USA sets pace in active automotive safety

The US National Highway Traffic Safety Authority plans to significantly increase safety on US roads by making the electronic stability program a mandatory requirement for all light cars.

The US National Highway Traffic Safety Authority (NHTSA) plans to significantly increase safety on US roads by making the electronic stability program (ESP) a mandatory requirement for all light cars.

According to a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking published on 14th September 2006, all light cars in the USA with a gross vehicle weight of up to 4.5 tonnes are to be equipped with this active safety system, a requirement that will be phased in gradually from the 2009 model year up to the 2012 model year.

This would make the USA the first country to mandate the installation of an active safety system.

In 2005, every fourth vehicle in this class in the USA was equipped with this active safety system.

The figure for Europe in the same year was 40% of all newly registered vehicles, and in Germany the figure was 72%.

The initiative is the result of extensive studies by the NHTSA, which found that installing the active safety system as standard equipment in the USA would allow 34% of all single-vehicle crashes and 71% of all rollovers of passenger cars to be prevented.

The number of single-vehicle crashes involving SUVs would be reduced by as much as 59%.

Single-vehicle accidents are those that do not involve any other road users.

The active safety system was developed by Bosch, and in 1995 Bosch was the first company in the world to begin series-production of the product.

NHTSA reports that up to 10,000 lives could be saved every year in the USA alone, and as many as 250,000 injuries could be prevented.

According to the NHTSA experts, the introduction of ESP would be the greatest lifesaving development since the seat-belt rule was issued.

These findings were largely corroborated by a study published last summer by the North American Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS).

It stated that the number of fatal accidents involving vehicles not equipped with ESP could be reduced by 43%.

Many other associates and institutions worldwide agree with the NHTSA's conclusions.

For example, Thatcham, the British motor insurance repair research centre, and GDV, the German insurance association, also call for ESP to be installed in every class of vehicle.

Similarly, one of the recommendations to the EU Commission in the ten-year plan of CARS21, the working group set up by the EU Commission and chaired by Vice President and Commissioner Verheugen, is the mandatory introduction of ESP.

Back to top