The US Department of Transportation’s National Highway
Traffic Safety Administration Thursday proposed a brake-throttle override
safety standard to ensure drivers can more easily stop in the event the
accelerator and brake pedals are pressed at the same time. According to NHTSA’s
research, the new safety standard would reduce the risks of high-speed
unintended acceleration and prevent crashes involving a stuck or trapped
accelerator pedal by allowing the driver to maintain control through normal
application of the vehicle’s brakes.

“America’s drivers should feel
confident that anytime they get behind the wheel they can easily maintain
control of their vehicles — especially in the event of an emergency,” said
U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood in
a press release. “By updating our safety standards, we’re helping give
drivers peace of mind that their brakes will work even if the gas pedal is
stuck down while the driver is trying to brake.”

The proposal hopes to minimize the
risk drivers will lose control of their vehicles as a result of either
accelerator control system disconnections or accelerator pedal sticking or
floormat entrapment.

Members of the public are encouraged
to provide comment on NHTSA’s “Brake-Throttle Override” proposal and
will have 60 days to do so once the proposal is published in the Federal
Register.

View
the proposal

For additional information on NASA
and NHTSA’s studies of high-speed unintended acceleration, visit www.nhtsa.gov/UA.