Toyota halts its self-driving e-Palette pods at the Paralympic Village after one hits a visually impaired athlete

Toyota/e-Palette

Toyota suspended all e-Palette pods carrying athletes around the Tokyo Paralympic Village, a day after one struck a visually impaired pedestrian. The pod had stopped at a T-junction and was turning under an operator's manual control at about 1 to 2 km/h. Akio Toyoda said the accident showed autonomous vehicles were not yet realistic for normal roads.

• The athlete was bruised, treated at the village medical centre and walked back to his residence.
• The pods were a Games version of the 2018 concept, with large doors and electric ramps.
• Toyota cooperated with a police investigation and ran its own.