Comments on: Toyota Enters the Automotive Alertness Race

By: 50merc

50merc — Thu, 20 Dec 2007 00:13:54 +0000

There are also the narcoleptics, in America about one in two thousand of the population. But I agree with Sherman — the number of night-shift workers is justification by itself for anti-sleepiness devices.

BTW, though old folks get the most raps for dozing off, I think reckless youngsters are more apt to exceed the limits for safe driving. A college friend who’d make 1,600 mile non-stop trips comes to mind.

By: Blunozer

Blunozer — Wed, 19 Dec 2007 22:10:17 +0000

I suggest spraying the occasional blast of aerosal crystal meth out of the A/C vents.

Either that or a steady supply of this:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qRuNxHqwazs

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t-3qncy5Qfk

By: SherbornSean

SherbornSean — Wed, 19 Dec 2007 21:17:10 +0000

Great points, Martin!

By: NICKNICK

NICKNICK — Wed, 19 Dec 2007 19:29:31 +0000

if this is what automakers are focusing on, then i guess i’m set for used cars for the rest of my life. i’ve got a couple of good ones now, and in five years when i need another one, the 2007 models should be ready to buy on the cheap. if alertness is today’s biz, then i guess everything is perfectly reliable and safe. sounds good to me.

By: Orian

Orian — Wed, 19 Dec 2007 18:18:05 +0000

Sherman,

When I first started a third shift position my co-worker had a nasty sense of humor (IMHO). He’d see me nod off, give me five minutes, then drop a 15 pound three ring binder on the desk in front of me.

After three times of that I was awake all night, every night.

Still didn’t help me in college chem. class when I was still adjusting and fell asleep. The sound from my head hitting the desk woke me up – not the impact. I sat back up and everyone was staring at me.

The drives home were bad during that time frame – I’m not sure that anything really could have helped as I tried to adjust.

By: Virtual Insanity

Virtual Insanity — Wed, 19 Dec 2007 18:03:01 +0000

Sherman:

Good point that. I guess its tough for me to consider that, seeing as I have this incredibly wierd and sometimes scary ability to operate very well on few hours of sleep.

By: Juniper

Juniper — Wed, 19 Dec 2007 17:09:23 +0000

Huh? What? Oh.
It is good that Toyota is doing this research since Lexus is the new Buick. Which is why it is quickly being overtaken by BMW.

By: Sherman Lin

Sherman Lin — Wed, 19 Dec 2007 16:35:15 +0000

Virtual Insanity, don’t forget that a growing percentage of people work the grave yard shift. When I did, no amount of prior sleep could compensate for the natural tendency to be asleep at that time. I would fall asleep at my work area sveral times a night only to be awoken by my neck snapping motion or by me actually hitting a desk or falling over.

By: Martin Schwoerer

Martin Schwoerer — Wed, 19 Dec 2007 16:24:32 +0000

A thing I could have added to yesterday’s Mercedes piece (but I was not ‘alert’ enough) is that a good car gives you the right amount of feed-back and driving pleasure to keep your concentration up.

A bad car, in this vein, is one that is noisy (too much white noise is tiresome), handles badly (and requires fatigue-inducing constant corrections) or, on the contrary, is automotive valium.

Kudos for Toyota for (it seems) recognizing that the automotive valium approach is not good enough. Thumbs down, though, if they want to rely on gizmology.

By: Steven Lang

Steven Lang — Wed, 19 Dec 2007 16:04:02 +0000

Very good point Frank. In North America, the Camry has been gradually orientated towards the AARP crowd and the Avalon has become a mainstay in this demographic for over a decade. The lack of sport and youth identified with Toyota’s most popular models is what eventually gave birth to the Scion brand. Unfortunately they only seemed to be concerned about this for one generation of the Scion models. Oh well.

Toyota is more than a bit concerned about their inability to attract buyers who opt for a more athletic vehicle. The folks who buy an Infiniti, BMW or Audi are not really knocking at the Toyota door at this point. Perhaps the new Lexus sports car models will change that. As you already know I’m a pretty big fan of certain Toyota/Lexus models but the company has a rather checkered history when it comes to offering sports models in the North American market (a moment of silence please for the once beloved MR2, Celica, and Supra models).

By: DaPope

DaPope — Wed, 19 Dec 2007 15:47:44 +0000

Does this mean that the industry is looking at fly-by-wire accelerator/brake pedals so that when the computer determines the elderly are found to have over-loaded brain activity, will switch the accelerator to brake in an effort to minimize driving into stores and farmer’s markets?

I love Alice’s Nascar style driving positioning.

By: Frank Williams

Frank Williams — Wed, 19 Dec 2007 15:41:06 +0000

The big difference between Toyota’s research and other companies’ is Toyota is focusing specifically on elderly drivers, due to Japan’s aging population and Toyota’s aging customer base.

By: Virtual Insanity

Virtual Insanity — Wed, 19 Dec 2007 15:37:18 +0000

So…what ever happened to the concept, of, idunno, NOT DRIVING WHEN YOU ARE TIRED/DRUNK/OUT OF IT!

By: lprocter1982

lprocter1982 — Wed, 19 Dec 2007 15:21:13 +0000

I would think Buick would be investing in research in automatic defibrillators for their cars – when one of the drivers has a heart attack, the car will automatically shock them until they regain consciousness so they can pull off the road safely.

Their motto can be “Making sure you die in your sleep peacefully, not screaming like Old Man Wilson’s passengers.”