London Drivers Can Miss the Traffic Every Time With Toyota Electronic Traffic Avoidance

Toyota Launches the Uk’s First Dynamic Navigation System

The news that Tower Bridge is to be closed for six weeks for maintenance is sure to cause a traffic nightmare for motorists who use the surrounding roads – except for those driving a 2002 Toyota Avensis*.

They will benefit from Toyota’s latest genuinely useful innovation – Electronic Traffic Avoidance, or ETA. ETA will be standard on all new Avensis models already fitted with the standard satellite navigation (that’s the big selling GS, GLS and CDX grades).

ETA provides the driver with live traffic information that is fed automatically into the satellite navigation system. This enables the car to not only warn the driver of a traffic problem, but also – and this is the crucial and most useful part of Toyota’s system – to plot a way around jams or snarl ups even if the driver is a stranger to the area.

Both the traffic information and satellite navigation offer comprehensive national coverage.

Easy To Use

ETA receives coded traffic information 24 hours per day via an FM radio signal that is picked up even when the car radio is switched off. ETA decodes the messages – originating from various nationwide traffic monitoring services including the Police – to give the driver advanced warning of incidents and congestion.

* Toyota is launching ETA as standard on the best selling Avensis grades and as an option on other models, including the all new Corolla on sale from 2 January. Toyota was the first major motor manufacturer to offer satellite navigation as standard.

If the driver is following a route using the car’s satellite navigation system, ETA will automatically offer an ‘avoid traffic’ option and work out a new route around the traffic.

If the driver is not using the satellite navigation when the traffic warning is received, simply plotting a destination into the navigation system will trigger the ‘avoid traffic’ function and enable stress free re-routing around the problem before the driver encounters it.

“The inevitable traffic chaos caused by the closure of Tower Bridge will be unfortunate for most drivers, but it is also the perfect demonstration of the usefulness of the new ETA system,” commented Graham Smith, Managing Director of Toyota GB.

Genuinely Useful

ETA will benefit customers in a number of ways, not least time saved, reduced stress and no petrol wasted sitting in traffic jams. A further benefit is that the system requires no additional handsets or annual subscription fees.

The usual satellite navigation advantages also apply, such as guidance to unfamiliar destinations, avoiding the potentially dangerous use of maps (or arguing with a spouse) while driving.

Research has found company car drivers spend an average of 10 working days per year in traffic jams. The attraction of ETA to them is obvious and its standard fitment to Avensis models will ensure the UK-built car is even more successful in the Fleet market.

ETA is fitted invisibly into the car and displayed on the standard dash mounted LCD screen.

ENDS