Toyota's playing for safety

Toyota has created the most accurate driving simulator in the world, and intends to use it to create a 'car that never crashes'.Located at the Higashifuji Technical Centre in Japan, the simulator will provide Toyota with research necessary to develop technology for on-board safety and possibly a way to integrate the car with the road.The simulator will be used to analyse driving characteristics such as drowsiness, illness or general lack of concentration, all of which are big contributors to road traffic accidents.The 7.1-metre simulator not only conveys a 360-degree virtual image, but also gives a sense of speed, acceleration, movement and ride quality by using tilting and vibrating mechanisms.We suspect the technology used to make the new simulator will be coming to a fairground near you long before a car that never crashes makes it to the showrooms.