Toyota Says It Will Concentrate On Assiting Drivers In Safety, Rather Than Taking Away Driving Duties

Speaking to the Automotive News World Congress on Tuesday, Toyota North America CEO Jim Lentz said the automaker doesn’t plan on making fully autonomous vehicles any time soon.

“We don’t see a day coming soon when you’ll just hop in the back seat, open the newspaper and scan the headlines while the car drives you to work,” Lentz said. “Instead our focus is on building cars that can actually enhance a driver’s operation of the vehicle while helping to reduce or mitigate serious and fatal accidents.”

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TheSteve - 1/13/2016 3:50:24 PM

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As much as I love driving my car, as much as I dislike the idea of owning or renting (on demand) an autonomous car, I reluctantly believe that driver-assist measures are merely a short-term stop-gap, and fully autonomous systems are the way of the not-too-distant future.

This great TED Talk explains why this is likely to be so: http://www.ted.com/talks/chris_urmson_how_a_driverless_car_sees_the_road

Summary: If we're looking to systems to reduce fatalities, injuries, and increase safety, then assist systems don't do nearly as good a job as fully autonomous systems.

MDarringer - 1/13/2016 10:40:43 PM

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If the car drives itself, then where is the joy in driving a car?

TomM - 1/13/2016 9:32:35 PM

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Again - I believe this site is for people who Drive their cars - probably harder than most people do - and have some unique or higher class vehicles to choose from to do so. It is clear the Agents favor high priced sports vehicles even if they do not own them - for example. And for us - the mere idea that we would WANT to sit down and read a magazine while a car drives itself to our destination - is simply ghastly. At least twice a year - I drive from the NYC area to Central Florida (Much of my family is from Titusville and PRE-Disney Orlando) - and I love the drive (I still do it in one day) - the drive IS my vacation - and once there - I am always fixing something for someone in the family - hardly a vacation. While for the average person who would not want to drive that far - I can see why they might want an autonomous car - but it is not for me. WHile I admit that as I got older - I preferred a more Luxurious - less punishing ride car - and as a tall large man - I want a big car inside. But - My S-600 alreadly knows the drill. Now I also have a Chrysler MiniVan for carrying things like a few Great-Grandchildren and their luggage. ANd I do plan to take that Northwest America Trip this year given the time (I want at least 6 weeks) to go to the National Parks and down to the Grand Canyon - and through Texas and back.

AS far as the thread - Toyota is a mainstream car company - and these people cannot afford to have all these things in their car right away - they will eventually be affordable for lower priced cars - but not yet - and Toyota cannot make all their cars with Lexus Prices. So slowly adding features is the way Toyota - Ford - Chevy will have to go.