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September 29, 2006
NHTSA ISSUES ESC RULE PLAN, TECHNICAL EVALUATION REPORT
NHTSA has published its long-awaited rulemaking proposal to require Electronic Stability Control systems on future new vehicles, and has also released a detailed technical report, “Development of ESC Performance Criteria” describing the test methodologies it has developed for evaluating ESC compliance with the proposed rule. The technical report points out that ESC systems are designed to be partially or fully disabled by drivers, and that these settings can make large differences in their effectiveness, including comparative effectiveness between vehicle makes and models.
The new rulemaking proposal, which would require auto manufacturers to install ESC as a standard feature on all new passenger vehicles, has the potential to save more than 10,000 lives every year, NHTSA said. It would require all manufacturers to begin equipping passenger vehicles under 10,000 pounds with ESC starting with the 2009 model year and to have the feature available as standard equipment on all vehicles by the 2012 model year (September 2011).
“ESC systems use automatic computer-controlled braking of individual wheels to help the driver maintain control in situations where a vehicle without ESC would skid out of control and likely leave the road. Nearly all rollover crashes occur after a vehicle leaves the road,” NHTSA said. The agency estimates that ESC will save between 5,300 and 10,300 lives annually and prevent between 168,000 and 252,000 injuries. ESC will prevent between 4,200 and 5,400 of the more than 10,000 deaths that occur each year as a result of rollover crashes. Since 2004, NHTSA has urged manufacturers to voluntarily add ESC as standard equipment on vehicles. As a result, it says, almost 29 percent of all 2006 models - 57 percent of SUVs - are already equipped with ESC.
For an update on which vehicles already have ESC, visit an in-depth report recently published by the Detroit Free Press.
Posted by MVHAP at September 29, 2006 01:01 PM