To help prevent collisions with pedestrians, Toyota Motor Corp. has developed a Pre-collision System (PCS) that uses automatic steering in addition to increased pre-collision braking force and automatic braking.

According to Toyota, the new PCS with Pedestrian-avoidance Steer Assist can help prevent collisions in cases where automatic braking alone is not sufficient, such as when the vehicle is travelling too fast or a pedestrian suddenly steps into the vehicle’s path. An on-board sensor detects pedestrians and issues a visual alert on the dashboard immediately in front of the driver if the system determines that there is a risk of collision.

If the likelihood of a collision increases, the system issues an audio and visual alarm to encourage the driver to take evasive action, and the increased pre-collision braking force and automatic braking functions are activated, says Toyota. If the system determines that a collision cannot be avoided by braking alone and there is sufficient room for avoidance, steer assist is activated to steer the vehicle away from the pedestrian.

Last year, Toyota developed a system that uses increased pre-collision braking force and automatic braking to help prevent collisions with pedestrians. The system, which was adopted on the Lexus “LS,” warns the driver when it detects a potential collision with a pedestrian or obstacle, says Toyota. If the driver does not take action to avoid the collision, the system activates.

Before introducing PCS with Pedestrian-avoidance Steer Assist, Toyota Motor Corp. aims to make PCS (Pedestrian-avoidance with no steer assist) more affordable and roll it out by 2015 on a wider range of vehicles.