Developed in line with the carmaker’s commitment to developing safety technologies that can help eliminate traffic fatalities and injuries, the new technologies comprise a new auto-steering function for its Pre-Collision System, which works in conjunction with automatic braking to help the driver avoid an impact, and Automated Highway Driving Assist, a system which keeps the car on an optimum driving line and a safe distance from the vehicle in front.

In 2012 Toyota introduced the Pre-Collision System (PCS) with increased pre-collision braking force and automatic braking in the Lexus LS 600h. Now a new Steer Assist has been added to help prevent collisions in cases where automatic braking alone is insufficient, for example when the vehicle is moving too fast, or a pedestrian steps suddenly into its path.

PCS uses an on-board sensor to detect a pedestrian in the vehicle’s path. If it determines there is a collision risk, it triggers a warning light on the dashboard, immediately in front of the driver; if the likelihood of an impact increases, it sounds an alarm to warn the driver to take avoiding action and initiates pre-collision braking force and automatic braking.

If the system detects that a collision cannot be avoided by braking alone, and there is sufficient room for avoidance, it activates steer assist to direct the vehicle away from the pedestrian.

The carmaker said it aims to make the PCS technology more affordable and more widely available in its model ranges by 2015, prior to bringing the PCS with Pedestrian-avoidance Steer Assist to the market.

In addition, Toyota has announced the development of a next-generation advanced driving support system – Automated Highway Driving Assist (AHDA) – designed to support safer highway/motorway driving.

The system links two driving technologies to help secure safer driving and reduce the workload on the driver: Co-operative-adaptive Cruise Control, which communicates wirelessly with vehicles ahead to maintain a safe distance; and Lane Trace Control, which helps steer the vehicle on an optimal driving line within a traffic lane.

Toyota says AHDA will be on the market from the mid-2010s together with other systems that can make driving safer and more secure.

Toyota is presenting its new technology at the Intelligent Transport Systems World Congress in Tokyo next week (14th to 18th October), and will begin road trials on Japan’s Shuto Expressway from 15th October.