Aisin Seiki Co. is putting its automated driving technology to practical use by developing a system that can pull a vehicle safely to the side of a road if the driver becomes suddenly incapacitated.

There has been an increase in traffic accidents involving incapacitated drivers, including one in Osaka's Umeda entertainment district last month in which a driver apparently lost consciousness before his vehicle plowed into pedestrians, killing two and injuring nine. The driver was among the dead.

The new device being developed by the Aichi-based company can help prevent large-scale accidents, it claims.