AP

This is what Toyota is trying to avoid with a safety system that takes control of the steering so the car can swerve away when it isn't able to stop before impact.

Toyota is developing a safety system that takes control of the steering so the car can swerve away when it isn't able to stop before a crash.

Cars that stop or slow down automatically before an object or person in anticipation of a possible crash are not new, with all the world's automakers developing special safety technology in an effort to woo customers - but Toyota's latest pre-collision system adds a steering-control feature that uses cameras and a super-sensitive radar called “millimeter-wave,” installed in the front of the vehicle to detect possible crashes, such as into a pedestrian crossing the road.

Chief safety technology officer Moritaka Yoshida said the system calculated how braking and steering must be applied to avoid a crash.

“We must learn from accidents and keep making improvements in safety features,” he said.

Toyota wouldn’t say when the feature would be available on a commercial model, or in which markets, but officials hinted it would be production-ready soon.

Toyota said it was aiming for zero fatalities and injuries, although it did not say when that goal would be achieved.

Fatalities in car crashes in Japan have been declining, thanks to better safety features, but deaths among pedestrians in traffic accidents remain high.

Toyota also demonstrated what it calls a pop-up hood, which rises slightly in a crash, to reduce the impact when the car hits a pedestrian, similar to features offered by European makers, notably Jaguar.

Another research project showed how part of the beams from a car’s headlights could be blocked so that the driver could still see clearly, while the headlights would appear to be on low beam to the driver of an oncoming car. Toyota even has a steering wheel in development that measures the heartbeat of the driver to prevent a crash if the driver has a heart attack. - AP