ESC – three letters that may save your life.
Passive devices like seatbelts, airbags, and child seats help drivers and passengers survive a car crash. But the safest vehicle is the one that does not crash at all. Now, many vehicles are equipped with technology that can actually help drivers avoid loss of control – one of the leading causes of road crashes in Canada.
ESC – or electronic stability control – is an active safety device that helps drivers avoid crashes by reducing the likelihood of skidding. ESC employs computer controlled technology to help restore the car to its correct alignment, keeping it safely on track. It applies controlled braking in 1/25th of a second – much faster than a human can react.
According to 2000-to-2005 Canadian crash data, vehicles equipped with an ESC system were involved in approximately 30 per cent fewer severe crashes due to loss of control. So, based on 2005 Canadian collision data, if all passenger vehicles were equipped with ESC, there would be up to 255 fewer deaths and 1,440 fewer people seriously injured on our roads every year.
The U.S. Department of Transportation was so impressed with ESC that it is requiring all new cars sold in the states be equipped with ESC by model year 2012. And Transport Canada is currently working on regulations that will require ESC on all new passenger vehicles in a similar timeframe.
Currently, only five per cent of Canadians have ESC in their vehicles, but it is available as a relatively inexpensive option on many models. When buying a new vehicle make sure to ask if it has an electronic-stability control system, or if it's available as an option. It appears under various trade names, such as StabiliTrak, Advance Trac, VSC (vehicle-stability control) or ESP (electronic-stability program).
Resources to Learn More About ESC
The British Columbia Automobile Association is an affiliate of the
Canadian Automobile Association (CAA) and
American Automobile Association (AAA), serving members in British Columbia and the Yukon.
