Toyota and Nintendo Team Up for "Elderly-Friendly" Car
The older people get, the harder it is to drive -- reflexes slow, eyesight goes, and one's level of awareness drops as the years pass. These unfortunate realities of aging can make driving a potentially lethal proposition for those getting on in years (not to mention the drivers around them).
Governments, however, are not about to start confiscating drivers licenses when people are old enough to collect social security, so the challenge becomes how to minimize the danger involved with putting those in their golden years on the road.
Toyota is teaming up with Professor Ryuta Kawashima, who worked for Nintendo to develop the DS hit 'Brain Training,' which uses simple and fun puzzles to sharpen the mind and tell you how old your brain is. Toyota and Dr. Kawashima are working on a system that will monitor the moves of aging drivers and help them avoid dangerous behaviors. The ideas currently on the drawing board are an automatic braking system that can curb unnecessary accelerating, a navigation system (duh) and climate controls that will help keep the driver alert and comfortable.
"Ultimately, we hope to develop cars that stimulate brain activity so that driving itself becomes a form of brain training," Dr. Kawashima says. Toyota and the professor hope to have a basic form of the system ready for deployment within five years. Toyota's system isn't the only game in town, though, that is looking to save some lives by keeping drivers alert, Nissan has been working on its Intelligent Transportation System for some time now.
Nintendo has cornered the market on electronics marketed to the elderly at this point. 'Brain Training' and the 'Brain Age' series on the handheld DS and 'Wii Sports' and 'Wii Fitness' have also proven to be huge hits with older consumers looking to dull the effects of aging.
From Daily Mail
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 12)
Frederick Rothe III said 11:16AM on 12-27-2007
Elderly persons should not be DRVING PERIOD!!! No car will make it safer for the older driver,passenger(s),nor the public in general. Seniors ahould have mandatory driving tests EVERY YEAR like they have in Florida to prove they can still drive SAFELY! If not,they must use public transportation. We should all advocate for easier access to public transportation,especially in rural areas in America. This car will not make ANYBODY SAFER!!!!
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Bob Burnett said 2:18PM on 12-24-2007
My answer to this ad is plain and simple, I'm an American, and I buy only American cars, and I feel safe in all the American cars that I've bought in the pass, and I feel safe in the Buick Lucerne and the Chevorlet Van that I have now. Thank you very much.
Bob Burnett
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fxrsjoe said 1:56PM on 5-01-2009
blind loyalty hinders efficient allocation of resources
Byron Spain said 2:19PM on 12-24-2007
As I age, my cars have larger and larger engines since I can afford more power and fuel. Screw those who think old means feeble or stupid. I'll blow you off the road in my Ferrari.
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Dorothy Smith said 2:26PM on 12-24-2007
That sounds great but I probably won't benefit from it as I am now 75. I would like to know if the price is going to be prohibitive to those with only Social Security to live on. Even with a savings the money slips away too easily. Everything goes up in price but our checks don't go up accordinly. They raise our monthly amount then raise the Medicare and Part D deductions. I am still getting, for 2008, $1 less than I was getting in 2006, plus everything else has gone up. The cost of living goes way beyond what we get. No wonder so many of us put off doctors appointments, we do have to pay some of it. We do without a lot of things but we struggle on. I am thankful for what I get. And yes, I did save while I was working but taking care of my mother for 18 years didn't leave me much to save.
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Judy said 2:40PM on 12-24-2007
So, I need a computer to adjust the temperature so make me comfortable??? I passed that phase a long time ago. I was 7 the last time my mother got a chill & I had to put MY sweater on. Guess the next "improvement" would be for them to decide when that car should drive me to the nursing home!?!?!?
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christie said 2:45PM on 12-24-2007
The last thing the biggest hazards(elderly) on the road need are more breaks.lol, they go slow enough. Lets make soylent green instead. Elderly take up enough of our resources and time. When I am elderly hopefully I will drop off and save my part of earth for someone who can use it better than me instead of contributing to the overpopulation. Oh, I am the one who wont move out of your way just because your old at the grocery store. BEING OLD DOESN'T ENTITLE ANYONE TO ANYTHING!
