easier, or even safer.

As per reports, Japanese motor vehicle manufacturer Honda also plans to introduce a car this year that will be full autonomy in highway traffic jams. On the other hand, Nissan, a multinational automobile manufacturer, has released the second generation of its ProPilot driver-assist system that offers hands-free operation for single-lane highway driving.

Moreover, many other car manufacturers, from 2020, like Volvo have announced that a new generation of autonomous cars will be launched which will free up drivers to perform other activities.