Japan will require all new automatic passenger cars to have technology to prevent drivers from accelerating unintentionally by hitting the gas pedal instead of the brake, according to the transport ministry.
With the country facing a rapidly aging population, it is hoped the new rule will curb traffic accidents, often committed by elderly drivers, in line with new U.N. regulations expected to take effect in June next year.
"Japan has been proposing to make it an international standard since 2022," transport minister Tetsuo Saito said at a press conference in late June.
"We will prepare for the new regulations and strive to improve the safety of cars," he said, without specifying the precise timing of the requirement's introduction.
The technology will suppress acceleration, meaning even if the driver fully steps down on the accelerator pedal 1 to 1.5 meters away from a sizeable object, the car will stop before hitting it or slow to less than 8 kilometers per hour if a collision is unavoidable.
When the technology is activated, an in-vehicle display will also show a warning, such as, "Step off the accelerator pedal," according to the ministry.
The ministry will revise its ordinances after the U.N. regulations are formally agreed upon in November this year, requiring new automatic models to install the technology first before having it expanded into new cars for existing models.
Stick-shift cars are exempt from the new rule as they are less likely to cause accidents resulting from stepping on the wrong pedal, according to the ministry.
Most new cars in Japan are already equipped with similar technology, and some automakers are also selling products that can be retrofitted into existing cars.
According to the Institute for Traffic Accident Research and Data Analysis, Japan saw 3,110 traffic accidents caused by drivers mistaking the gas pedal for the brake in 2023, leading to 38 deaths and 4,343 injuries.
© KYODO
26 Comments
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sakurasuki
So if there's crow that suddenly show in front of people car, it will suddenly slow down. Even when there's truck behind you. Well done Japan!
Moonraker
Maybe you need to read it again, sakurasaki.
Mat
Can't improve safety in this way. People need to learn how to drive, and be stopped from driving when they can no longer do so safely.
This "feature" won't even work properly anyway. Just build good autonomous cars and make the aging population 'drive' those.
porto
sakurasuki, don't worry. I don't think roadkill is going anywhere. Unless crows and tanuki are considered sizeable objects by the system.
kurisupisu
Where is the technology to stop dangerous tailgating which is a common behavior in Japan?
finally rich
They should apply these add-ons in Europe as well, especially on semi truck rentals.
Without an "off" button of course or it would render the whole thing meaningless.
virusrex
Based on what evidence? obviously just claiming this is useless have no value unless you can prove it, it makes perfect sense.
Crystal ball arguments? or just the plain old "useless unless 100% effective" fallacy? Both are obviously invalid ways to defend the point, even if this was terribly ineffective and "only" saved half of the lives that would still mean a huge benefit.
Desert Tortoise
These systems are just band-aids for poor driving habits and inadequate driver training. Nothing more, and they are not fool proof.
When I was in high school we had a semester of driver education, classroom training on rules of the road and good driving habits that included driving simulators followed by a semester of driver training with driving instructors in real live cars out in LA traffic. Today in the US you can get a drivers license by passing a written and driving test with no formal training. A relative can train you, and teach you all their bad habits. Drivers need to learn how to threshold brake and how to get out of a skid to be safe on the road but hardly anybody has that kind of skill any more unless they autocross or compete in an amateur road racing class. I was asked to teach my wife's adult daughter how to drive by my wife. She and my wife don't have the kind of relationship where she can teach her daughter anything ( lol !). So I did. Taught her three point turn abouts and parallel parking like we had to demonstrate in driver training. I thought they tested that but they didn't. Wasted my time in a sense but maybe some of it stuck. She flunked her first driving test. She made a left turn when the light turned green right in front of the oncoming cars. I was stunned. Where did she learn that move from? Then I visited Shanghai and that is how everybody drives there. Sigh.
All the electronics in the world won't compensate for poor driving habits and a lack of ability to control a car.
Desert Tortoise
One positive thing I will say for unintended acceleration. When Audi was being wire brushed over unintended acceleration back in the early 1990s I was able to negotiate a killer deal on a clean used Audi 90. Thousands less than same year BMW 3-Series or Mercedes 190. Manual trans so no worries about unintended acceleration. There was a little truth to the scandal too as one day the engine did accelerate out of control. But I pushed the clutch in and turned the engine off. Simple. On my car it was a problem with the cruise control. I still have that car. So in a sense unintended acceleration gifted me with some unintended depreciation, and a killer deal on what has been a really wonderful automobile.
Alongfortheride
The tech will work. Some cars already have similar technology now. When cruise control is set will not let you get too close to the car in front and will automatically brake if the car in front stops or slows down.
