Zero Traffic Accidents: A Social Goal Toyota Can’t Achieve Alone | Toyota Times Business

Описание: Toyota Times Business is a program that explains and discusses mobility-related topics. In the first episode of the new year, the theme is traffic safety. The commentators are automotive journalist Naoto Ikeda, journalist and non-fiction author Mika Yanagihara, who covers traffic accidents and legal issues, and Toyota Executive Vice President Hiroki Nakajima.
Eliminating accidents is Toyota’s ultimate goal as a carmaker. To that end, the company has been developing and implementing safety technologies. Since 2019, the Tateshina Meeting has been held in Chino City, Nagano Prefecture (2025 marks its third meeting) bringing together automakers, suppliers, and other stakeholders to deepen discussions on safety.

However, there are limits to what can be achieved through vehicle technology alone. Toyota therefore emphasizes a three-pronged approach to preventing accidents by coordinating cars, people, and infrastructure.
Today’s episode looks at demonstration trials in China and Japan that put this approach into practice.
Using cameras and other roadside devices, infrastructure shares information with vehicles, enabling automatic control when a car changes lanes or a pedestrian enters the roadway. In China, these trials are being conducted on public roads, something that would be unthinkable in Japan.

In the second half of the program, we also feature a Subaru trial on snowy roads in Hokkaido.
The systems introduced in this episode are not technically difficult to realize. However, their social implementation requires building partnerships with governments and other industries.

Vice President Nakajima emphasizes that Toyota will continue doing everything it can. He also call on anyone who shares the goal of a world without traffic accidents to get in touch.

As the first Toyota Times Business episode of 2026, we invite you to watch through to the end as we look toward a safe and secure, accident-free year ahead.

Chapters
00:00 Opening
04:00 Toyota’s mission: zero traffic accidents
06:00 A collaborative project taking shape in China
13:42 The Tateshina Meeting: bringing people together for traffic safety
14:05 Japan’s current reality through accident data
15:59 Hopes behind reporting on traffic accidents
17:18 Toyota’s demonstration trials in Japan
23:25 The social cost of traffic accidents
24:05 Contributing through vehicle innovation and infrastructure coordination
25:26 What’s next for infrastructure coordination?
28:23 Learn about Toyota’s safety technologies on our website
30:18 Exploring the current state of automated driving systems
33:54 Reporting on traffic accidents: a journalist’s perspective
36:30 A shared commitment to traffic safety—beyond corporate boundaries