Toyota has apologised for an incident involving its much talked about e-Palette, a mobility vehicle used to support mobility within the Athletes’ Village at the Olympic and Paralympic Games Tokyo 2020, and stopped operations.
The e-Palette have operated very efficiently so far, but on Thursday, August 26, one of them collided with a visually-impaired pedestrian about to cross a pedestrian crossing.
The Japanese athlete, judoka Aramitsu Kitazono, was unable to compete in his 81kg category after being left with cuts and bruises following the impact.
“We are very sorry that the accident has made many people worried,” Toyota Presiodent Akio Toyoda said. “A vehicle is stronger than a person, so I was obviously worried about how they were. It shows that autonomous vehicles are not yet realistic for normal roads.”
Toyoda visited the site of the accident on Friday and also reviewed video footage of the incident. He admitted “there had been overconfidence” in the technology of autonomous driving.
A statement releases by the company read: “Firstly, we would like to express our sincerest apologies to the individual that was injured due to this unfortunate collision and we wish them a speedy recovery. We would also like to apologize for any inconvenience caused to those who use our mobility vehicles in the Athletes’ Village.
“All operations of the e-Palette are currently suspended. We are fully cooperating with the police investigation into the incident in order to determine the cause of this accident. In addition, we will conduct our own thorough investigation into the cause of the accident and we will continue to coordinate closely with the Tokyo Organising Committee of the Olympic and Paralympic Games to ensure that we prevent any incidents from occurring in the future.”
Toyota is the official sponsor of the Tokyo 2020 Olympics and Paralympic Games, and has been showcasing its autonomous vehicles , which is being used as a shuttle service and running around the clock in the athletes’ village.
