Toyota opens 3.5 hectare car safety test site.

Toyota has shown reporters around the ‘Intelligent Transport System’ site in Japan, where technology to cut down on accidents is being developed. Systems developed at the centre will be trialled on actual roads in 2014, before being put into regular cars.

The cars at the Intelligent Transport System site receive information from sensors and transmitters installed on the streets to minimize the risk of accidents in situations such as missing a red traffic light, cars advancing from blind spots and pedestrians crossing the street. The system also tests cars that transmit such information to each other.

In a test drive for reporters Monday, the presence of a pedestrian triggered a beeping sound in the car and a picture of a person popped up on a screen in front of the driver. A picture of an arrow popped up to indicate an approaching car at an intersection. An electronic female voice said, “It’s a red light,” if the driver was about to ignore a red light.