Despite being taught how to when getting your licence, it seems not many Australian motorists know how to merge properly, resulting in delays, bingles and even serious crashes.
It’s something Toyota wants to end, and the car giant has teamed up with road operations giant Transurban to test whether in-car technology can help drivers merge.
The partnership has already begun with Cooperative Intelligent Transport Systems (C-ITS) being tested in Port Melbourne at the Cook Street on-ramp.
A Toyota HiLux has been fitted with next-generation hardware and software to make it capable of vehicle-to-everything (V2X), with the end game of developing a ‘Merge Assist’ feature, in the same vein of blind-spot monitoring.
V2X allows vehicles to share information with relevant entities around them, from other cars to infrastructure such as traffic lights.
Toyota’s C-ITS technology utilises Transurban’s proprietary traffic system which uses AI camera detection to determine traffic density, location and speed, in turn shared with the vehicle to notify drivers of any speed discrepancies between the vehicle and the surrounding traffic, as well as whether there are other road users in their blind spots.
According to Toyota, the technology not only has the potential to aid road safety but also to help improve traffic flow, cutting commute times.
“Partnering with Transurban allows Toyota Australia to test exciting new technologies in real-world situations on some of our most frequently travelled roads,” said Toyota Australia vice president sales, marketing and franchise operations, Sean Hanley.
“Technologies like the Merge Assist feature being trialled will help in the development of future automated driving capabilities, which will help improve safety outcomes for all, in particular on motorways.”
Testing began in August and will continue through to September.
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