Lexus, Toyota Adding Engine Override Software to Lineup

The headline tells all - Toyota and Lexus have been having so many problems over the unintended acceleration issue. It has clearly been a PR disaster.

Toyota hasn't really gave the true cause, moving from fix to fix. Some have said it is a software issue, some a hardware one. Now comes the "fix" for all future Toyota and Lexus vehicles.

We don't usually lambast automakers so thoroughly, but it is clear that something is amiss here. The announcement centers around the addition of an engine override system that puts the engine at idle if the car's computer detects that the driver is applying the brakes but the car isn't slowing.

This should have been done a long time ago - from the beginning, in fact. It also doesn't do anything to fix the core problem for older Toyota vehicles. Existing cars don't get the fix - they only have their accelerator replaced as part of Toyota's recall - and even that is a temporary "fix" until redesigned pedals are available.

Toyota says the changes will be implemented across the lineup "by the end of the year" and that it has already rolled the system out on the Toyota Camry and Lexus ES350. This isn't a small issue, lives are at stake!. Hopefully, this will be the end of these kind of widespread unintended acceleration problems.

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