August 2007 - Electronic Stability Control (ESC) - Effectiveness

Electronic Stability Control (ESC) is a safety technology designed to enhance a vehicle’s stability and control. ESC systems use automatic computer-controlled braking of individual wheels to assist the driver in maintaining control in critical driving situations in which the vehicle is beginning to lose directional stability at the rear wheels (spin out) or directional control at the front wheels (plow out). ESC first became available in the United States in 1997.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) has published a research report on ESC, entitled Statistical Analysis of the Effectiveness of Electronic Stability Control (ESC) Systems – Final Report. The report covers statistical analyses of 1997-2004 crash data from the Department of Transportation’s Fatality Analysis Reporting System (FARS) and 1997-2003 crash data from the States’ data files. The basic analytical approach was to estimate the reduction of crash involvements of the types that are most likely to have benefited from ESC – relative to a control group of other types of crashes where ESC is unlikely to have made a difference in the vehicle’s involvement.

According to the statistical analysis, for vehicles equipped with ESC,

• Fatal run-off-road crashes were reduced by 36 percent for passenger cars and 70 percent for light trucks and vans (LTVs).
• Police-reported run-off-road involvements were decreased by 45 percent in passenger cars and 72 percent in LTVs.
• Fatal single-vehicle crashes that did not involve pedestrians, bicycles, and animals decreased (due to ESC) by 36 percent in passenger cars and 63 percent in LTVs.
• Police-reported single-vehicle crashes (excluding pedestrian, bicycle, animal crashes) were reduced by 26 percent for passenger cars and 48 percent for LTVs.
• Rollover involvements in fatal crashes were decreased by 70 percent in passenger cars and 88 percent in LTVs.
• Police-reported crashes involving rollovers were reduced by 64 percent in passenger cars and 85 percent in LTVs.
• Culpable fatal multi-vehicle crashes were reduced by 19 percent for passenger cars and 34 percent for LTVs.
• Culpable involvements in police-reported multi-vehicle crashes were decreased by 13 percent in passenger cars and 16 percent in LTVs.
• Overall, ESC reduced all fatal crashes by 14 percent for passenger cars and 28 percent for LTVs.
• Overall, police-reported crash involvements decreased by 8 percent in passenger cars and 10 percent in LTVs.

NHTSA has mandated the installation of ESC in 100 percent of light vehicles by Model year 2012 (with exceptions for some vehicles manufactured in stages or by small volume manufacturers).

To view the text of the NHTSA report, Statistical Analysis of the Effectiveness of Electronic Stability Control (ESC) Systems – Final Report, click on the following link: http://dmses.dot.gov/docimages/p102/479883.pdf.

COPYRIGHT ©2007, ISO Services Properties, Inc.

The information contained in this publication was obtained from sources believed to be reliable. ISO Services Properties, Inc., its companies and employees make no guarantee of results and assume no liability in connection with either the information herein contained or the safety suggestions herein made. Moreover, it cannot be assumed that every acceptable safety procedure is contained herein or that abnormal or unusual circumstances may not warrant or require further or additional procedure.