An athlete was run over by an autonomous bus designed by Japanese carmaker Toyota during the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games, which run from August 24 to September 5, 2021. The firm has apologized for the “overconfidence” that led the bus to cause the terrible accident. The transport service that operated the vehicle was temporarily suspended to find out what really happened, but has just resumed since August 30.
An accident between a visually impaired athlete and an autonomous vehicle
Japanese athlete Aramitsu Kitazono was hit at a speed of 1-2 km/h by one of the autonomous buses provided by Toyota in the Olympic Village while crossing a pedestrian crossing. As a result of this event, the visually impaired judoka withdrew from the competition as he was due to compete in his third Paralympic Games.
The athlete suffered several injuries and bruises to his head and legs. His coach, Yoshiyasu Endo, told the Japan Times newspaper that he was “recovering well” from his injuries.
First unveiled in 2018 at CES in Las Vegas, the e-Palette is the Toyota-designed autonomous bus being deployed as part of the Tokyo Olympic and Paralympic Games. The Paralympics and its Olympic Village was the perfect opportunity and venue according to the Japanese automaker to conduct a full-scale experiment of its vehicle, which aims to smooth traffic flow.
Toyota apologizes, Japanese police open an investigation to find out the circumstances of the accident
Some time after the accident, Toyota CEO Akio Toyoda apologised to the Japanese athlete and announced that the autonomous driving service was temporarily suspended. He added:
“There is an overconfidence in the autonomous driving capability of the e-Palette […] This shows that autonomous vehicles are not yet a realistic option for driving on normal roads.”
Note that Toyota’s autonomous bus has an autonomy level of SAE 4, which means that no driver assistance is required under normal traffic conditions. A level of autonomy that normally would have accommodated Aramitsu Kitazono’s presence.
According to Toyota, the vehicle’s sensor would have detected the pedestrian crossing and activated the automatic brake, but the vehicle and the pedestrian made contact before it came to a complete stop. The e-Palette was under the control of two safety operators on board who were questioned by the Tokyo police, who are investigating the accident. Both drivers said they saw the victim, but thought he would stop at the crosswalk, not knowing that the athlete was visually impaired.
A police investigation has been opened to find out the circumstances and causes of the accident. In the United States, it is Tesla’sAutopilot that is under federal investigation.
Translated from Aux Jeux paralympiques de Tokyo, un véhicule autonome de Toyota percute un athlète malvoyant
