Toyota to Launch New Safety Systems by 2017

Toyota is getting ready to launch a range of new safety features for its vehicles.

The new suite of safety technology, called “Toyota Safety Sense,” will be offered in two different packages, both of which will be available at “price levels chosen to encourage widespread use,” according to Toyota. Roll out for these new safety technologies will happen in Japan first in 2015 followed by North America and Europe by the end of 2017. Toyota says that “most passenger models and grades,” will have the option to equip Safety Sense.

Included in the Toyota Safety Sense C package are three systems: pre-collision, lane departure alert and automatic high beams. The pre-collision system will prompt the driver to brake if a collision is sensed through the front-mounted camera and laser radar. If the driver does not brake, the car will apply the brakes automatically, reducing speed by about 18 mph to avoid or mitigate a collision. The system operates between 6 and 50 mph.

Moving on to the upgraded package, known as Toyota Safety Sense P, will get you the three ‘C’ systems along with an upgraded pre-collision setup that detects pedestrians and autonomous cruise control. In this case, a millimeter-wave radar and a camera are used to detect cars and pedestrians, allowing the cruise control to regulate the car’s speed on the highway based on the vehicle in front of it. The upgraded system will work between 6 and 50 mph for pedestrian detection while the vehicle collision detection will work from 5 mph to the vehicle’s top speed.

SEE ALSO: Future Toyota Safety Tech Showcased

Toyota also announced its intension to fit its vehicles with car-to-infrastructure communication technology, which will be available as an option on the Toyota Safety Sense P package starting in 2015 in Japan. The setup will use the ITS frequency of 760 MHz to communicate with the surrounding infrastructure. For example, when approaching a blind intersection, the vehicle will receive info concerning oncoming vehicles and pedestrians detected by sensors.

This technology will also apply to the radar-based cruise control, allowing the lead car to communicate to followers while on the highway, making cruising at high speeds safer as the tail car knows what the lead car is doing at all times.