Feds Could Mandate Brake Override System for All Automakers

The Natonal Highway Traffic Safety Adminstration is considering making brake override systems mandatory for all cars going forward, Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood said today at a hearing of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Energy and Transportation. It is the third hearing focusing on Toyota and its recent recalls. LaHood made it clear that the order, if implemented, would affect all automakers, not just Toyota.

“We’re looking at it,” LaHood said, according to the New York Times. “We think it is a good safety device, and we’re trying to figure out if we should be recommending it.”

A brake override system tells the engine that if the brake is depressed after the accelerator, the brakes win, and engine power is reduced. Toyota is putting just such a system in many of the cars it sells in the U.S., starting this spring. Brake override systems would only be added to vehicles with electronic throttles.
 
U.S. May Set Rule Requiring Brake Override System on Cars (New York Times)