Filed under: Government/Legal, Safety
NHTSA to require anti-roll tech on all cars by 2012
The NHTSA revealed the final rules on the mandatory installation of electronic stability control (ESC) to help prevent rollovers on all vehicles by the 2012 model year (September 2011). The legislation applies to all vehicles under 10,000 pounds, and was ushered in without dissent by automakers. Carmakers that produce less than 5,000 cars per year will be given more time to phase in the technology.
With their increased propensity to roll over, 90% of SUVs already feature ESC, but only 40% of 2007 model cars do. Given the disproportionate fatality rate for rollovers – only 2% of auto accidents result in rollovers, but rollovers account for 40% of fatalities – having all cars equipped with ESC is estimated to reduce rollovers up to 84%, save up to 10,300 lives, and prevent up to 238,000 serious injuries per year. When it comes to single vehicle crashes, SUV rollovers could drop by 59%, with passenger cars dropping 34%.
The threshold test will be conducted at 50 mph, using a steering robot to swerve the vehicle in a predetermined pattern while the vehicle is moving at 50 mph. According to the NHTSA, the test is severe enough to cause most vehicles to spin out without ESC. Mandated equipment includes an indicator light to warn drivers about problems with the ESC.
Since ESC employs computer-controlled selective braking, all cars must also be equipped with ABS, which is a direction automakers were headed in anyway. The cost to automakers will be in the area of $985 million, but the cost-per-vehicle will only be $111, a small premium for a life saved. The cost of property damage is also expected to drop by up to $450 million per year.
One glaring weak spot is the roof. While the NHTSA has been reviewing roof strength since the '90s, proposals have been opposed by safety advocates as too weak and manufacturers as too strong.
Exceptions to always-on ESC could off-road vehicles, use on track days, driving in deep snow, and mismatched tire sizes (e.g., using a spacesaver spare). Ford and GM have indicated they expect to beat the mandatory deadline by a year.
[Source: Detroit News]
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
Jaymez 8:13PM (4/06/2007)
I don't want ABS in my cars. I don't want anything that removes my control from the vehicle.
Perhaps we're saving too many lives. Evolution used to reward the smartest and brightest. If we're not careful, it's going to reward idiots, too.
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naif 8:42PM (4/06/2007)
this will surely help all the drunks get home safely?
it will also help those putting their make-up on in the mornings along with those reading, yapping on the phone and doing whatever instead of driving the car. just more big brother.
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xx_sw20_xx 8:44PM (4/06/2007)
wow Jaymez very, very well said. rollovers could be prevented better by having stricter driver tests
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Big Rocket 8:46PM (4/06/2007)
#1 (Jaymez): "Perhaps we're saving too many lives. Evolution used to reward the smartest and brightest. If we're not careful, it's going to reward idiots, too."
If a SUV rolls over on a freeway directly into the path of your family's car, killing your wife and kids, does that mean your loved ones are idiots who deserve to be killed off?
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Andrew 9:29PM (4/06/2007)
i guess i'll be buying a car before the 2012 model year when it comes time....
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Maxzillian 9:35PM (4/06/2007)
It's extra bulk like this that continually leaves me looking to buying older cars.
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fd 9:54PM (4/06/2007)
Could we get please get no-tech tiny cost solutions like:
- rear fog lights
- no blind spot side mirrors
- amber turn signals
I'm all for safety, but these 3 would help prevent accidents so you don't need ESC.
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paul34 10:13PM (4/06/2007)
#7: What do you mean by no blind-spot mirrors? We already have them, they're on the side of your car.
Just set them properly and say bye-bye to blind spots. Most people set them incorrectly and go figure, end up with blind spots.
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naggs 10:33PM (4/06/2007)
slightly more mandatory weight and slightly worse fuel economy across the board.
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Chet 10:36PM (4/06/2007)
Wow, the ignorant reactionary comments didn't take long to come out of the woodwork here.
A properly-designed ESC system weighs NOTHING and is NEVER FELT by the driver unless their vehicle is ALREADY OUT OF THEIR CONTROL.
Go back to your caves.
Scene: Dad, piloting the family in the Ford Explorer, following too closely, sees a chunked trailer tire just ahead and yanks the wheel to avoid it -- and now he's in WAY over his head. When the ass-end gets loose, his lack of training and sluggish reflexes are likely to make things WORSE, and three seconds seconds later, he's sideways in front of traffic, headed for the k-bars in the median...
We won't take their licenses away, we won't give them proper training, they can't even keep their tires inflated... ESC makes lemonade out of these lemons. And you'll never know it's there unless you're doing something stupid.
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Maxzillian 10:55PM (4/06/2007)
When I say bulk, I don't just mean weight. It's just that I get tired of seeing cars packed with every feature under the sun. For me where I intend to own cars way past their warranty deadlines, it just looks like trouble to me. More parts to wear out and replace as the miles go on.
