Carmakers Adding Overrides to Prevent Unintended Acceleration

Toyota is taking most of the heat for its recent problems with unintended acceleration. However, the problem is making the entire auto industry antsy, as reports have surfaced of similar issues in models from other manufacturers.

Toyota is doing everything in its power to remedy the problem; early in 2010, it announced that it will unveil a brake-shift override for all vehicle models next year. The override shuts off power to the engine by placing it in idle mode if the gas pedal and brake are depressed for an extended time.

General Motors Gets on Board

This week, GM announced that it would also install override systems in its vehicles. The GM override system will be released over the next two years, to be completed in 2012. The GM override system will “reduce power” to the vehicle’s engine, says the Detroit News, but GM hasn’t said that the system will place the engine in idle mode.

GM’s vice chairman of global product operations, Tom Stephens, applauded the rollout, saying, “We know safety is top of mind for consumers, so we are applying additional technology to reassure them that they can count on the brakes in their GM vehicle.”

GM is experiencing braking troubles of its own, which the federal government is now investigating. In contrast to the Toyota problem, which stemmed primarily from unintended acceleration, the GM issue involves brake-line corrosion, which allegedly led to a “large increase in stopping distance and with the brake pedal pushed to the floor” in models like the 2003 Chevrolet Silverado 2500 HD pickup trucks.

In total, six million 1999-2003 GM SUVs and pickup trucks and 189,000 of the 2003 2500 heavy-duty trucks are under investigation by the NHTSA (National Highway Traffic Safety Administration). GM says that it is cooperating with the government fully.

Other Carmakers Follow Suit

Other automakers are jumping on the override wagon as well. Mazda hopes to rollout a brake-shift override system much like that planned by Toyota. The rollout will conclude in 2011. Mazda’s director of public and government affairs, Barbara Nocera, said, “We are rolling it out across the fleet next year. It's an evolving technology that we are applying here and we think that it's something that consumers are very aware of now, because of the Toyota recall issue. We think it's something that customers will value as an added margin of safety.”

Tesla, a domestic electric-car maker, is building its own override system. The software revision to the Tesla Model S, an upcoming four-door electric sedan, reduces power to the engine if the vehicle is in neutral, if the ignition is in the off position, or if the driver holds the brake down for more than two seconds. This is critical, as electric cars would likely be more prone to malfunctions resulting from cosmetic rays or other types of interference, although, theoretically, the override system could malfunction as well.

Presently, a handful of luxury German marques like Mercedes-Benz and BMW already have brake-override protections built into their vehicles. The feature was largely overlooked by buyers until the runaway Toyota debacle.