Toyota CEO Akio Toyoda approves a new $50 million safety research center in suburban Detroit.
Toyota is setting up what it has dubbed a Collaborative Safety Research Center at the Toyota Technical Center in Ann Arbor, Michigan.
“Toyota’s new safety research center will work with leading North American universities and other partners on safety projects that benefit the entire industry. Our investment will support collaborative research aiming to reduce driver distraction and increase the safety of vehicles, drivers, passengers and pedestrians,” Toyota Motor Corporation President Akio Toyoda said.
The center will utilize Toyota researchers and engineers from North America and Japan. The company estimates that it will commit approximately $50 million over the next five years to fund CSRC and will also utilize the efforts of Virginia Tech and the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia.
Initial areas of focus will include reducing the risk of driver distraction – a growing cause of accidents – and protecting the most vulnerable traffic populations, including children, teens and seniors, who account for 30% of the nation’s traffic fatalities.
In addition, CSRC will conduct in-depth analyses of available accident and human behavior data to help evaluate and speed deployment of active safety systems.
Chuck Gulash, a Senior Executive Engineer at the Toyota Technical Center, will serve as Director of CSRC. He will report to Shigeki Terashi, who is a managing officer of Toyota Motor Corporation and the president of TTC.
“Toyota has always tried to take a comprehensive approach to creating a safe, sustainable automotive society through advanced vehicle safety technology, intelligent transport systems and traffic safety education,” Gulash said. “We have a long history of working closely with North American partners to achieve our safety objectives, and our new collaborative research initiative will build on this tradition. We intend to publish as much of the research as possible so that it is available to federal agencies, the industry and academia.”
Toyota has been ramping up safety programs over the last 15 months, even creating the office of a safety czar to oversee issues such as recalls in the U.S. market. The moves come as the giant maker struggles to deal with a series of safety scandals that led not only to the recall of 11 million vehicles in 2010, but also a series of record fines. Toyota paid $32.4 million to the U.S. government, last month, after agreeing to wrap up an investigation into its failure to act promptly on a pair of safety recalls.
Toyota is facing a number of lawsuits due to alleged safety problems and, last month, agreed to pay a $10 million settlement to the heirs of a California police officer and three members of his family who were killed when the vehicle he was driving raced out of control before rolling over and catching fire.