I also prefer the more raw feel of a good car. Being a bit of a sports enthusiast, I enjoy a car that is a challenge to drive and I don't care to have something that brakes one tire and sends power to another so I can power through a corner like a teenager with a temp license and a cinder block shoe.
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retsel 11:23PM (4/06/2007)
Maxzillian:
you are dead wrong... once the car has ABS, ESP is nothing more than software in the ECU of the car and 4 additional speed/rotational sensors...
And who does not want a car with every feature under the sun... once u drive an upmarket car you cant go back... trust me...
GM has been using traction control since 1971... it does not reduce the reliability of a car... and cars a far more reliable now than they have ever been...
but i guess i want an 1999 cell phone cause the new ones are far too fancy...
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Stretch 11:39PM (4/06/2007)
KISS - Keep It Simple Stupid.
Yes #13, I do want a 1999 cell phone, cuz I want a phone that is just a phone, nothing else.
The addition of all these systems doesn't make the driver better, it allows them to become stupider. People nowadays can slam on the brakes and not worry about sliding. Are they going to know what to do when their ABS fails, and they start sliding? I'm betting most won't. We can already see most people can't figure out how to drive in the snow. God forbid their car starts to slide and they slam on the brakes and they happened to be driving grampa's old 1986 buick without abs.
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retsel 11:45PM (4/06/2007)
Have anyone one of you detractors ever driven a car with ECS or DSC !? i have an AWD car with these systems (they can be turned off) and when the snow falls i watch people skid all over the place...
it is systems like these evolved from from F1 styled launch control
eventually they will offer these with different setting for cheaper cars and coupled with adaptive suspension systems that are moving down market, cars will become more rewarding to drive instead of less... the limits of cars will increase but when a driver goes pass these limits... they will die...
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Stretch 11:59PM (4/06/2007)
I live in central NY. I drive home in blizzards all the time. I live on top of a small mountian, on the last road to get plowed during the winter. I drive a '01 cavalier, nothing special, just a simple front wheel drive 5sp manual. I've never had any problems driving in snow. I even drive without the ABS hooked up. My father has a Subaru that I've driven a few times. But I'd rather drive my car, because I know exactly what it will do, and how to get it going again. All without the help of any electronic interference.
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Chet 12:33AM (4/07/2007)
"The addition of all these systems doesn't make the driver better, it allows them to become stupider."
News flash, sparky: they're stupider anyway. Drivers don't rise to the challenge of driving NOW -- hence the push to require this PROVEN technology in the first place, genius.
"People nowadays can slam on the brakes and not worry about sliding." Which is a GOOD thing, because before ABS they were slamming on their brakes anyway.
To argue against safety systems on the premise that they will reduce driver skill and thus reduce overall road safety is sheer folly. To argue against them on the premise that they'll make cars less reliable seems a specious argument... and even if it held water, it favors you saving a few bucks over saving thousands of innocent lives.
Keep driving an old car if you prefer -- or drive one that allows you to adjust/disable the system if you insist that your exceptional skill provides better control in all extreme situations than expert-tuned algorithms on high-speed microprocessors controlling inputs you don't even have and making adjustments ten times faster than you can make them.
The GEICO caveman is laughing at you.
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Maxzillian 12:40AM (4/07/2007)
At the end of the story, it comes down to preference. ;)
I think what bugs me about all of this is that I see cars moving closer and closer to driving themselves and that is something I honestly fear. Not because of safety reasons, but because it feels like it's impeaching on one of the few things I truly enjoy.
Call me stuck in the past if you want, it doesn't matter to me either way.
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Bob-omb 2:27AM (4/07/2007)
Get used to safety, people. The only people who oppose these systems have never nearly been killed by someone who couldn't control their vehicle. They've never been in a weather situation that demanded emergency maneuvering. Just realize that, 50 years ago, you would be the same people saying "Why power steering? Why seat belts? I wanna be in CONTROL!!" And that's why you're idiots.
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Landy 2:48AM (4/07/2007)
ABS, ESP are fine little helpers, but they will never be able to make a car foolproove!
An SUV has quite a high mass centre by nature. That causes a tendency ro roll anyway. As long as some people believe they can turn around an SUV like a Corvette, they will roll over...
Regardless if ABS+ESP are fitted in that car or not. ESP may be able to stabilize the car before it starts to roll, but this is not guaranteed - it's just a attempt to rescue what the driver has already
been messing up.
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pd 9:26AM (4/07/2007)
Safety Natzi's at work again. Just keep DRIVER INVOLVEMENT out of the equation as much as possible, and giving a greater false sense of security. Because they KNOW what is right for you, and your too stupid to handle your own vehicle.
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