This tech they are talking about here is based of the same thing.
SDCA
While I agree these should be implemented on vehicles for senior drivers, do they really need to be on every new car? I don't want to have to pay for a new system when this thing fails to pass shaken. Shaken is already expensive enough.
SDCA
These people with small genitals think they are tough behind the wheel and I bet if you were to force them to pull over for a fight, they will bow and say sumimasen. Police need to step up against these people, I kid you not I run into at least one every other time I drive.
finally rich
No, they will either stare to the car in front while completely ignoring you or will play dumb and act as if they have no idea of what you're talking about ← this seconds after they tried to kill you for no reason at all.
This japanese cynism is so disgusting it actually made me drive more.
Quite a few occasions I left my big SUV in the garage and took off on my motorcycle to beat the traffic....just to be tailgated by a little kei-kar/hijet a few meters later. Even in Japan bikers are hated/despised.
virusrex
You could be describing a lot more of other safety measures, from helmets to lab coats, if people acted always in perfect accordance with the best possible way of doing something most of these measures would be unnecessary, not to mention that there is no safety measure that is fool proof.
That does not mean the measures are because of that useless, as long as lives are saved there is a perfectly valid justification in using them, even if they are not perfect or could be replaced with people acting properly 100% of the time.
The best part? that safety measures in no way require for education or training to also be used to modify how people act. People can still wear helmets even if they are trained to make those helmets irrelevant. And unintended acceleration prevention system can be used even when people are also required to be better prepared to avoid this kind of accidents.
MiuraAnjin
50%??? Never happens to me.
Do you hog the passing lane a lot?
SDCA
@MiuraAnjin
not at all. I try to be a safe driver but I wouldn't consider myself to be slow either. What I also mean is driving on normal roads and not exclusively expressways. I will get some dirt bag showing up on my rear mirror tailgating, they will then change lanes by cutting someone off, speed up to the next car in front, rinse and repeat. They also are in a super hurry to get to a red light for some reason, they will sometimes pass me despite myself also going slightly above speed limit, floor it and slam the brakes at the red light ahead that showed no signs of changing. I don't understand these drivers mindsets sometime. Then again, apparently I live in a prefecture that continuously tries to battle to become 死亡事故ワースト１位 year after year so we have some crazy drivers here.
Alan Bogglesworth
I live near a school, there is a straight road where people do up to 80km/h. Not to be rude but many many people speeding here are 60+ in kei trucks and vans.
On this same road there is a crossing for school children, what about some engineering there to enforce some speed control in places like this too. Nothing would be more tragic than seeing a kid killed because of this?
There is not even a sign, let a lone an electronic flashing sign to warn people about the crossing.
tokyo_m
Absolutely right. The main cause of road traffic deaths is usually at least in part, if not mainly, down to road design. Tokyo streets are designed for the convenience of cars, not pedestrians or cyclists, (many don't even have pavements), and this has to change.
theFu
Any moving traffic offense by someone over 75 yrs old should require a fresh driving test to get a license. During the test, have the ride-along tester try to distract the driver with conversations or pointing out things to see.
Also, EVs usually have the brake on just by removing your food from the accelerator, so people who drive EVs learn to drive differently.
We all stand on the brake from time to time, but how many people stand on the accelerator? Just make doing that actuate the brake instead, unless there's a manual switch on the dash to prevent it - sorta like the TCS or Cruise Control power switches in my Honda. Those work well enough.
Zaphod
Completely unnecessary technofix. Just go back to manual cars; these problems with "pushing the accelerator instead of the brake" only occur with automatic cars.
falseflagsteve
No issue for me personally, I’m eco friendly, I walk cycle or use public transport you see. I would advise others to do also unless it is essential.
Desert Tortoise
When we bought our most recent "car", actually a Ford Transit Connect Van, I deliberately sought out a clean older one built before that self braking feature was mandatory. I emphatically DO NOT want my car thinking and making control inputs for me. I had enough scares from the auto pilots on expensive military helicopters that are tested far more thoroughly than any car design. I don't want to be driving on a curvy mountain road that is wet and/or snowy/icy and have the stupid self braking radar thingie see a guardrail on a corner and tap the brakes and send me skidding into the rail when I had everything under control.
Desert Tortoise
That is probably the first time I ever gave a comment of yours an up vote O_O
Desert Tortoise
Lol.
Desert Tortoise
I have had autopilots try to kill me more than once. I don't trust a lot of this automation. Tesla is almost the poster child of how awful these features can be they cause so many collisions and allisions with fixed objects. I trust my own skills more than what we used to call derisively "George".