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Nissan: New Safety Technology

By YOKOSUKA, Japan, Dec 10, 2002; Chang-Ran Kim writing for Reuters reports that automotive R&D isn't just about hybrids and fuel-cell vehicles. Safety deserves top billing, too.

That was the message put out by Japanese automaker Nissan Motor Co as it unveiled on Tuesday its latest technology aimed at reducing car-related deaths and injuries.

In an innovation that could set a new standard for car safety, Japan's third-largest automaker said it had developed a way to make infrared sensors cheaply, allowing the technology to be used in vehicles.

One application revealed to reporters at Nissan's research centre was using an infrared sensor to warn the driver of the presence of a person behind the car to prevent accidents.

The sensor can also be used to thwart car thefts by sounding an alarm when it detects body heat, or to automatically control air conditioning by gauging which passengers are too warm or too cold.

"We can make these infrared sensors at a thousandth of the cost now, possibly for less than 1,000 yen ($8)," said Makoto Uchiyama, a senior manager at the research centre.

"Rather than making it an option, we intend to gradually implement the applications on all cars -- even the lower-end ones like the March subcompact."

Uchiyama said that could begin as early as 2004. Nissan was also open to licensing the technology out to other companies, including non-carmakers such as security system providers, he said.

In another innovation, Nissan said it had developed a seatbelt that it estimates could reduce the number of deaths and serious injuries in its cars by up to 25 percent.

The system detects the possibility of a collision from the driver's operation of the brake pedal and tightens the seatbelt in advance.

The seatbelt will initially be introduced next year in a luxury car, most likely the Cima.

Toshimi Yamanoi, senior manager of Nissan's safety strategy group, said at least one Japanese competitor had expressed interest in using the technology, for which Nissan holds patent rights.

Nissan has been working on developing various safety systems with the goal of halving the number of deaths and serious injuries on its cars by 2015.

The carmaker had been known in the past for its advances in technology, but now trails far behind domestic rivals Toyota Motor Corp <7203.T> and Honda Motor Co <7267.T> in fuel cell technology, considered the next wave of the future.

Nissan said on Tuesday it had been certified by the government to test drive its X-Trail fuel cell car, which it hopes to begin marketing next year.

Toyota and Honda were certified at that level -- which allows the cars to be test driven but not sold to a third party -- in mid-2001. Last week, the two automakers put the world's first saleable fuel cell vehicles on the road in Japan and the United States.