ESC announcement ‘shamefully late’, says safety campaigner

The government announcement that Electronic Stability Control will become compulsory on new vehicles is effectively locking the stable door after the horse has bolted, says the car review website dogandlemon.com.

Electronic Stability Control detects when a driver is skidding and selectively brakes the individual wheels to bring the vehicle back under control.

Editor Clive Matthew-Wilson, who spent many years campaigning for ESC to be compulsory, welcomes the government’s announcement, but says that it’s far too friendly to the car industry.

“These new rules don’t require all vehicles to have ESC until 2020. That’s ridiculous. By then all new vehicles will have ESC anyway.”

"These rules should have been in place for all vehicles five years ago. There are now tens of thousands of vehicles in everyday use without ESC, simply because an uncaring government allowed these vehicles in without it.”

Matthew-Wilson says the ESC rules should apply to used imports at the same time as new cars.

"There are plenty of excellent used imports coming in from Japan. I don't see why there should be one safety standard for importing new vehicles and another standard for importing used ones.”

Studies by the American Institute for Highway Safety showed that: “Electronic Stability Control lowers the risk of a fatal single-vehicle crash by about half and the risk of a fatal rollover by up to 80 percent.”

http://www.iihs.org/iihs/brochures/shopping-for-a-safer-car-2013

The New Zealand government has widely promoted Electronic Stability Control in some of its road safety publicity, but has allowed new vehicles to be sold without it.

New vehicles sold recently without Electronic Stability Control:

• Chery J1, J3 and J11,
• Foton Tunland
• Great Wall V200, V240 and X240
• Land Rover Defender
• Mahindra Genio
• Mitsubishi L300
• Mitsubishi Triton (some versions)
• Nissan Navara (some versions
• Ssangyong Actyon (some versions)
• Ssangyong Korando (some versions)
• Ssangyong Rexton (some versions)
• Suzuki Jimny
• Toyota Hilux (some versions)

Release ends (more useful information below).

For further information please contact dogandlemon.com

England: 44 20 3575 1442

Australia: 61 2 8011 4764

New Zealand: 64 9 378 1476

or Clive Matthew-Wilson 64 21 051 6670 / clive@dogandlemon.com.

What manufacturers call Electronic Stability Control
Not all ESC systems are identical. The hardware is similar, but there are variations in the way systems activate when a driver begins to lose control.
In an ideal world, all the manufacturers would describe Electronic Stability Control as Electronic Stability Control. However, many manufacturers give it a different name in order to distinguish their brand from others. Below is a list of manufacturers that use Electronic Stability Control, and what they call it.

Maker model what they call ESC
Aston Martin Automatic Stability Control (ASC)
Audi Electronic Stability Program (ESP)
BMW Dynamic Stability Control (DSC)
Chrysler Electronic Stability Program (ESP)
Citroën Automatic Stability Control (ASC)
Ford Dynamic Stability Control (DSC) /
Electronic Stability Program (ESP)
Great Wall Electronic Stability Control (ESC)
Holden Electronic Stability Program (ESP)
Honda Electronic Stability Control (ESC)
Hummer StabiliTrak
Hyundai Electronic Stability Program (ESP)
Jaguar Dynamic Stability Control (DSC)
Kia Electronic Stability Program (ESP)
Land Rover Dynamic Stability Control (DSC)
Lexus Vehicle Skid Control (VSC)
Mazda Dynamic Stability Control (DSC)
Mercedes-Benz Electronic Stability Program (ESP)
Mini Dynamic Stability Control (DSC)
Mitsubishi Active Skid and Traction Control
Nissan Vehicle Dynamic Control (VDC)
Peugeot Automatic Stability Control (ASC)
Porsche Porsche Stability Management (PSM)
Proton Vehicle stability control (VSC)
Renault Automatic Stability Control (ASC)
Rolls-Royce Automatic Stability Control (ASC)
Saab Electronic Stability Program (ESP)
Subaru Vehicle Dynamics Control System (VDCS)
Toyota Vehicle Skid Control (VSC)
Volkswagen Electronic Stabilisation Program (ESP)
Volvo Dynamic Stability & Traction Control (DSTC)

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