Throttle-override now Standard on all Models

[Hyundai NEWS]

While true cases of “unintended acceleration” are exceedingly rare, the U.S. government is moving forward to protect people from the potential safety hazard anyway, regardless of how unlikely it is to occur. Thus, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) will soon mandate that all new vehicles sold in this country offer throttle-override systems that kick in as soon as a driver’s foot engages the brake pedal. However, that’s not quite good enough for Hyundai, which will be installing the systems in all of its new products beginning with vehicles produced in May.
According to the company, “Hyundai development teams have been less concerned about final government mandate timing, focusing instead on the immediate safety and assurance of their customers.”
Of course, that’s nothing new for Hyundai, which currently offers six vehicles that were named 2012 Top Safety Picks by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety:

• Hyundai Sonata
• Hyundai Elantra
• Hyundai Equus
• Hyundai Genesis
• Hyundai Santa Fe
• Hyundai Tucson

Top Safety Pick status is awarded only to vehicles that achieve the highest possible marks in IIHS evaluations of front, side, rear and rollover crash protection, and come with electronic stability control. And in addition to those IIHS honors, the Sonata and Elantra also have received five-star overall safety ratings from NHTSA.
“Safety has always been a top priority at Hyundai, so we are thrilled to see six of our models on this important and prestigious list,” said Mike O’Brien, vice president, Product and Corporate Planning, Hyundai Motor America. “Having led the industry in standardizing Electronic Stability Control for the midsize sedan segment back in 2005, Hyundai is committed to developing and providing the best in both passive and active safety technologies.”