Insight - Automated driving in a Lexus on Tokyo’s motorways

The driving is impeccably smooth, offering plenty of time to watch the steering wheel moving of its own accord. Using its sensors, preloaded map information and GPS, the system can work out where it is both in relation to other traffic and on the road, and use existing technology such as adaptive cruise and lane assist to maintain its position. If it needs to change lane, it will gauge spaces between vehicles and decide when to pull out.

Our driver keeps his hands on his knees, close to the wheel. He can assume control in a similar way to cancelling cruise control: by pressing a pedal. Toyota says its vision of autonomous driving, “aims to retain the driver as the commander of the car, not have him doing other things such as reading the paper or drinking coffee,” in the words of Jun Sato from the manufacturer’s VR tech department.

We sail along at a relaxed 60mph. It all seems very calm, but Sato says that wasn’t the case during the first tests: “It felt strange to begin with, especially in the early stages of development. It was a little scary, to be frank.

“However, from our research of our customers we have discovered there is a demand for autonomous driving, specifically for long-distance driving, for driving on the expressway and in congestion.”

A cheery female voice gives a commentary on what’s happening, supported by instructions on the infotainment screen: “changing lanes” or “beware of merging vehicles”.

We need to join from a slip road on the right, but there’s a rapidly driven van approaching. The Lexus briefly flips the indicator, but then spies the van behind it and decides to cancel the move and hang back on the slip road until the vehicle is safely ahead of us. The system is calibrated to err on the side of caution in such situations.

“We analysed the most competent drivers within our company in order to mimic their behaviour,” says Aoki Kenichiro, who is in charge of automated driving for Toyota. “We want autonomous cars to be accepted by society, so have made the decision-making as close to a human’s as possible.”