The Amazing Benefits of ESC

By Submitted Article

By Glen Nicholson

The World Health Organization says vehicle crashes are the leading cause of death among young people aged 2 - 33.  Dr. David Bowering, Chief Medical Health Officer for Northern British Columbia says road crashes cause 20% of direct health care costs.  He reports that the economic and social costs of road crashes in Canada are $25 billion a year.  According to Transport Canada, a staggering 2,923 people died on Canadian highways in 2005.  Around the world, crashes kill some 3,000 people every day and the cost to the world’s economy is estimated at $600 billion every year.

Road deaths rank among the top ten fatal diseases, more common than almost all forms of terminal cancer.  And auto injuries are much more frequent than fatalities.  Picture yourself standing beside your best friend.  Odds are almost 100% that one of the two of you will be injured in a crash during your lifetime.

We seem to accept the risk of road crashes as the ordinary price of mobility.  Lee Iacocca justified Ford’s refusal to add an $11 safety device to the Pinto car by observing that “safety doesn’t sell.”  Studies show that vehicle buyers are more concerned about fuel economy than safety for themselves and their families.

How do you feel about safety.  Would you pay $450 extra for an option that would reduce your chance of crashing by one third?  I’m talking about Electronic Stability Control (“ESC”), a computerized system that helps drivers control their vehicles by detecting skids and then applying brakes and/or reducing engine power. 

Passive safety devices like seatbelts, airbags, head restraints, bumpers, and child seats help people survive crashes.  However, ESC helps prevent crashes.

Experts around the world call ESC, “the most important auto safety device since the seatbelt.”  The US Insurance Institute of Highway Safety reports that ESC could save up to 10,000 lives per year in the US and could prevent:

•                     40% of single vehicle crashes;

•                     43% of fatal vehicle crashes; and

•                     77-80% of fatal vehicle rollovers.

Vehicle rollovers usually result from "tripping" sideways over uneven surfaces such as curbs or shoulders.  Rollovers account for only 3% of crashes; however they cause 28% of road fatalities.  By maintaining forward direction, ESC prevents most rollovers.  This is especially important to Northerners driving pickups and SUV’s, which often roll over due to their high centre of gravity.

ESC is also valuable to Northerners running the gauntlet of wildlife on our roads.  ESC was practically invented to help drivers maintain control during emergency manoeuvres such as swerving around moose.

ESC is effectively free.  ESC costs manufacturers $111 per vehicle.  That’s cheaper than seat belts.  And will pay for itself several times over by:

•                     reducing auto insurance losses;

•                     reducing health care costs;

•                     reducing workers compensation costs;

•                     reducing court costs;

•                     reducing environmental costs of damaged vehicles; and

•                     strengthening our labour force.

ESC is available from all car makers, yet has not penetrated Canadian consciousness.  Most people think auto safety means crashing with air bags.  However, the safest vehicle is the one that does not crash.  ESC cannot defy the laws of physics.  ESC does not increase road grip.  However, ESC helps you maintain steering control within the limits of available traction.

You are safer with ESC in your car.  You are also safer with ESC in other cars.  Until consumers demand crash avoidance technology, auto makers will continue to sell vehicles without ESC that will still be an unnecessary hazard on our highways 15-25 years in the future.

David Champion, Senior Director of Auto Testing at Consumer Reports says, “don’t buy a new car that does not have ESC.”  Next time you buy a car, ask the seller, “does it have ESC?”  And ask yourself, “why would you not buy ESC?” 

For ESC information, including the many trade names of ESC and videos showing ESC in action, look up “Electronic Stability Control” in Wikipedia at this link: 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electronic_Stability_Control

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