U.S. to Mandate Anti-Rollover Technology

Philly Burbs ^ | 9-14-2006 | KEN THOMAS

[Cagey]

WASHINGTON - The government, impressed by the promise of anti-rollover technology, is planning to require automakers to include electronic stability control devices on all new vehicles in the coming years.

The technology has been hailed by automakers, suppliers and safety advocates for its potential in reducing traffic deaths and rollovers. The government's top traffic safety official has said it could have the greatest affect on auto safety since the arrival of seat belts.

About 40 percent of new vehicles have it as standard equipment and auto industry officials expect it to be available on all vehicles by 2010. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration is set to unveil proposed rules for stability control on Thursday that also will include testing standards for auto manufacturers. NHTSA officials have declined to release details.

One study found that stability control could lead to a reduction of 10,000 deaths a year if all vehicles had the technology, almost one-quarter of the more than 43,000 people killed on the roads annually.

"These are staggering statistics compared to most safety technologies that are installed on the vehicles today. This technology will save lives," said William Kozyra, president and CEO of Continental Automotive Systems, North America, a leading supplier of stability control.

Kozyra called it "the most important automotive safety technology of our generation."

The crash avoidance technology senses when a driver may lose control, automatically applying brakes to individual wheels to help make it stable and avoid a rollover. Many sport utility vehicles, vans and pickups have the equipment.

NHTSA Administrator Nicole Nason has said the agency will mandate the equipment, estimating it would save 10,600 lives when fully implemented into the fleet. During a July hearing before Congress, she said it "could be the greatest safety innovation since the safety belt."

Rollovers have had particularly fatal consequences, leading to more than 10,000 deaths a year despite accounting for only about 3 percent of all crashes. SUVs and other vehicles with high centers of gravity have been susceptible to rollovers.

Automakers have been receptive to the technology and have indicated little resistance in the decision to mandate the equipment because they have already been including it on their vehicles.

Ford Motor Co. announced Wednesday that it would make it standard equipment in all new vehicles by the end of 2009 while General Motors Corp. has said it will be included in all vehicles by the end of 2010. Virtually all Toyota Motor Corp. vehicles have it as an option and it has been standard on all Toyota SUVs since the 2004 model year.

Joan Claybrook, a former NHTSA administrator and head of Public Citizen, a consumer watchdog, called electronic stability control "breakthrough technology" but said it would be difficult to predict how many lives it could save.

Early in the development of the air bag, she said initial studies predicted it could save about 9,000 people a year, much higher than the 2,300 lives it saves annually.

"Until you get it into production and onto vehicles, you don't know how large the numbers are going to be," Claybrook said.

A study by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety earlier this year predicted 10,000 deaths could be prevented a year if passenger vehicles had the technology. The study found stability control reduced the risk of single-vehicle rollovers involving SUVs by 80 percent.

One of the benefits of stability control is that it doesn't require anything from the driver. While other crash avoidance technologies, such as lane departure warning, require the driver to react, stability control senses the vehicle veering out of control and stabilizes it.

"There really isn't any downsides that we're seeing," said Russ Rader, an Insurance Institute spokesman. Electronic Stability Control "is in a unique club with only seat belts and air bags for it's lifesaving potential."

Automakers caution that seat belts will remain the most essential tool in avoiding death or injury in a crash. Seat belts save an estimated 15,000 motorist a year.

Robert Yakushi, Nissan North America Inc.'s director of product safety, environmental, said the technology "shouldn't be characterized as a cure-all for all handling situations" but something that helps drivers maintain control in some situations.

"If everyone depends on vehicle stability control, I think, to save them in every situation, I think that builds overconfidence in the driver," Yakushi said, stressing that "the driver is key to vehicle safety."

[Cagey]

A test vehicle with its electronic stability control turned off slides over cones during a test in Auburn Hills, Mich., in this July 16, 2003 file photo. The government, impressed by the promise of anti-rollover technology, is planning to require automakers to include electronic stability control devices on all new vehicles in the coming years. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration is set to unveil proposed rules for stability control on Thursday, Sept. 14, 2006 that also will include testing standards for auto manufacturers. (AP Photo/Carlos Osorio)

[Petronski]

As long as it has an override switch...

[scooter2]

They need to have anti-roll over systems on those up-armored Humvees. Those things will roll over if you even sneeze at them. One of the bad side affects of adding the armor was to shift the CG much higher.

[Cagey]

It does, at least in the 2006 Acura LT. If you turn it off it stays off until the next time you start the vehicle and then resets to the on position.

[Izzy Dunne]

SUVs and other vehicles with high centers of gravity have been susceptible to rollovers.

Is it possible that the "high center of gravity" actually has something to do with the tendency to roll over?

What can we as a nation do about the rising center of gravity of automobiles?

Maybe we could ENGINEER THEM DIFFERENTLY?

[PeteB570]

I drove a jeep for years and never rolled it over. Drive one of those high CG SUVs and haven't rolled it over yet either.

What ever happened to blaming it on the driver?

Hey people, want a sports car? Then buy a sports car. Don't by a SUV and try to drive it like a sports car.

[MAD-AS-HELL]

I don't think the law will apply to these guys who love roll over.

[Cagey]

You're right. Here are a few examples of rollovers in Iraq.

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/search?m=all;o=time;s=rollover

[Petronski]

My Crown Vic has "traction control," a goofy computer program that applies brakes and spikes the throttle if a wheel spin. The first thing I did when I realize that was devise a circuit mod to make it "normally off" rather than "normally on."

Ach! What happened to old-fashioned notions like "skill" and "prudence?"

[LIConFem]

Training wheels!

[M1Tanker]

So how much more will this make autos cost? How much of the vehicle's discretionary power will this use (will a hybrid or electic car have enough power for the system)? What are the effects on fuel economy? What is the rest of the story?

Living in Michigan, I know why most accidents are caused: Bad Drivers!!!!!!!
-Driving too fast for conditions or driver skill
-Not using turn signals (I *think* they come standard on cars.)
-Not checking blind spots, over aggressive driving, cutting across 3 lanes at once without looking (and no turn signals)
-Yapping on a cell phone or looking at something else while driving
-Not taking care of vehicles (all those years of command maintenance in the Army taught me that at least)
-Driving Drunk/Stoned
-Racing on the roads
-Cutting off semi-trucks

Yesterday, a rain storm contributed to an accident involving almost 30 cars and at least one truck on I-696, northwest of Detroit. "Contributed" because I know that many people were probably driving like maniacs.

I'm dreading winter..... It only gets worse. Making an "idiot proof" car only causes the idiots to prove you wrong.

[Eagle Eye]

What can we as a nation do about the rising center of gravity of automobiles?

Is this linked in any way to Global Warming?

"Gravity: Not just a good idea, it is the law!"

[Sarajevo]

Wouldn't it be easier to simply slow down and drive defensively instead of mandating a new and expensive technology?

[Cagey]

Training wheels!

This looks like fun.

[LIConFem]

They look more like outriggers than training wheels. But semantics aside, yes, that does look like fun!

[-YYZ-]

Yep. Ever wonder why cars cost so much these days? Could be that gov't-mandated air bags, side protection and ABS have driven up the cost of a basic vehicle.

[Cagey]

Don't forget headlights. They're mandated too. Safety glass, soft dashboards, brake lights. The list goes on and on.