In the midst of the unintended acceleration issues that Toyota has been battling, the Japanese carmaker quietly implemented a number of modifications on some of its vehicle model’s start/stop buttons.
Based on the information provided by a number of reliable sources, Toyota has discreetly modified the start/stop buttons used by some of its leading models in the market. These sources have also confirmed that such modifications were intended to allow the buttons to aids the drivers of Toyota vehicles during emergency situations.
The previous version of the start/stop buttons were basically designed to cut off the power supplied by the vehicle’s engine when the button is pressed thereby sending the car to a stop. However, the previous start/stop button version requires the driver to push the button for about three seconds. Unfortunately, many owners of the Toyota vehicles that were equipped with these buttons were not aware that they should provide a three-second push in order to cut off the engine power.
Due to lack of specific knowledge, a lot of vehicular accidents that had happened to Toyota vehicle owners were blamed on the previous version of the stop/start button. In fact, this was also cited as the main cause of the accident that claimed the lives of an officer of the California Highway Patrol as well as those of the three members of his family.
The start/stop button fiasco has also led to a major recall involving millions of vehicles all across the globe. Although Toyota has stated that the three-second push requirement of its vehicles’ start/stop button adheres to industry’s safety standard, the issue has cost the Japanese car maker to spend millions of dollars.
But after receiving the recommendations from the Society of Automotive Engineers or SAE, Toyota has modified the start/stop button used in its vehicle. According to Toyota, the modifications conducted made the start/stop button more intuitive and capable of providing quicker response during emergency situations. Toyota has also shared that the modified version could now cut off the engine power by making three quick pushes or by pressing the button for two seconds. Unfortunately, Toyota failed to identify the models that are now equipped with the modified start/stop button.
