Hyundai puts brake override on all models

Hyundai puts brake override on all models

By Jennifer Geiger/Cars.com's Kicking Tires

Hyundai is joining makers with fail-safe brake override systems -- which provide backup safety in case of unintended acceleration -- standard on all new models, starting with production this month. Two years ago, the automaker made the system standard on about half its lineup.

The technology lets drivers control a vehicle's speed and stop it in the event of an unintended-acceleration incident, Hyundai said. If sensors recognize that the gas and brake pedals are pressed at the same time, the brake action takes precedence to safely slow the car.

Inability of the brakes to stop the vehicle when the throttle was jammed was a factor in the incidents that led to Toyota's massive recalls in 2009 and 2010.

With Hyundai's system, "any brake pedal input by the driver, even with a runaway throttle condition, completely overrides any throttle malfunction," Robert Babcock, director of certification and compliance affairs for Hyundai's technical center, said in a statement. "It is no longer possible to have increasing engine power once the brake pedal is depressed by the driver."

Hyundai joins other maker who already use or are adding similar systems. BMW has made it standard for several year and all Chrysler products since 2003 have brake override systems. All 2011 and newer Toyota models have it, as well as model-year 2012 GM and Mazda vehicles.

More automakers will likely follow suit. And last month, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration began reviewing a proposal to require brake override systems on all new vehicles.