The Car Behind is Hitting a Toyota

A hi-tech safety device developed by Toyota means accident-prone motorists will no longer be able to use the excuse that they do not have eyes in the back of their heads.

The Japanese carmaker claimed yesterday to have pioneered the first system to warn drivers of possible collisions from behind.

A radar fitted in the rear bumper detects approaching vehicles and, if a crash appears imminent, alerts the driver by setting off hazard lights, said Toyota, the world's second biggest carmaker.

If a crash occurs sensors detect the position of the driver's and front passenger's heads and automatically move their headrests to reduce the risk of whiplash.

"We are determined in our pursuit to develop vehicles that will have zero traffic accidents," Toyota's president, Katsuaki Watanabe, told reporters.

The device will be installed in the luxury Lexus LS, due to go on sale in Japan next month. The firm has yet to decide when it will be available in the US and has no immediate plans to sell it in Europe.

Japanese carmakers' concern for environmentally friendly vehicles is matched by that for safety because the country has a higher rate of road accidents than the US and Europe.