[AutonomousVehicles] toyota resumes self driving car service at paraolympics after accident

[Cornelius Butler]

Hi Everyone,
There has been an incident at the Tokyo Paraolympic Games involving a self
driving vehicle and a person who is visually impaired

Article Link and Text is Below.

Article Link:
https://www.tag24.com/tech/cars/toyota-resumes-paralympic-self-driving-car-service-after-accident-involving-athlete-2102647

Article Text:

TOYOTA RESUMES PARALYMPIC "SELF-DRIVING" CAR SERVICE AFTER ACCIDENT
INVOLVING ATHLETE
By Anisha Hoppe

Tokyo, Japan - Toyota resumed its use of the 16 vehicle fleet of
self-driving vehicles in the Olympic Village on Tuesday after an accident
last week injured a Paralympic athlete, removing him from competition.

According to Elektrek even Toyota's Chief Executive, Akio Toyoda, is less
than satisfied with the current state of the company's self-driving tech,
and he believes "autonomous vehicles are not yet realistic for normal
roads."

Operators will undergo more training, and the pods will produce louder
warning sounds to help avoid accidents like the one on Thursday, in which
30-year-old Judo competitor Aramitsu Kitazonoa, who is visually-impaired,
did not see the pod approaching.

After initially parking the fleet after the accident and reviewing the
situation, Toyota has said that they can continue operations, but an
in-vehicle operator will control all acceleration and stopping.

Toyota has also more than tripled the number of traffic guards at
intersections in the village to decrease liability.

It's not clear why Toyota even continues to call these vehicles
"self-driving" when they require so many extra people to operate.

The specially designed e-Palette self-driving pods were hailed as being
perfect for the Olympic Village, particularly for their ease of access for
athletes with disabilities during the Paralympics.

The initial accident occurred after the operator assumed that Kitazonoa saw
the oncoming vehicle and would move out of the way, which meant the car
wasn't stopped. The automatic system also failed to stop the vehicle.

Kitazonoa only sustained minor injuries but was ruled out of competition.
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