Toyota develops rear-collision airbag

We've got airbags in the front, airbags to the side, even airbags on the hip -- and now Toyota's installing the first rear-collision airbags into its Japan-only iQ minicar. The bags are designed to protect rear seat passengers, and inflate from above the rear window to blanket your noggin and reduce impact force to the head by half. The new system will be installed in iQ's by the end of the year, no word on whether it'll come to the States anytime soon.

[rony @ Oct 2nd 2008 3:25AM]

hmm.....now all thats left is the floor.....and the ceiling.....

[ScooterDe @ Oct 2nd 2008 5:29AM]

Sorry, ceiling is patented
http://www.freepatentsonline.com/5470103.html

[Chris @ Oct 2nd 2008 5:32AM]

Or.... we put wheels on a bouncy castle.

patent dibs!

[konshuss @ Oct 2nd 2008 11:09AM]

ahh that looks comfortable. for the long road trips one might want to have a friendly driver rear-end them on purpose to take advantage of that swank pillow set.

[betafrog @ Oct 2nd 2008 3:45AM]

Nope... It won't come to the states, your too obsessed with cheap cars to be bothered with safe ones...

[Ironeyes @ Oct 2nd 2008 3:59AM]

I simply wish that foreigners would stop attacking us as a country. I mean seriously, do really think you know what Americans are "obsessed" with? Because I certainly don't know what any other country is "obsessed" with. I don't see any Americans attacking foreigners on boards/blogs, yet they always seem to find time to flame against us.

[Adderz @ Oct 2nd 2008 4:29AM]

If you think the States are bad come to Australia. Only in about the last 3 years have airbags been something people actually look for. Before that you were lucky to even have a driver airbag.

[Ross @ Oct 2nd 2008 4:47AM]

adderz what the fark are you on about? Aussie cars have had driver's side air bags standard for almost 2 decades now.. I don't know anyone who has driven a car without at least 2 airbags, Even a bomby old eXcel has a standard front airbag.

[FluffyPanda @ Oct 2nd 2008 5:28AM]

@ Ironeyes:

Really? Never seen a post about the French being cheese-eating surrender monkeys? Or the English having bad teeth?

At least the post was actually true, the American car market places far more importance on price than any other feature. That's why ABS brakes and decent suspension took so long to reach the states.

And yes, a lot of us do have quite intimate knowledge of foreign cultures, having lived in more than one country.

[linuxamp @ Oct 2nd 2008 5:28AM]

@Ironeyes
"I certainly don't know what any other country is "obsessed" with."

Let me help you out with at least one country. My observation is that Japanese are obsessed with beer, sake, manga/anime, photography, phones, games, karaoke, baseball, beer, fish and beer.

[Ironeyes @ Oct 3rd 2008 2:38AM]

@FluffyPanda
Unless you periodically search through Anti-European/French/English blogs or boards you won't see that kind of thing. Don't get me wrong, it's just that I have never really seen an American verbally attack someone else on a blog or a board. And, it was kinda stupid what I said about not knowing what other countries are obsessed with. What I was trying to say was that you don't really know sh*t about a country until you live there and observe its people. I can say, the Japanese are obsessed with Anime and wierd porn... But do most Japanese really like them? I can not say "yes" for sure, however someone from Japan probably could based on their understanding of their own people.

[konshuss @ Oct 2nd 2008 12:26PM]

@Ironeyes

stop being so unbelievably wrong.

[unoqualsiasi @ Oct 2nd 2008 4:39AM]

Anyway, it's not a japan only car. Toyota is advertising the car here in Italy and I suppose it's doing the same in many european countries.

[black @ Oct 2nd 2008 5:09AM]

Its a Japan and Euro market car. And considering how small the car is, I think rear airbags would provide rear occupants some sort of protection from whiplash in a drastic rear end accident, or rollover.

[Iain @ Oct 2nd 2008 5:13AM]

Hey look it's Patty and Selma!

[Darwin @ Oct 2nd 2008 5:27AM]

At least when will we start seeing cars auto filling with foam I'll know that Taco Bell is good enough for a date.

[linuxamp @ Oct 2nd 2008 5:35AM]

I say stop adding airbags and work on the "secure foam" thing from Demolition man. That thing was like infinite airbags. For all you young whippersnappers who don't know what I'm talking about, go out and rent it.

[iEye @ Oct 2nd 2008 7:03AM]

So, basically this car is for Super Happy Tiny People?

I assure you this will not work for people who are over 5' 7", I have to put the seats all the way back and down to the floor just to fit inside any car that is not a land yaught... basically when this deploys my head will go sailing through the cabin... FAIL!

[notYou @ Oct 2nd 2008 7:36AM]

But airbags are "reactive". Can't they get proactive and give us something like the rear-collision anti-vehicle missile, to stop the impending collider dead in their tracks? Oh, and fully-automatic, I don't want to be bothered with aiming and firing.

[Graham @ Oct 2nd 2008 8:05AM]

What if your really tall, like me, and your head goes over the top of the headrest. Wouldnt that actually do more harm than good by slamming up against the back of your neck?

[Chris in CA @ Oct 2nd 2008 9:44AM]

Seems like a gimmick to me- the head is already supported at the rear in case of a rear-end collision. If it was some sort of horse shoe-shaped collar, I wouldn't be so quick to call BS, but this just looks like a joke. It will probably do more to prevent glass flying around inside than anything else.

[Colin Jones @ Oct 2nd 2008 11:24AM]

With that many protection, why can't they just implement a "Speedracer" like protection and just coat everyone in the vehicle with "SuperGel" and everyone and their dog will be safe?

[Pfanne @ Oct 2nd 2008 11:29AM]

why dont they develop "airbags" for the car, with some crash prediction sensors to decrease the force of the impact!??!?!
should be kind of possible...

[Ian @ Oct 2nd 2008 6:19PM]

This thing needs a Star Wars Missile Defence System. That's the next logical step.

[Eric @ Oct 2nd 2008 9:37PM]

BAH! that just adds more weight to the car

to save extra money on safety and cut down on weight.. the car should get fitted with an automatic prerecorded eulogy. It plays after your collision. =]