Inspiration
Today, the world runs on ease of access. With the click of a button, people can order food, call a car ride, or even order a hamburger-shaped telephone, but what if the ease that comes with a click of a button were to merge with safety in Toyota vehicles?
In 2020, "607 child passengers ages 12 and younger were killed in motor vehicle crashes in the United States, and more than 63,000 were injured" with 38% of child deaths caused by not being buckled up (link). We believe these death rates can be reduced in coming years by providing drivers with a clearer, more powerful way to monitor the safety conditions of their cars.
Additionally, safety doesn't only exist inside the vehicle cabin. As highlighted by AAA, "two out of three U.S. drivers do not trust auto repair shops in general," in part due to a lack of confidence (link). With this in mind, as Ratchet and Wrench note, "roughly 92 percent of car owners admitted to putting off car care task longer than they should" (link). By hesitating and putting off car maintenance, drivers risk creating unsafe driving conditions.
These somber facts are challenges Toyota Safety Interface aims to reduce by better informing drivers on the safety of their car all while granting drivers complete control over the safety of their vehicle. By providing a clearer, more powerful way to monitor safety both within the cabin and under the hood of a car, Toyota Safety Interface can provide a better driving experience for all drivers.
What it does
Toyota Safety Interface is a proof-of-concept for an improved digital dashboard that notifies drivers when passengers are no longer in their seats, unlocks their seatbelts, and unlocks their doors. Through this interface, we wish to present a model where drivers can interact with the screen to better control their passenger's safety -- such as by clicking on an unlocked door to lock it.
By having these features displayed on a digital screen, we hope drivers will have a more mindful (and clearer) awareness of their vehicle's safety. No longer will drivers question which doors are open and feel the need to take their eyes off the road to check their child is still seated and buckled in! Now drivers can address safety issues with the click of a button!
Additionally, Toyota Safety Interface features a car maintenance tab that informs drivers of current issues and maintenance requests. Additionally, this screen provides users with a way to learn more, see the urgency, and search for help through a local Toyota dealership.
How we built it
We used JS React, HTML, and CSS.
Challenges we ran into
As our first hackathon and a team driven by first-year students, we approached this hackathon as a learning experience. With this in mind, some of the challenges we faced were learning how to format our UI, how to create interactive elements, and integrate our work with our teammates.
Accomplishments that we're proud of
We are very proud of all that we have learned during this hackathon! We're proud of our ability to communicate and combine our ingenuity.
What we learned
We learned how to use GitHub as a team, how to format our UI, and how to create interactive elements on a webpage.
What's next for Toyota Safety Interface
We are hoping this project can be taken a step further by continuing to build off the UI and creating a more detailed response.
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