In this article I will tell you what is brake override and how it works? Also I will tell you what is the need of Brake Override.

What is Brake Override ?

With cars getting more and more sensors and microprocessors, it is possible to save the passengers from fatal car accidents by using innovative technologies. Brake Override is one such technology which can be a life-saver in case of a stuck throttle. Imagine that due to some reason (god-forbid), if the gas pedal / accelerator of your car gets stuck and its pressed hard, in that case even if you apply brakes really hard, the car won’t come to a stop so easy because the brakes are not fully effective if the throttle is revving the engine high. This can be a vary fatal situation and can cause deadly accidents.

Brake override is an intelligent system which overrides the throttle press and even if the gas pedal / accelerator pedal is fully pressed and you hit the brakes hard, it will bring the engine revs down by releasing the throttle intelligently even if the gas pedal is fully pressed. This ensures that when the brake is press, the engine will lower its RPM and help the car to come to a stop as it normally would if the throttle is not stuck. This technology can save many lives even if this possibility of gas pedal getting stuck is not very high.

We have recently heard and read about some of the mishaps because of unintended acceleration in some faulty cars. Had these cars been equipped with this safety feature, these accidents could not have happened as brakes could have been fully effective.

How Brake Override System Works ?

Well, not going into deep technicalities as there can be more than one ways of making it work, I will just tell you an overview of how Brake Override works. Cars have sensors to determine how much the gas pedal has been depressed, these sensors are a part of MPFI system. Also cars have sensors to determine how hard brakes have been pressed, these sensors are a part of ABS and EBD system. To make brake override work, this information can be used together. When brake is pressed, this information can be used to alert the MPFI system to rev down the car as the brake is depressed and engine should not rev high. I will not go in more details to bore you with technical jargons.

What is the Need Of Brake Override ?

Brake override system can help save lives in rare cases of gas pedal getting stuck. Even though these cases maybe rare, but the value of human life is precious so its makes sense to have this safety feature. Also in another case, if some driver hits brake in panic and his feet get stuck due to panic situation in such way that his feet is on both gas / accelerator pedal and brakes, in that case also this technology can prove to be a life saver.

Brake Override Demonstration Video

Below is a video by BMW demonstrating brake override system in one of their cars:

I am totally impressed by this feature and would love to have a care with this safety feature in it. Although some drag racing  and motor sports enthusiasts may not like this to be in their cars, but for normal passengers, Brake Override is a life saver.

Well metal bolts on the car tyres are not much different from the plastic caps on a bottle, but they have different strength and point of failure. In manufacturing plants where the automobiles and other machinery is manufactured, there is a way to measure how tightly a nut-bold is to be tightened. These meters are called torque meters, when mounted on the wrench, these are called torque-wrench.

Most of the roadside tyre fitting or trye fitting is done without use of torque wrench, which might be slowly damaging for the nuts and bolts, or on the other hand, if tightened loosely, they might be a big safety risk.

Tyrestore Chennai has come up with fitting of tyres using torque-wench, which is a good safety practice followed by them. I have been in touch with Tyrestore for some time and have been observing that they have brought some good and advanced technologies for vehicle safety from tyre fitting point of view.

I find it to be an appreciable initiative towards safety and quality. I will keep posting on the new tools and technologies on automobile safety and services. I think other tyre stores should get inspiration from  them and improve their quality of services to a high level as Tyrestore has been doing.

What is Combi-Brake?

Combi-brake means that the brake will act on front and rear wheel together every time you apply the brakes. This means a lot of improved safety.

Why Combi-Brake means more safety?

In two wheelers (scooters and bikes), there are two separate brake controls for front and rear wheels. This is true for almost all two-wheelers that I have ever seen or ridden. Most of two-wheeler riders apply only rear wheel brake, or use only rear brake in most of the cases. However for most effective braking and stopping in small distance safely without loosing control, both front and rear brakes should be used together. Most people fear using front brakes too much because if you press them too hard, the scooter/bike may skid and the rider will fall badly.

Combi-Brakes will apply the front-brakes in the correct amount whenever rear brakes are applied, so it will apply both brakes when you apply only rear one. This means that the scooter rider need not worry about using front brakes, they will be used in correct amount automatically when the rear brakes are used. See the image above, the highlighted green area shows how they have put an extra-cable to brake lever control of Honda-Activa 2009 to make combi-brakes work.

I also suffered a leg injury because of poor-braking in my motor-bike some time back, when I fell down after a collision with the car ahead when it applied sudden brakes. If my bike had this combi-brake technology, it could have stopped in little time and could have saved me the injury and pain.

I am really impressed by this out-of-the-box innovative feature. It should be used in all two-wheelers to improve safety, because effective braking can prevent many road-accidents and injuries.