Tokyo Paralympics 2020: Athlete ruled out of Games after being run over by self-driving bus in village

One of Toyota's self-driving buses at the Tokyo Olympics. Photo / Getty

Toyota has been forced to suspend all self-driving vehicles at the Tokyo Paralympics, after a bus ran over a visually-impaired athlete at the Paralympic village, leaving him unable to compete at the Games.

Japanese judoka Aramitsu Kitazono was hit by the turning vehicle on Thursday, while walking on a pedestrian crossing in the athlete village, with police confirming that the collision occurred shortly after the bus had stopped for another pedestrian.

Kitazono was taken to a clinic in the village for his injuries, while the two operators on the bus and five passengers were not injured.

Local media reported that the bus automatically stopped, but the operators pressed the start button as they did not expect the pedestrian to walk out onto the road.

Organisers said the athlete underwent "a full examination" and "no external injury was identified", but Kitazono pulled out of his men's 81kg match on Saturday due to his injuries, including bruising to his head and body.

Toyota, a top-tier sponsor of Tokyo 2020, suspended the use of e-Palette autonomous electric buses running in the village on Friday, and its president Akio Toyoda issued an apology.

"We are very sorry that the accident has made many people worried," Toyoda said in a YouTube video, adding that the collision occurred when the bus was moving at a speed of one to two kilometres per hour at a junction.

"A vehicle is stronger than a person, so I was obviously worried about how they were," he added, answering questions about the incident.

Toyoda said the accident showed the difficulty for self-driving vehicles to operate during the Paralympics, with people there who are visually impaired or have other disabilities.

"It shows that autonomous vehicles are not yet realistic for normal roads," he said, conceding that "there was some overconfidence" in self-driving.

"We would like to express our sincerest apologies to the individual that was injured due to this unfortunate collision and we wish them a speedy recovery," Toyota said in a statement. "We would also like to apologise for any inconvenience caused to those who use our mobility vehicles in the Athletes' Village."

"We will conduct our own thorough investigation into the cause of the accident, and we will continue to coordinate closely with the Tokyo Organising Committee of the Olympic and Paralympic Games to ensure that we prevent any incidents from occurring in the future,"

Kitazono's coach, Yoshiyasu Endo decided after speaking with the athlete and the doctor who treated him that he could not compete.

"We feel regret, but I think he is the most disappointed," Endo said.