Toyota Halts Self-Driving Vehicles in Olympic Village After Collision with Paralympic Athlete
Apologizing on YouTube on Friday, Toyota's CEO, Akio Toyoda, admitted that one of their autonomous vehicles had struck a Paralympic athlete in Tokyo's Olympic Village while driving with a speed of 1-2 kilometers per hour.
Reuters reported that Toyoda said in the video, "This incident shows that it's not yet realistic for self-driving cars to operate on regular streets."
Confirming the incident, Toyota informed CNN Business that the use of their self-driving vehicles had been suspended during the Paralympics while they and the police conducted an investigation.
Toyota, in collaboration with Paralympic athletes, had developed a unique version of its electric, autonomous "e-Palette" vehicles tailored for transport during the Tokyo Olympic and Paralympic Games, which started earlier in the week. These modified e-Palette vehicles feature adjustable armrests, seats, and roll-in accessibility, according to the company's press release on the vehicles. To improve safety, especially at lower speeds, the vehicles were designed for such operations. However, this feature did not prevent Japan's paralympic judoka Yumitsu Kitazono from being hit by a self-driving vehicle.
As reported by the Japanese news agency Asahi Shimbun, Kitazono was crossing a pedestrian crossing in the Athletes Village when an e-Palette veered to the right and collided with him at a very slow speed. Despite the vehicle being under human control, the operator admitted to the police that his attention had momentarily lapsed, thinking the individual would notice and halt before crossing.
Regarding this, Toyoda expressed his concerns in the YouTube video, saying, "Vehicles are stronger than humans, which obviously raises concerns about their safety."
Kitazono sustained head and leg injuries and was taken to the Athletes Village medical facility. According to Nikkei Asia, Kitazono's coach stated that he would miss the planned Judo competition that Friday.
"We sincerely apologize to these individuals who were injured due to this unfortunate incident and wish for a speedy recovery," Toyota said in a statement. "We also express our apologies for any inconvenience caused to those using our self-driving vehicles in the Athletes Village."
Additional Insights:
Despite advancements in autonomous vehicle technology, challenges persist in real-world applications. For example, Mu Alpha, a group of researchers from the University of Maryland and Boston University, have been working on the BlindWays dataset, which aims to capture real-world 3D motion-capture data and detailed descriptions of how visually impaired individuals navigate streets and sidewalks. By reducing prediction errors in such scenarios by up to 80%, this dataset aims to make autonomous vehicles safer.
Autonomous vehicle companies like Waymo have demonstrated robust safety performance in real-world applications. According to a Swiss Re study, Waymo's AVs had 88% fewer property damage claims and up to 92% fewer bodily injury claims than human-driven vehicles over the same distance in 2017.
However, autonomous vehicles continue to face challenges in dealing with complex scenarios, particularly those involving pedestrians with disabilities.
