Recently, General Motors and Ford Motor announced that they will begin
offering electronic stability control (ESC) on their SUV models
beginning in 2005. Now, Chrysler says it will do the same, making its
ESC standard on all 2006 SUV models and on some models in 2005.
A study performed by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety
(IIHS) confirmed a National Highway Traffic Safety Administration study
and concluded that electronic stability control saves lives and helps
prevent rollovers. IIHS reported recently that ESC reduced the risk of
fatal passenger vehicle crashes by 34 percent. In fact, IIHS reported
that ESC reduced fatal single-vehicle crash risk by 56 percent and the
risk of all single-vehicle crashes — both fatal and non-fatal — by 41
percent. IIHS also claims ESC has the capability of saving 7,000 lives
per year.
