Jalopnik: pedestrians

Toyota Gosei 360-Degree Airbag Is One Hell Of A Flotation Device

Travis Hudson — Fri, 06 Jun 2008 15:00:00 EDT

We're well aware of the whole cyclists-wanting-hood-airbags debacle, but the Toyota Gosei system is just ridiculous. Just look at it — it looks like something that would keep the Titanic afloat.

The two hood-mounted airbags would protect pedestrians' and cyclists' waists and heads (and maybe protect your windshield too); all of the internal airbags would protect damn near every square inch of your body. On top of all of this, the system also includes Toyota's pedestrian recognition system. At this point, you should probably just pull over and give your car to the pedestrian because Toyota seems to think that's the safer option. [Giz]

Toyota Night Vision System Recognizes Pedestrians

Travis Hudson — Fri, 30 May 2008 15:20:00 EDT

Toyota's Crown Hybrid is getting one hell of a feature that will make the walkers of the world happy: night vision pedestrian recognition. Complex pattern recognition system cameras will recognize when pedestrians are walking alongside the road and put a nice yellow square around them on a camera view on the driver-side LCD instrument panel. The ideal driving speed for the system to work is between 10 and 40 mph, so the system is pretty useless hauling ass through a park Bruce-Willis-action-movie style. It only recognizes pedestrians, but Toyota is working on an advanced version that would be capable of recognizing bicycles and animals, as well. With gas prices going bonkers, the roads will be clogged with more and more pedestrians and bicyclists, so any extra precautions could be helpful for dealing with the gangs of hobos sure to be wandering our roads as the dollar weakens. [DVICE]

Virtual Crosswalk Walls Are Too Futuristic For Our Own Good

Travis Hudson — Thu, 24 Apr 2008 15:00:00 EDT

Yes, we know, being a pedestrian or cyclist can be dangerous, but that won't stop us from driving however the hell we want, as long as this futuristic design never sees the light of day. This new conceptual idea for crosswalks is a bit too i, Robot for us. Rather than just having pretty painted lines—this crossing would also include a plasma laser barrier that makes cyclists and anyone doing an Abbey Road impression more visible and helps avoid those nasty vehicular manslaughter charges. We wonder what happens if a vehicle were to cross the barrier?

It doesn't include information regarding that matter, so let's start making guesses. Maybe it would disable the car from moving any further, which is a simple, electrical solution. Then again, it is a plasma wall, which just screams complete car disintegration. [Yanko]

Cyclists Want Hood-Mounted External Airbags

Travis Hudson — Wed, 23 Apr 2008 16:00:00 EDT

The Dutch Cycling Federation in the Netherlands is boldly approaching car manufacturers and requesting hood-mounted external airbags on all vehicles. It's either that or they're going to have to stop running into cyclists (which will never happen). We're not going to get into the "roads are for cars" debate because we're sure the commenters will touch on that, but it's not a terribly horrible demand by the cyclists (Actually, it IS a terribly horrible demand by the cyclists and Travis regrets even remotely suggesting as such. Furthermore, we call on the Dutch government to immediately brand as terrorists any organization that would ever approach an automaker to request such a silly thing. Or maybe revoke funding for their favorite bike path. Something punitive, we don't really care what. -Ed.). The group says that 60 lives could be saved and 1,500 serious injuries could be prevented annually in the Netherlands alone with hood-mounted air bags. Luckily for those peddlers, the technology is already available.

Nissan and Jaguar have both developed pop-up bonnets that help absorb impact from hitting pedestrians and cyclists. Also, Swedish auto part maker, Autolive Inc., has developed an external airbag that deploys from the bottom on the windshield. What's one more airbag? Modern cars have airbags all over the place so is asking for just one more that horrible? [Motor Authority]