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Toyota suspends all self-driving vehicles at Paralympic Games after collision with athlete
Toyota Motor Corporation announced the immediate halt to all e-Palette self-driving pods at the Tokyo Paralympic Games following a collision.
electrek.co
Toyota Motor Corporation has announced an immediate halt to all of its e-Palette self-driving transportation pods operating at the Tokyo Paralympic Games. The decision comes on the heels of an accident that took place in the Paralympic Village yesterday, when a Toyota e-Palette collided with a visually impaired athlete, injuring them.
While Toyota remains a globally recognized automaker specializing in ICE and hydrogen fuel cell vehicles, it has also been a prominent sponsor for the Olympic and Paralympic Games. In 2015, the automaker signed an eight-year contract reportedly valued at around $1 billion.
With the 2020 Olympics and Paralympics announced for the company’s home country of Japan, Toyota used the events to showcase new technologies to the public. This included its LQ self-driving electric vehicle, although it remains a mere concept.
Following the introduction of the LQ EV, Toyota also announced it would implement up to 20 of its e-Palette self-driving pods to the 2020 Olympic and Paralympic Games in Tokyo.
When the Tokyo Games-specific e-Palettes were unveiled in 2019, Toyota explained how the pods would autonomously transport athletes around the Olympic Village using low-speed SAE level 4 automated technology.
Yesterday, however, Toyota helped demonstrate that Level 4 self-driving technology may not quite be where it needs to be for human safety, especially for pedestrians.
Toyota halts all e-Palette pods at 2020 Tokyo Paralympic Games
According to a report from Reuters, Toyota Motor Corporation has stopped the operations of all of its self-driving e-Palette pods at the Tokyo Paralympic Games.
The decision comes one day after an e-Palette driving through the Paralympic village struck a pedestrian who happened to be a visually impaired athlete competing in the games on Saturday.
According to Toyota, the self-driving vehicle had stopped at a T-junction and was about to make a turn under manual control of the operator using a joystick. The vehicle then collided with the athlete going at a speed of around 1 or 2 km/hr.
Toyota Chief Executive Akio Toyoda apologized for the incident and spoke about the difficulties Toyota has faced during the Paralympic Games in Tokyo, trying to remain especially conscious of pedestrians with disabilities:
Toyoda said he offered to meet the injured athlete but was unable to do so. He stated that Paralympic officials had told him that the athlete remained conscious after the collision and was taken to the medical center at the athlete village for treatment. The athlete was also able to walk back to their residence.
Toyota said it was cooperating with a local police probe to determine the cause of the accident. The automaker also shared plans to also conduct its own investigation and work alongside the Olympic and Paralympic Committees in Tokyo to ensure this doesn’t happen again.
The 2020 Tokyo Paralympic Games began this week and continue through September 5th, although athletes will have to find other ways around the village without Toyota’s e-Palettes.
