The Death of Left Foot Braking?
#47
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http://autos.aol.com/article/us-gove...verride-system
http://autos.aol.com/article/us-gove...verride-system
On the heels of government hearings regarding unintended acceleration, all cars sold in the U.S. could face a new rule that would require a brake override system.
U.S. Secretary of Transportation, Ray LaHood, made the comments after weeks of hearings into the 8.5-million vehicle recall of Toyota products, all of which centered around various forms of unintended acceleration and brake failure.
"We are looking at the possibility of recommending the brake override system to all manufacturers of automobiles," LaHood said in his testimony in front of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation. The committee is probing the recent Toyota recalls in Washington, D.C.
How It Would Work
What Do You Think?
Is the government requiring brake override systems on all new vehicles a good idea?
Yes
No
The system under consideration allows the driver to override the accelerator by returning the engine to idle if both the gas and brake pedals are being pressed at the same time, thus preventing unintended acceleration.
In addition to Secretary LaHood, Sen. John Rockefeller (D-W. Va,), has stated that creating new laws to expand federal authority over automotive safety issues may be a necessary step to ensuring that another massive recall does not occur.
"I do intend to work on comprehensive legislation to get at all of these issues in a real way. We need to look at current law and ask if it is strong enough to prevent something like this from happening again," Rockefeller said. “I know my colleagues have much to contribute to this effort, and I welcome it.”
We spoke with our friend and technical expert Sam Abuelsamid of Autoblog.com about the potential change.
"Essentially there is a form of logic in the engine's computer. What it does is it looks for the driver applying the brake pedal. If the throttle is open and the brake pedal is being pressed, the throttle is disabled," said Abuelsamid.
"In terms of how this particular system would work, it would use a system of timers in the engine. The throttle would have to be open beyond a certain amount of time while the brake is being applied for a couple of seconds before the engine shuts off. It's not just going to be an instant engine shut off."
Abuelsamid said that while government regulation will not bring the end of automotive safety recalls, exercising the authority in a proper way could certainly help.
“Mistakes happen, unforeseen consequences happen," he said. "It's a fact of life. Regulators need to keep on top of complaints and have engineers on staff that understand the latest technology in order to do analysis.”
When Toyota executives come to Capitol Hill this week to testify before Congress, how they make their case could very well affect how every automotive company functions. If the Senate committee decides that an expansion of government authority is necessary, every new car in the U.S. will be required to have an installed brake override system, regardless of their past safety record.
Such an act seems warranted for Toyota, but is it really fair to impose regulations on auto companies that have not had problems with unintended acceleration?
“Yes. What happened with Toyota could happen to anyone,” Abuelsamid said. “Some automakers have already taken the actions to prevent this problem, but the next issue could and likely will pop up anywhere. The increasing dependence on electronics and software will make it some ways more difficult to reproduce and diagnose problems.”
It’s too soon to tell what the consequences of the government probe into Toyota will be, but there may very well be a government mandated brake override system included on your next new vehicle, Toyota or not.
U.S. Secretary of Transportation, Ray LaHood, made the comments after weeks of hearings into the 8.5-million vehicle recall of Toyota products, all of which centered around various forms of unintended acceleration and brake failure.
"We are looking at the possibility of recommending the brake override system to all manufacturers of automobiles," LaHood said in his testimony in front of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation. The committee is probing the recent Toyota recalls in Washington, D.C.
How It Would Work
What Do You Think?
Is the government requiring brake override systems on all new vehicles a good idea?
Yes
No
The system under consideration allows the driver to override the accelerator by returning the engine to idle if both the gas and brake pedals are being pressed at the same time, thus preventing unintended acceleration.
In addition to Secretary LaHood, Sen. John Rockefeller (D-W. Va,), has stated that creating new laws to expand federal authority over automotive safety issues may be a necessary step to ensuring that another massive recall does not occur.
"I do intend to work on comprehensive legislation to get at all of these issues in a real way. We need to look at current law and ask if it is strong enough to prevent something like this from happening again," Rockefeller said. “I know my colleagues have much to contribute to this effort, and I welcome it.”
We spoke with our friend and technical expert Sam Abuelsamid of Autoblog.com about the potential change.
"Essentially there is a form of logic in the engine's computer. What it does is it looks for the driver applying the brake pedal. If the throttle is open and the brake pedal is being pressed, the throttle is disabled," said Abuelsamid.
"In terms of how this particular system would work, it would use a system of timers in the engine. The throttle would have to be open beyond a certain amount of time while the brake is being applied for a couple of seconds before the engine shuts off. It's not just going to be an instant engine shut off."
Abuelsamid said that while government regulation will not bring the end of automotive safety recalls, exercising the authority in a proper way could certainly help.
