Toyota to Introduce Anti-Acceleration Safety Feature

Toyota is reportedly planning to introduce a new feature to prevent accidents caused by pressing the accelerator instead of the brake pedal, resulting in unexpected acceleration. The safety function will restrain engine output if the gas pedal is mistakenly pressed when there is a person in front of the vehicle, as a result of preventing the vehicle from accelerating towards the pedestrian.

Similar safety devices are available on the market but they only work when sensors detect an obstacle such as a wall or another car in the direction the vehicle is traveling and often do not respond to pedestrians or bicycles.

The Toyota system would progressively lessen the speed of the vehicle when the accelerator is pressed suddenly, even if there are no obstacles in front, making it the first major domestic automaker to incorporate this kind of function.