Toyota has created two advanced safety features, which they presented at the 2012 Safety Technology Seminar. The first is called the Intelligent Clearance Sonar, and the other is Drive-Start Control.
Intelligence Clearance Sonar is meant to reduce parking lot collisions by detecting objects out of the driver’s sight, according to Autoblog. If a definite collision is detected, the system will hit the brakes automatically, as well as reduce engine power and sound an alarm.
Drive-Start Control senses if the wrong gear has been selected while the driver is pressing down on the accelerator. This one is a little confusing to me – but their example is that if a driver bumps into something while in reverse, panics and quickly goes to shift gears while still pressing the accelerator – DSC will kick in.
Toyota says that these new features will be available in the very near future. For more information, see the full press release and Autoblog article here.
Image and info via Autoblog