Toyota announced that it would bring back its e-Palette self-driving transportation mobility pods to the Paralympics game in Tokyo.
The self-driving vehicles were pulled out last week after they collided with a visually impaired athlete.
Toyota Returns to the Paralympics
Toyota said in an official statement that they've reached out to the athlete affected by accident and that they've apologized to him about the unfortunate collision.
The company also apologized to the other athletes who use their mobility vehicles to go around the Athletes' Village, according to Engadget.
The visually impaired athlete that was involved in the accident was supposed to compete at the games.
Unfortunately, he was forced to withdraw from his sport because of the minor injuries that he got from the car crash. Toyota's e-Palette mobility pod struck the athlete who was going about 1 mph.
As of Aug. 30, Toyota released an update saying that the self-driving vehicles are back with a highly trained safety staff. The car company also increased the volume of the self-driving car's warning sounds.
The automaker also uses the mobility pods to transport athletes around the facilities, and these same mobility vehicles were meant to play a massive role initially.
Toyota previously wanted the public to use the mobility vehicles as Japan prepared to welcome tourists and fans worldwide for the Olympic and Paralympic games. However, the COVID-19 pandemic has forced the car company to change its plan.
In an additional statement, Toyota's CEO Akio Toyoda said that the accident brought up the challenges that car manufacturers still face. Those self-driving vehicles may not be ready for more responsibilities yet. He said that mobility vehicles may not be ideal to use on normal roads for now.
The investigation regarding the accident is still ongoing, and Toyota said that it plans to open its own investigation, according to CBC Sports.
Self-Driving Car Accidents
The accident that happened at the Paralympics is just one of the many recorded accidents involving self-driving vehicles.
In 2019, a fatal accident involving a self-driving car operated by the ride-hailing company Uber forced Toyota to stop testing its own self-driving cars on public roads.
According to The New York Times, the accident which happened in Tempe, Arizona, prompted Uber to stop its tests on the streets of Tempe, San Francisco, Pittsburgh, and Toronto.
On Aug. 31, Toyota Motor followed Uber's footsteps and also stopped testing autonomous cars on public roads near its research center in Michigan and California.
Since 2018, Toyota has launched a fleet of test vehicles that can drive themselves, but engineers and safety drivers are inside the said vehicles so that they can take control if needed. This was the same arrangement that was used in the Uber car accident.
Rick Bourgoise, one of Toyota's spokesman, said that when they decided to suspend the testing of the self-driving cars, they allowed their drivers to take a couple of days off.
Toyota continued to test its autonomous vehicles since then and had rolled out the vehicles in 2020. They focused on doing it at three enclosed grounds: two in Ann Arbor, Michigan, and one in Concord, California.
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Written by Sophie Webster
