Jean Todt with Make Roads Safe ambassador Michelle Yeoh
A Chinese ChooseESC campaign to promote the life-saving technology Electronic Stability Control (ESC) has been launched in Beijing by new eSafetyAware President Jean Todt.
Launched at the Beijing Proving Ground for Highway and Traffic, the Chinese ChooseESC campaign is co-led by the Research Institute of Highway of the Chinese Ministry of Transport and the Federation of Automobile Sports of China (FASC), and aims to raise awareness of ESC and increase the take-up of this technology.
ESC has been hailed the greatest road safety innovation since the seatbelt. However, there is a slow take-up rate of this technology with only 11% of all new cars in China sold in 2008 equipped with ESC. Wang Xiaojing, Deputy Director-General of Research Institute of Highway, MOT said: “There is no doubt that ESC can play a major role in saving lives on Chinese roads and could contribute significantly to our goal to reduce the number of road traffic fatalities. But to achieve this, much more needs to be done to inform the consumer about why they must choose ESC when buying a new car, as ESC cannot be retrofitted.”
Jean Todt, President of eSafetyAware said: “Buying a car that is ESC equipped is in every driver’s interest, as you never know when a dangerous situation might occur.”
The campaign, which particularly focuses on new car buyers, was also strongly endorsed by actress and Make Roads Safe Global Ambassador Michelle Yeoh. Having enjoyed a test ride with Chinese Rally Champion Jin Gang, demonstrating the safety gains of a car with ESC compared to a car without ESC, Michelle Yeoh said: “This very simple yet important piece of technology can make a difference in the number of road accidents that occur and the number of people that lose their lives in traffic accidents. As an ambassador for road safety, I strongly support the wide deployment of this life saving technology. ESC represents three letters that could one day save your life...”
The launch event also saw the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding between ITS China, FASC, eSafetyAware and the FIA Foundation on the deployment of ESC in China. This will be the starting point for a number of ESC demonstration events throughout China where drivers will get a first hand experience of the benefits of having a car which is ESC equipped.
Another feature of the campaign launch was the release of a Chinese end-user survey on active safety. The survey reveals that safety is the number one criterion for Chinese when purchasing a new car. However, 44% of those surveyed had never heard of ESC. After the benefits of ESC were explained, 78% said that ESC would be an important feature when buying their next car.
See the Memorandum of Understanding (248kb / .pdf) >