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Toyota
Strengthens Traffic Safety Initiatives
Advanced
Technologies, More Features and Driver Training Facility Outlined
June
3, 2004
Tokyo,
Japan - Toyota Motor Corporation today announced new safety technologies
and enhancements to its safety equipment and the establishment of a new
driver training facility, as part of its efforts to strengthen
initiatives toward improving traffic safety through "the
development of safe vehicles," and "activities designed to
educate people in traffic safety."
Toyota
has positioned the "realization of a safe mobile society" as a
priority management issue and continues to take a comprehensive approach
in improving both vehicle safety and traffic safety through "the
development of even safer vehicles", "activities designed to
educate people in traffic safety" and "participating in the
creation of a safe traffic environment." In keeping with its
guiding principle of "providing safe products", Toyota, as an
automaker, has long been engaged in efforts to make safe vehicles, while
also implementing traffic safety activities such as the "Toyota
Traffic Safety Campaign," which is now in its 36th year since being
initiated in 1969, and participating in the creation of Japanese
governmental policies regarding traffic safety.
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Moving
toward the realization of an "affluent automobile society,"
the importance of traffic safety policies is increasingly growing. With
the objective of contributing to the complete elimination of traffic
fatalities, which is the ultimate aim of a society that values mobility,
Toyota will strengthen its initiatives in the future, seeking to achieve
"zero deaths and injuries" and "zero accidents."
New
vehicle safety technologies and enhancements to safety equipment
1.
Development of new technologies for strengthening preventive safety and
pre-crash safety
Toyota plans to strengthen its work on preventive safety, which can
prevent accidents, and collision detection, which can help reduce injury
during a collision. Toyota has developed the new technologies described
below and has incorporated them into new models that will be introduced
shortly.
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a)
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VDIM (Vehicle Dynamics Integrated Management)
The VSC (Vehicle Stability Control) system, first developed by Toyota in
August 1995 and which has been employed in a wide variety of vehicles,
has been evolved even further to realize the newly developed VDIM, by
integrating it with systems such as ABS, TRC and electric power
steering. Whereas VSC begins activating control when the vehicle's limit
has been reached, VDIM begins integrated control of the brakes, engine
and steering before the vehicle reaches its limits, thereby achieving
higher preventive safety performance and ideal vehicle kinetics.
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b)
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"Pre-crash Safety" System (Radar system)
The "Pre-crash Safety" radar system, first developed by TMC in
January 2003 has been evolved further. Adoption of the image fusion
method, which combines information from a millimeter wave radar with
images from a CMOS* camera, in the pre-crash sensor, results in earlier
collision prediction and higher injury-reduction performance.
*CMOS: Complementary Metal Oxide Semiconductor
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c)
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Lane-keeping assist system
This system uses a CMOS camera to recognize white (or yellow) lines
ahead and assists the driver's steering operation to keep the vehicle
within its lane. The system has a lane-deviation alarm function and a
lane-keeping assist function, which applies a small steering force to
keep the vehicle near the center of its lane, thereby lessening the
driving load on the driver.
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2.
New technologies and enhancements to safety equipment for strengthening
collision safety
The omni-direction compatibility body construction has been further
evolved while also seeking to lessen injury to both occupants and
pedestrians.
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a)
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Evolution of GOA
As a means of promoting crash safety for both vehicles in a two-vehicle
collision, by incorporating the concept of omni-directional
compatibility, collision tests using a two-ton class vehicle as the
other car to simulate the conditions of collision with a heavy vehicle
(50% offset frontal collision test at 50km/h, side collision test at
50km/h, 50% offset rear-end collision test at 50km/h) will be carried
out on all passenger vehicle series (including minivans and SUVs) to be
launched in the future.
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b)
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Increased adoption of seatbelt reminder system
Toyota will install a seatbelt reminder system (for the driver and the
front passenger) in most of its passenger vehicle series (including
minivans and SUVs) by 2008. This system is designed to help improve the
seatbelt usage rate by alerting the occupants with flashing seat belt
warning lamps and a buzzer when they have not fastened their seatbelts.
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c)
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Pedestrian-injury lessening body
All Toyota passenger vehicle series (including minivans and SUVs) to be
introduced in the autumn of 2004 and beyond will feature a vehicle body
structure designed to be the best in its class in the world in reducing
injury to a pedestrian's head in the event of a vehicle-to-person
collision.
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Establishment
of a new driver training facility
New
driver training facility scheduled to open in spring of 2005 at Fuji
Speedway
Toyota has been actively engaged in initiatives related to traffic
safety education and, since 1969, has been distributing educational
materials about traffic safety to new kindergarten and nursery school
students nationwide with a total of approximately 100 million copies
distributed so far. As part of these efforts, a new driver training
facility specifically for the teaching of driving safety courses will be
constructed at Fuji Speedway (Shizuoka Prefecture) and is scheduled to
open in the spring of 2005.
The
new facility was created to further develop "Toyota Driver
Communication," the company's independent driving safety skills
course it has offered since 1987, and to regularly offer courses to the
general public, including businesses and groups, that incorporate the
driving know-how that Toyota has cultivated over the years in its
development of vehicles.
Toyota's
unique driving safety skills program will make use of a roughly 100,000
squaremeters asphalt course to offer a wide range of options that match
the needs and driving skills of participants, covering everything from
learning fundamental vehicle operations, such as moving forward, turning
and stopping, to experiencing vehicle dynamics under extreme driving
conditions, such as braking at high speeds.
Details
such as course programs, fees and registration periods are to be
announced at later.
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New
Driver Training Facility
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Location |
Oyama-cho,
Sunto-gun, Shizuoka Prefecture (inside Fuji Speedway) |
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Total
area |
130,000 square meters |
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Course
overview |
Asphalted areas (approximately
100,000 square meters), winding,
slippery road (490m), straight, slippery road (75m), circuit
(approximately 1,150m, bank 35 degrees) |
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Seminar
building |
Total floor area of approximately 1,900
square meters; classrooms (3),
staff room, control room, lounge, vehicle maintenance area, etc. |
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Source:
Toyota Motor Corporation
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