The new alert is made possible by advances in map updating and position sensing technology.
Toyota Motor Corporation (TMC) will add a wrong-way driving alert function to its onboard navigation systems that gives on-screen and voice warnings to drivers going the wrong way.
Wrong-way alert monitors vehicle direction on highways and toll roads, including at tollgates, service area ramps, turn-offs and junctions.
In what appears to be a global first, the wrong-way driving alert will be incorporated into navigation systems available as dealer-installed options in Japan beginning in June.
In theory there is no reason why Japan’s largest automaker could not expand the use of wrong-way driving alert to the U.S. and other large markets, where Toyota is struggling with a damaged safety reputation from stuck gas pedals and unintended acceleration recalls.
The new alert – developed with Aisin and Denso – is made possible by advances in map updating technology and in precise position recognition technology that uses information from GPS, gyro, vehicle speed and other sensors to determine accurate vehicle movement.
In recent years in Japan, approximately 1,000 wrong-way driving incidents are reported annually, with a higher percentage of senior drivers involved than in other kinds of traffic incidents, according to Toyota.
About Ken Zino
Ken Zino, editor and publisher of AutoInformed, is a versatile auto industry participant with global experience spanning decades in print and broadcast journalism, as well as social media. He has automobile testing, marketing, public relations and communications experience. He is past president of The International Motor Press Assn, the Detroit Press Club, founding member and first President of the Automotive Press Assn. He is a member of APA, IMPA and the Midwest Automotive Press Assn.
He also brings an historical perspective while citing their contemporary relevance of the work of legendary auto writers such as Ken Purdy, Jim Dunne or Jerry Flint, or writers such as Red Smith, Mark Twain, Thomas Jefferson – all to bring perspective to a chaotic automotive universe.
Above all, decades after he first drove a car, Zino still revels in the sound of the exhaust as the throttle is blipped during a downshift and the driver’s rush that occurs when the entry, apex and exit points of a turn are smoothly and swiftly crossed. It’s the beginning of a perfect lap.
AutoInformed has an editorial philosophy that loves transportation machines of all kinds while promoting critical thinking about the future use of cars and trucks.
Zino builds AutoInformed from his background in automotive journalism starting at Hearst Publishing in New York City on Motor and MotorTech Magazines and car testing where he reviewed hundreds of vehicles in his decade-long stint as the Detroit Bureau Chief of Road & Track magazine. Zino has also worked in Europe, and Asia – now the largest automotive market in the world with China at its center.
