March 18, 2010
Electronic Stability Control
Save Money With Stability and Traction
When times are tough, you may be pressured to choose between safety and economy. However, you can save both lives and money. Just as financial stability is a goal for many companies, stability on the road is a key to preventing costly crashes.
Electronic Stability Control (“ESC”) is hailed as the greatest safety innovation since the seatbelt. The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) reports that ESC prevents:
• 40% of single-vehicle crashes
• 56% of fatal single-vehicle crashe
• 77-80% of fatal single-vehicle rollover
The manufacturing cost of ESC is about $100 for light vehicles, making it cheaper than insurance and a lot cheaper than crashing. ESC is now optional or standard on a wide range of new passenger and commercial models from all major manufacturers.
Skid prevention
Transport Canada reports that 48% of serious crashes are caused by skidding. ESC detects and prevents many skids by automatically braking individual wheels to help steer the vehicle where the driver intends to go. ESC helps prevent skidding at high or low speeds, on bare pavement or slippery roads, in summer or winter, and for all vehicle types.
ESC does what no driver can do, detecting and correcting skids in 1/25 of a second, applying individual brakes and reducing engine power, often before the driver realizes the vehicle has skidded. ESC is profoundly effective for cars, vans, pickups, and SUVs, and is even more valuable for eighteen-wheelers or buses. ESC helps keep vehicles on the road, in their lanes, and under control.
ESC does not improve traction or enable vehicles to corner faster. Traction depends on tires gripping the road surface. Transport Canada cautions, “Even if your vehicle is equipped with ESC, you must continue to drive prudently.” ESC helps drivers maintain control within the limits of available traction.
Winter traction
In winter temperatures, proper tires means winter traction tires. Typical “all season tires” are not really designed for all seasons because they harden in the cold. Hockey pucks stored in a freezer have reduced friction coeffi cients; that is, they slide. Frozen hockey pucks also lose elasticity so, when deformed, they do not return quickly to their original shape; that is, they don’t bounce back. All season tires generally suffer reduced performance when temperatures dip below +7ºC, even on bare roads. However, winter tires are made of soft rubber compounds that maintain elasticity and grip in the cold.
How do ESC and winter tires work in real life? As a driving enthusiast, I realize that my life rides on tiny contact patches where the rubber meets the road. My grip on life becomes tenuous when snow, ice, slush, and water separate my tires from the asphalt. Blizzards, darkness, and dangerous drivers add to the challenges, making winter driving a death-defying experience.
The best investment I ever made was a new vehicle with ESC and top-quality winter tires. Each feature, by itself, was effective up to a point. However ESC alone only worked while I had traction. And winter tires only worked alone if I had time to plan my manoeuvres. The combination of both has transformed my winter driving, saving me from human errors and reducing the stress of winter driving.
The future
The U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration was so impressed with ESC that they fast-tracked a new regulation. Starting in September 2008, 55% of all new passenger vehicles had to have ESC, and that percentage will be phased upward annually to 100% by the fall of 2011. By then, Canada, Australia, and much of Europe will also have ESC laws.
Although ESC has been available since 1995, public awareness has been very low. However, retail demand will grow and may affect resale value of vehicles without ESC. Similarly, the new Quebec law mandating winter tires has raised awareness across Canada. Some day we will wonder how we drove without ESC and winter tires.
ESC is sold under many trade names such as Electronic Stability Program, Vehicle Stability Assist, Vehicle Dynamic Control, Stabilitrak, and Advance Trac. To see a list, Google “Names of ESC.” The following links take you to more information or videos on ESC:
The following link takes you to information and a video on winter tires:
www.tc.gc.ca/roadsafety/safevehicles/safetyfeatures/wintertires/
Glen Nicholson is a Prince George lawyer working to mandate and raise awareness of ESC in Canada. He is an independent safety advocate with no financial interest in ESC.
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Glen Nicholson
