In a country where elderly people will represent more than 25%, car makers are focusing on those people considered as unfit to drive. The easy way would be to end their driving licence, but varied studies showed that this solution has a dramatic impact on their lives. So, it would be better to help them to drive better. Toyota has teamed up with an unusual partner, Professor Ryuta Kawashima, famous for creating the Nintendo’s “Brain Age“ games to develop new safety systems.
Like Mercedes with its Attention Assist system, Toyota will work on systems identifying driving patterns to detect more easily dangerous behaviours. Another system would be to slow down the car if the driver put the brake on by accident. “Ultimately, we hope to develop cars that stimulate brain activity, so that driving itself becomes a form of brain training,“ Kawashima said.
Kawashima had been approached by Nissan but Toyota finally won and should install the new technologies into new vehicles within five years.
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