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Inventor Melts Brake and Gas Pedals into One

For the better part of the year, the favorite topic in the automotive industry was Toyota's now infamous unintended acceleration recall. Affecting millions of cars, the problem supposedly killed several people and prompted several Congressional hearings, countless talk shows, independent tests and much, much more.

With that in mind, and strongly believing that having two pedals, one for acceleration and one for braking, is a major no-no, Japanese inventor Masuyuki Naruse came up with the solution: the Naruse pedal.

Since we know the name “Naruse pedal” means nothing to you, let us explain. Instead of having two pedals for the operations mentioned above, this one, a single one, can be used for both acceleration and braking.

The system features a pedal per se, equipped with a lever on the right. When the driver needs to accelerate, he only has to push the lever to the side, and that accelerates the car. When braking is needed, the driver will push down on the pedal, and the brakes will be applied. Simply put, to accelerate, move the foot to the side, to break, press the foot on the pedal.

“We have a natural tendency to stomp down when we panic,” the inventor told The New York Times. “The automakers call it driver error. But what if their design’s all wrong?”

According to the inventor, the system requires no big modifications to be made to the braking system of the car. According to The New York Times, the conversion costs 100,000 yen ($1,156). The gas-brake pedal received the approval of the Japanese traffic safety organizations and is currently being used on some 130 vehicles.
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About the author: Daniel Patrascu
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Daniel loves writing (or so he claims), and he uses this skill to offer readers a "behind the scenes" look at the automotive industry. He also enjoys talking about space exploration and robots, because in his view the only way forward for humanity is away from this planet, in metal bodies.
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