Autoblog

First came driver airbags, then passenger airbags. Side airbags were followed by curtain airbags. Then knee airbags appeared. With many vehicles on the road already equipped with six or more airbags for passenger safety, and seemingly no interior room left for additional inflatable supplemental restraints, Toyoda Gosei (it's an offshoot of Toyota) is showing a prototype fitted with airbags designed to protect pedestrians--yes, those "innocent victims" outside the vehicle. With a large exterior airbag on each end of the hood (one for the initial hit on the thigh, the other to cushion the secondary skull impact), and even an airbag inside the rear hatch, Toyoda Gosei is touting the concept as having "360-degree airbag protection." Effective or not, we question why the responsibility of pedestrian safety is shifting from the traveler on foot to the driver behind the wheel. Can't we just teach people to stay out of the the street? Thanks for the tip, Diego!

[Source: technabob]

Nissan is about to begin a new phase in its ongoing intelligent transportation system (ITS) project. The idea is that traffic signals can incorporate new technology to help reduce traffic congestion and pedestrian accidents. Using a section of roadway at the company's Kanagawa campus show above, Nissan has fitted new signals and roadside monitors to gather data about traffic flow and pedestrian movements. Some employee cars are actually fitted with data acquisition devices, but they won't need to be as the technology progresses. Rather, the signals themselves will eventually be able to collect all the data in the future.

Of particular interest are things like the length of signal cycles that allow pedestrians to safely cross the street, and the fact that during light traffic times, pedestrians often ignore signals, sometimes with disastrous results. With "smart" traffic lights, the system could offer a walk signal to pedestrians during light traffic for longer periods of time, thus discouraging the practice of jaywalking. There are even implications here for environmental advancements, as signal timing can reduce the idling and stop-and-go situations that add a considerable amount of pollution to the air.

The full release is after the jump.

[Source: Nissan]

If this doesn't define the phrase "money can't buy brains," then nothing does. It shows what we hope to be the vehicle's owner attempting to autocross a Ferrari F 50 in the wet. Fortunately for us, everything is caught on tape from both inside the car and out. Unfortunately, the only thing that this guy manages to hit is a corner worker, who he nearly runs over and then lands on top of after his hands-on lesson in understeer.

[Source: Winding Road]

Lexus has already talked about a variety of impressive pre-crash safety systems for its upcoming LS flagship sedan (see our post on the LS 600h L), but so far it has all revolved around the front end of the luxury sedan. Toyota is now saying that the Japanese Domestic Market (JDM) version of the LS 460 will get a rear collision detection system, which is believed to be the first of its type in the world.

The system uses a rear-facing radar sensor to detect imminent rear collisions, and illuminates a warning lamp for the driver as it measures the position of the front seat passengers' heads and adjusts the position of the vehicle's headrests accordingly to help reduce the risk of whiplash neck injuries.

More information has also trickled out about the front-collision detection technology in the LS, with the automaker stating that the twin front-mounted "stereo" cameras will use infrared illuminators mounted in the headlamps to provide detection and ranging capabilities. Such a system will be capable of detecting pedestrians as well as vehicles, which will give it an advantage over radar-based systems (the Lexus has one of those, too).

[Source: Japan Times]