“Brake pedal electronic throttle override capability” sounds scary and complicated, but Hyundai will assure you that it’s not. With almost all new cars featuring lightweight, inexpensive, relatively responsive electronic throttles—no actual physical connection between your foot and the engine—Hyundai ensures that if this electronic throttle ever malfunctions and gets stuck, the brakes will be able to override the throttle and prevent a crash.
Sounds innocuous, but it’s Hyundai’s way of fulfilling a government mandate that is coming close to passing and probably won’t for months on end. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) is currently studying Accelerator Control Systems for their potential danger for cars becoming uncontrollable; this has the potential to prevent the same accelerator-sticking issues that so plagued Toyota over the past few years.
All Hyundais built starting this month will feature this brake override system, which probably is as simple as changing a few bits of code in the car’s programming. If the government approves this mandate, at least Hyundai will rest easy—as well as its customers, the company hopes.
Source: Hyundai
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