The U.S. secretary of transportation recently announced that electronic stability control would be standard equipment on every new passenger vehicle sold in America by 2012. Mary Peters made the announcement at the New York International Auto Show.
ESC uses automatic computer-controlled braking to keep drivers from losing control and rolling their vehicles on slippery roads or during emergency maneuvers. The final rule will require all manufacturers to begin equipping passenger vehicles with ESC starting with model year 2009, and to have the feature available as standard equipment on all new passenger vehicles by the 2012 model year, or September 2011.
The Department of Transportation estimates ESC will save between 5,300 and 9,600 lives and prevent between 168,000 and 238,000 injuries annually. The estimated average cost of ESC is about $111 per vehicle, assuming the model already features antilock brakes.
