Safety devices developed by small factories around the country that aim to prevent elderly drivers from stepping on the wrong pedal are attracting attention.
Some local governments are providing subsidies for purchasing pedals equipped with integrated acceleration and braking functions, which have been developed by an ironworks in the city of Tamana, Kumamoto Prefecture.
There is currently a six-month wait for delivery of these integrated pedals. Even as major automakers develop automatic brakes using advanced technologies, the expertise of small factories using simple technologies has been playing a role in preventing accidents.
Masuyuki Naruse, 82, president of Naruse Machinery Co. in Tamana, stressed: "Braking and acceleration require the same action. That's why stepping on the wrong pedal happens."
About three decades ago, Naruse began to develop an integrated pedal based on his experience of narrowly escaping an accident after he stepped on the wrong pedal in an automatic-transmission car.
Accidents can occur when the driver steps firmly on the accelerator, believing it to be the brake.
For this reason, he integrated both functions into one pedal, developing a system in which the brake is activated when the pedal is pressed down and acceleration occurs when a lever attached to the right side of the pedal is pushed to the side by the driver's foot.
His company started selling the product under the name Onepedal in 1991. It is priced at about 200,000, yen including installation.
Only about 300 units had been sold as of around 2014. However, inquiries for Onepedal have soared since then due to the increasing number of accidents caused by drivers erroneously stepping on pedals. Since 2015 the company has manufactured 100 units annually.
Local governments and other entities have begun encouraging drivers to have the device installed at low cost. The Tamana municipal government has provided a 50,000 yen subsidy to people who buy the product.
The town government of Misaki, Okayama Prefecture, last year began offering a subsidy of 150,000 yen to each buyer. Kanagawa Toyota Motor Sales Co. last June held a test-run of Onepedal-equipped cars for taxi drivers and others in anticipation of necessary measures to deal with the aging of taxi drivers. The event was reportedly well received.
Currently, the production of Onepedal cannot keep up with demand. Naruse Machinery is negotiating with two companies for production on consignment, aiming to boost output in the new fiscal year, which starts in April.
Nanki Kogyo, a company in Kawaguchi, Saitama Prefecture, developed the Stop Pedal eight years ago. When the driver steps on the accelerator with more than a certain level of power, a warning sound beeps and the pedal activates the brakes. The firm concluded a contract to install the Stop Pedal with a taxi company operating in the Kanto region at the end of last year, thus putting the product into practical use. The pedal can be retrofitted at a cost of about 100,000 yen.
Company President Heiji Minami said: "As the pedal is not electronically controlled, there is no concern about it malfunctioning. We'd like to succeed with the product by promoting its convenience."
The two firms have each obtained patents for their pedals and there have been no reports so far of accidents involving their products. According to the Road Transport Bureau of the Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism Ministry, the replacement of pedals is not considered the remodeling of vehicles, and Onepedals and Stop Pedals have apparently cleared the car inspection standards.
Katsuya Matsunaga, a professor emeritus of Kyushu University and an expert on traffic psychology, said: "Automatic brakes and other advanced technologies are still in the process of being developed and there is variation in performance.
On the other hand, devices developed by local factories that specialize in the prevention of mistakenly stepping on the wrong pedal are simple in structure. The spread of such pedals can be expected as local governments and other entities are showing moves to encourage their use."
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