“Mistakes happen, unforeseen consequences happen," he said. "It's a fact of life. Regulators need to keep on top of complaints and have engineers on staff that understand the latest technology in order to do analysis.”
When Toyota executives come to Capitol Hill this week to testify before Congress, how they make their case could very well affect how every automotive company functions. If the Senate committee decides that an expansion of government authority is necessary, every new car in the U.S. will be required to have an installed brake override system, regardless of their past safety record.
Such an act seems warranted for Toyota, but is it really fair to impose regulations on auto companies that have not had problems with unintended acceleration?
“Yes. What happened with Toyota could happen to anyone,” Abuelsamid said. “Some automakers have already taken the actions to prevent this problem, but the next issue could and likely will pop up anywhere. The increasing dependence on electronics and software will make it some ways more difficult to reproduce and diagnose problems.”
It’s too soon to tell what the consequences of the government probe into Toyota will be, but there may very well be a government mandated brake override system included on your next new vehicle, Toyota or not.
#48
Registered User
iTrader: (5)
"In terms of how this particular system would work, it would use a system of timers in the engine. The throttle would have to be open beyond a certain amount of time while the brake is being applied for a couple of seconds before the engine shuts off. It's not just going to be an instant engine shut off."
That would also mean that heel-toe will stay in tact if it doesn't shut off after just a quick blip. (whew)
Also if this is going to be electronically controlled, I'm hoping that tuners will be able to disable this when reflashing the ECU. Guess we'll see.
#51
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And one yesterday, driver called 911 and they pulled a cruiser in front of it while he depressed the brakes as hard as he could (although being that he owned a light blue prius, I don't know how much strength he had).
#52
Registered User
iTrader: (5)
Right.
My friend has a 370z and it works really well. He's not a car guy, but the 370z is sorta waking the car guy in him a bit and the synchro rev match makes him downshift like a pro.
It's wierd but good. The feature truly makes you eliminate the heel-toe blip... and even if you hesitate (and the speed of the car falls) the synchro rev continues to keep the engine rev'd at the right speed so you seriously just release the clutch.
For what I expect to be just a little more ECU electronics, this is a really nice feature. I'd expect all the necessary sensors are already in place.
My friend has a 370z and it works really well. He's not a car guy, but the 370z is sorta waking the car guy in him a bit and the synchro rev match makes him downshift like a pro.
It's wierd but good. The feature truly makes you eliminate the heel-toe blip... and even if you hesitate (and the speed of the car falls) the synchro rev continues to keep the engine rev'd at the right speed so you seriously just release the clutch.
For what I expect to be just a little more ECU electronics, this is a really nice feature. I'd expect all the necessary sensors are already in place.
I think I would still rather not have that feature, and do it myself. Going WOT towards a turn, waiting til the last possible moment to hit the brakes, then blip and catch the RPM's perfectly when you let out the clutch... such a good feeling.
I saw that prius story this morning. Every time I see another one of those stories come up, I think of this thread. "Just go to neutral idiot!"
#53
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iTrader: (17)
Join Date: May 2005
Location: Sunnyvale, CA
Posts: 22,776
Car Info: '13 BRZ Limited / '02 WRX
Right.
My friend has a 370z and it works really well. He's not a car guy, but the 370z is sorta waking the car guy in him a bit and the synchro rev match makes him downshift like a pro.
It's wierd but good. The feature truly makes you eliminate the heel-toe blip... and even if you hesitate (and the speed of the car falls) the synchro rev continues to keep the engine rev'd at the right speed so you seriously just release the clutch.
For what I expect to be just a little more ECU electronics, this is a really nice feature. I'd expect all the necessary sensors are already in place.
My friend has a 370z and it works really well. He's not a car guy, but the 370z is sorta waking the car guy in him a bit and the synchro rev match makes him downshift like a pro.
It's wierd but good. The feature truly makes you eliminate the heel-toe blip... and even if you hesitate (and the speed of the car falls) the synchro rev continues to keep the engine rev'd at the right speed so you seriously just release the clutch.
For what I expect to be just a little more ECU electronics, this is a really nice feature. I'd expect all the necessary sensors are already in place.
#54
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Join Date: Dec 2002
Location: Stockholm
Posts: 7,441
Car Info: 2018 Golf R Variant
I don't see taking what makes a driver a driver out of the driver and putting it in the car as a good thing. Driving is an art and the car is your tool, your tool should not be doing the work, you should be. Distancing people from the car is not a good thing. (ie: DRL, people think their lights are on at midnight, but you can barely see them from behind. Example 2: Automatic headlights, one less "chore" while driving, leaving you free to add another distraction from driving.)
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