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sk said 2:45PM on 12-24-2007
I'd feel better if someone would design something for the teenage drivers.
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jim g said 2:53PM on 12-24-2007
Amen to "helping" the teenagers drive safer.
They're the ones that pose the real danger in my state; not the older folks.
Raise the age to 18 for a license while you're at it.
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MerryMary said 3:23PM on 12-24-2007
Christie, that is HARSH!!
I suppose you will be different when you are on the Earth for 80 years. EIGHTY. Long time. Oh, and if you are not getting out of someone's way......you are just...rude. Age is but a number. (Mine is 54)
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lita said 3:15PM on 12-24-2007
On 12/24/07 2:45 PM christie yaks on and on with hateful dialogue about the elderly.
She thinks the elderly should be done away with and that when she gets older, she hopes she will drop off the earth and "save my part of earth for someone who can use it better than me instead of contributing to the overpopulation."
Well, don't stick around on our account; the world would be better off without vermin such as her.
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rick said 3:17PM on 12-24-2007
The next Bill Gates is the guy that builds everything with only on off and volume. I am sick of gadgets with tiny buttons and symbols. too many features turn me off.
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BOBCAT42320 said 3:31PM on 12-24-2007
Christie! eat chit and die You're over populating the world.
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David said 3:32PM on 12-24-2007
ANYONE THAT HITS THE AGE OF 60 SHOULD HAVE TO RETAKE THE WRITTEN AND DRIVING EXAM. tHIS INCLUDES ME WHEN I TURN THAT AGE.
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B. L. Bassler said 3:34PM on 12-24-2007
I find nothing wrong with a "Senior Car". Not everyone can run right out and buy one, though! I personally have a Toyota which, is 10 years old. I keep it in good running order, thanks to a good mechanic. One of the things I think Seniors should remember is; stick to size car you are comfortable driving and, if you are not comfortable driving, TURN IN YOUR LICENSE.
ps: I AM KISSING 74.
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clartex said 3:45PM on 12-24-2007
I am 72 years old and quiet active and agile. I realize that my reflexes are slowing down and also my mental responses; all apart of the aging process. I have always bought a white car because it stands out on the highway; not like so many other colors that tend to blend into the highway. I think this is a very good idea and I am surprised that one of our US motor companies did not come up with it. For me, it is important to keep busy and stay active; therefore, I still work several days a week in an office which makes me feel as if I am still part of the ongoing world and have something to contribute. I am NOT taking a job away from a younger person and it sure "ain't" for the wages I get as that is only $6.00 an hour before TAXES. We can all contribute even the folks in nursing homes as they are providing many, many jobs for younger folks. I personally feel there is far more danger from youthful drivers and alcoholics than from we old folks.
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Floyd said 2:11PM on 12-25-2007
If you took all the rude unlaw abiding young people that drive like there is no tomorrow off our streets & highways & made them walk they would crowd the walkways & run over each other,I'm an 83 year old retired truckdriver that remembers more of the rules of safe driving & am more alert than 75% of the drivers I see on the road today
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Patty Mulchi said 3:51PM on 12-24-2007
Please stop blaming older drivers for problems on the road. Look at any statistics for accidents and you will find the younger drivers are responsible for the majority. If auto makers would have less gadgets for everyone to fool around with, it would be a better approach. Instead all they want is to make more money from the selling the gadgets.
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web said 3:50PM on 12-24-2007
Teenagers need a car with a cellphone jammer, a smoke detector that alerts parents when they dont have both hands on the wheel, speed, and smpke weed. This needs to also contact the parent if they try to disengage any of these systems. Also, there shold be a computer download to any parent about the speed and location of the car at any time, as teenagers are the most wreckless drivers out there. Alcohol sensors on the steering wheel to, to call the parent if the driver has been drinking.
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Tom said 3:54PM on 12-24-2007
I am 66 and no doubt as good if not better at driving than anyone thirty years my junior. I am somewhat of a slowpoke unless somebody provokes me to road-rage!!
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