A campaign to promote the life-saving technology Electronic Stability Control (ESC) has been launched across Europe. The ‘Choose ESC’ campaign will particularly focus on new car buyers and encourage them to ask for cars that are ESC equipped.
Lead by the FIA Foundation, the ‘Choose ESC’ campaign was launched at the Bridgestone European Testing ground in Aprilia, near Rome in May under patronage of European Commissioner Viviane Reding and FIA President Max Mosley. Speaking at the launch Commissioner Reding confirmed that is the goal of the European Commission “to achieve 100% installation of ESC in new cars by 2012”. This is the same year that the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has proposed to make the system mandatory in all new US passenger cars.
Also speaking in Rome, Max Mosley warned that “much more needs to be done to inform the consumer about why they must choose ESC when buying a new car. It is frustrating to see that the use of ESC in new cars in Europe is actually falling behind the USA. We should be leading the world in the introduction of a technology that was invented in Europe”.
Experts believe that ESC is the most significant safety device since the seat belt which could avoid over 4000 deaths and 100,000 injuries if all cars in the EU had the system. ESC recognises when a skid is starting to happen. In a fraction of a second the electronic control unit applies the brakes at individual wheels, helping to keep the car control before the skid. At least 40 % of fatal road accidents are the result of skidding. Studies show that ESC could reduce skidding accidents by up to 80 %. Across Europe only 42% of new cars are equipped with ESC and there is clear a lack of consumer awareness of its safety benefits.
To coincide with the ‘Choose ESC’ launch the European New Car Assessment Programme published a country by country survey of the availability of ESC across Europe. The survey shows a wide variety of availability of ESC between countries and cars models. The EuroNCAP wants to see the system fitted as standard in all cars sold across the EU.
The ‘Choose ESC’ campaign is supported both by the European Commission and the FIA Foundation and is an initiative of ‘eSafety Aware’, a public private partnership chaired by the FIA Foundation’s Director General, David Ward. For more information on ‘Choose ESC’ visit: www.chooseESC.eu. The ESC availability survey is available at: www.euroncap.com.