U.S. Government to Mandate Anti-Rollover Systems in New Vehicles

Exactly two years ago, I wrote a newsletter article about the continuing danger of vehicle rollovers. You can read that article in the September 2004 issue of On Your Side.

Now, finally, the government is preparing to take some action to prevent this continuing threat to the public. A proposal is going to be made that would require manufacturers to require electronic stability control (ESC) in all vehicles, probably beginning with the 2012 model year.

ESC technology has been praised 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 ESC as standard equipment now, and auto industry officials expect it to be available on all vehicles by 2010.

One study found that electronic 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.

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 now.

Vehicle 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. Sport Utility Vehicles and other vehicles with high centers of gravity have been especially 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.

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.

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 motorists a year. Still, Consumer Reports, which tests hundreds of automobiles each year, says that ESC "will probably save 10 times as many lives as air bags."

According to the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, the electronic stability control technology reduces the risk of all single-vehicle crashes by more than 40 percent, and fatal crashes by 56 percent.

If you or a loved one has been injured in a vehicle rollover, please contact our law firm as soon as possible. We may be able to help you, but gaining access to the vehicle is critical. Do not wait! We must be able to secure the vehicle before other persons accidentally or purposefully alter vital parts of the vehicle, and before rain or other natural processes make it impossible to reconstruct the vehicle's exact condition at the instant of the collision.