Pistonheads insist that Toyotas are a snooze to drive. Toyota agrees. Stockhouse reports that ToMoCo has developed a system that measures driver's eye apertures to see if they're awake and paying attention. The system's camera and image-processing system monitor the positions of the driver's upper and lower eyelids. OK, here's the tricky bit. Toyota says it's integrated the eye thingamabob with its Pre-Crash safety Nanny. Apparently, without the eye system, Pre-Crash lets you know a crash is ABOUT to happen. With Big Brother scanning your eyes, Pre-Crash lets you know an accident COULD happen. Anyway, it's just another damn thing electronic gizmo that can go wrong, that your dealer will have to replace rather than repair. Toyota says they will offer the system on selected domestic (Japan) models "in the near future."
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Sure, it seems kinda dumb. But don’t sneer at it.
Some people might want it. People that drive at night a lot, for instance, might see it as a useful safety feature.
It also wouldn’t surprise me to see insurance companies offer a small rate break for cars equipped with it. My anti-theft system (with a little microphone to detect breaking glass) saves me a few bucks every year.
The real value in this to Toyota might be considered to be practice. They’ve included another gizmo in the car. Every time they do that, they learn from the experience and the next time they add a gizmo, it gets easier.
It’s like the self-parking Lexus. I wouldn’t pay for that. However, what Lexus learns from this will be enhanced and improved and the next Lexus might include active feedback to help keep you in your lane or something similarly useful. After that, a gizmo that parks the car under a wider variety of circumstances.
Someday, you might even be able to pull up at a *very* tight spot, where you wouldn’t be able to open the doors once parked, get out and tell the car to park itself and lock up. When you return, tell the car to pull out and then open the door.
Crazy? Maybe. Limited value in the real world? Sure. Well, with Manhattan or Tokyo real estate prices, there might be some actual value in a car that needs 20% less space to park… A luxury feature that helps define “high end?” Probably. Engineering knowledge that can be transferred down to the everyday brand later? You betcha.
I guess one day parallel parking will be a lost art, along with shifting your own gears.
I see this as another gadget that takes away common sensibilities. If you’re too tired to drive, don’t drive. It’s that simple. I should know, I spend a lot of time on the road, and usually at the end of the day, between climbing towers, carrying heavy pieces of equipment, and listening to the same dumb songs all day long, it leaves me worn out. So what do I do? I find a rest area, pull in, and get 30 minutes of shuteye. It’s enough to stop me from crashing and burning.
At best, this system is useless, at worst, it’ll be used against you to prove that you were distracted from the road when all you were doing was changing the radio station.
“At best, this system is useless, at worst, it’ll be used against you to prove that you were distracted from the road when all you were doing was changing the radio station.”
I dunno, I know a few people who could do with a system that keeps then awake and alert. 2 of my kids went to SC with a good friend of mine. My kids took turns at sitting in the front passenger seat to keep the driver awake. They really thought that if they didn’t they would end up in a ditch. Maybe a system that gave the driver an electric shock if they nod off would be more appropriate.
“Useless?” I’d pay extra for it. If you’ve ever dozed off after leaving a big lunch meeting complete with boring speeches, then awakened in the wrong lane to see a fully-loaded logging truck rushing straight at you, as I have, you’d understand the life-saving value of such a device.
If they are putting these in Toyotas, they’ll probably break before the warranty ends from overuse.