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Experts tout stability control for vehicles(Newsday (Melville, NY) (KRT) Via Thomson Dialog NewsEdge) May 11--A new study provides one of the most enthusiastic endorsements of electronic stability control, the anti-skid/anti-rollover system that is not required by law and which few buyers order if given a choice. Researchers at the University of Michigan, based on an analysis of eight years of government vehicle crash statistics, say the systems can reduce the chances of a fatal rollover crash by 73 percent in sport utility vehicles and 40 percent in passenger cars. Non-fatal loss-of-control crashes are reduced by 70 percent for SUVs and 55 percent for passenger cars, they said, and the benefits are even more dramatic in poor weather conditions. "Electronic stability control is probably the most significant automotive safety technology since the seat belt," said study co-author John Woodrooffe of the university's Transportation Research Institute in Ann Arbor. Similar conclusions have been reached by the University of Iowa, Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, National Highway Traffic Safety Administration and Consumer Reports. Rae Tyson, spokesman for the safety administration, said the agency is considering making the systems mandatory in new vehicles. "We're expecting to issue a proposed regulation sometime this year," he said. Traffic accidents kill more than 40,000 Americans and injure another 2.5 million each year. About half of fatal crashes involve a single vehicle, often losing control or rolling over. Developed for cars in the early 1990s by Germany's Robert Bosch Corp., stability control employs sensors that monitor wheel speed and other parameters to determine if the vehicle is about to travel in a direction different from the one indicated by the steering wheel position. It automatically brakes the appropriate wheel to help the driver maintain control. In many cases engine power also is reduced. The insurance institute says the systems are standard on 47 percent of 2006 passenger car models available in the U.S., optional in 19 percent and not available on 35 percent. The systems are standard in 66 percent of available SUV models, including the bestseller, the Ford Explorer, optional in another 7 percent and not available in 27 percent. But fewer than a third of new vehicles sold this year will have stability control because, when the systems are optional, there are few takers. Said Ford spokesman Dan Jarvis, "A take rate of 20 percent would be a pretty high number for any safety feature." The system is a $650 option for 2007 in the nation's bestselling car, the Toyota Camry. Toyota says only 15 percent of 2007 Camrys sold so far have stability control. Systems are offered under various names, including Dynamic Stability Control, StabiliTrak, Active Handling and Vehicle Stability Assist. A searchable database of vehicles available with the systems is on the institute Web site at www.iihs.org/ratings/esc/ esc.aspx. |