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If there's a silver lining in the rash of unintended acceleration claims that have popped up against Toyota as of late, it's that manufacturers from around the world are beginning to think about incorporating brake override systems in their products. General Motors has just announced that all of its vehicles with automatic transmissions and electronic throttle control will boast an "enhanced smart pedal" by 2012. Essentially, the unit will reduce engine power in the event that both the accelerator and brake pedals are depressed simultaneously.

Hi guys new bie to cars, get my kia forte few months back... Recently found a quite scary thing about the car's front doors: the car will auto lock all doors once speed above 20km/h sth, but recently my wife accidently pulled the front passenger's door handle, and the door open directly, when the car is at around 50km/h!! means it can override the lock , tried driver side it's same also can open directly, but rear doors can not and have to push the lock bottom to unlock first, someone said it's safety feather cos in case of acciddent can open door faster, i doubt so, imaging u r on highway 90km/h suddently the door accidently open, i dont think its safe.... Had confirmed all kia forte had this "feather", so before i send my car to dealer for enqurey, just wanna check with bros here with other brands of cars, is it the same for other cars that front door can open directly without unlock it first? Thx

While all Toyota and Lexus models are expected to be sold with brake override systems by the end of 2010, there are still plenty in customers' hands that don't have the feature. A brake override system will effectively cut engine power if it senses the brake and gas pedals are being pressed at the same time, a handy feature if you find your car suddenly accelerating. Until now, Toyota has been retroactively adding the brake override feature only to certain models affected by its recent recalls, specifically the Toyota Camry and Avalon and Lexus ES and IS models. Yesterday the Japanese automaker announced that this list is being expanded to also include the Toyota Tacoma, Venza and Sequoia. This means that anyone who brings one of these seven models to a Toyota dealer for a recall fix, whether it be for the floormat or sticking pedal recall, will also have the brake override feature added to his or her vehicle (except Sequoia owners, who Toyota says will get a letter about adding the brake override feature separate from the recall campaign). In its announcement after the jump, Toyota claims the brake override feature is not an "integral part of the recall remedy," but rather an extra measure of confidence for its customers. The announcement itself came the day before Congressional hearings on Toyota's pedal problems take place in Washington D.C.