The effectiveness of ESC (electronic stability control) in reducing real life crashes and injuries

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Lie, Anders¹; Tingvall, Claes²; Krafft, Maria³; Kullgren, Anders³

The effectiveness of ESC (electronic stability control) in reducing real life crashes and injuries

Proceedings of the 19th International Technical Conference on the Enhanced Safety of Vehicles (ESV)

Affiliations

¹Swedish Road Administration

²Monash University Accident Research Centre

³Folksam Research, Sweden
Abstract

ESC (Electronic Stability Control) was introduced on the mass market in 1998. Since then, several studies showing the positive effects of ESC has been presented.

In this study, data from crashes occurring in Sweden during 1998 to 2004 were used to evaluate the effectiveness of ESC on real life crashes. To control for exposure, induced exposure methods were used, where ESC-sensitive to ESC-insensitive crashes and road conditions were matched in relation to cars equipped with and without ESC. Cars of similar or in some cases identical make and model were used to isolate the role of ESC.

The study shows that the positive and consistent effects of ESC overall and in circumstances where the road has low friction. The overall effectiveness on all injury crash types except rear end crashes was 16.7 +/- 9.3 %, while for serious and fatal crashes; the effectiveness was 21.6 +/- 12.8 %. The corresponding estimates for crashes with injured car occupants were 23.0+/-9.2% and 26.9+/-13.9%.

For serious and fatal loss-of control type crashes on wet roads the effectiveness was 56.2 +/- 23.5 % and for roads covered with ice or snow the effectiveness was 49.2+/-30.2%. It was estimated that for Sweden, with a total of 500 vehicle related deaths annually, that 80-100 fatalities could be saved annually if all cars had ESC.

On the basis of the results, it is recommended that all new cars sold should have ESC as standard equipment.
Links

URL: http://www-nrd.nhtsa.dot.gov/pdf/esv/esv19/05-0135-O.pdf

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Cited By (10)

Year	Entry
2008	Padmanaban J, Shields LE, Scheibe RR, Eyges VE. A comprehensive review of rollover accidents involving vehicles equipped with electronic stability control (ESC) systems. In: 52nd Annual Proceedings, Association for the Advancement of Automotive Medicine (AAAM). October 6-8, 2008; San Diego, CA.9-19.
2007	Zobel R, Strutz T, Scheef J. What accident analysis tells about safety evaluations of passenger vehicles: contributions by primary and secondary safety to overall safety and consequences for safety ratings. In: Proceedings of the 20th International Technical Conference on the Enhanced Safety of Vehicles (ESV). June 18-21, 2007; Lyon, France.
2009	Krafft M, Kullgren A, Lie A, Tingvall C. From 15% to 90% ESC penetration in new cars in 48 months -: the Swedish experience. In: Proceedings of the 21st International Technical Conference on the Enhanced Safety of Vehicles (ESV). June 15-18, 2009; Stuttgart, Germany.
2009	Lukianov G. An examination of crash scenarios and the potential benefits of six advanced safety technologies. In: Proceedings of the 21st International Technical Conference on the Enhanced Safety of Vehicles (ESV). June 15-18, 2009; Stuttgart, Germany.
2015	Strandroth J, Rizzi M, Ohlin M, Eriksson J, Lie A. Analysis of different types of winter tyres in rear-end injury crashes and fatal loss-of-control crashes with ESC. In: Proceedings of the 24th International Technical Conference on the Enhanced Safety of Vehicles (ESV). June 8-11, 2015; Gothenburg, Sweden.
2015	Lie A, Strandroth J, Tingvall C. Government status report, Sweden 2015. In: Proceedings of the 24th International Technical Conference on the Enhanced Safety of Vehicles (ESV). June 8-11, 2015; Gothenburg, Sweden.
2007	Olkkonen S, Kelkka M, Räty E, Juurinen M-T, Kari T, Laakso K, Ernvall T. "Crash violence" within the traffic system: fatal njury risks and their reduction in road traffic on two-lane main roads. In: Proceedings of the 2007 International IRCOBI Conference on the Biomechanics of Impact. September 19-21, 2007; Maastricht, The Netherlands.401-404.
2007	Padmanaban J. Field performance study of electronic stability control system effectiveness in us fatal crashes. In: Proceedings of the 2007 International IRCOBI Conference on the Biomechanics of Impact. September 19-21, 2007; Maastricht, The Netherlands.59-68.
2013	Carlsson A, Strandroth J, Bohman K, Stockman I, Svensson MY, Wenäll J, Gummesson M, Turbell T, Jakobsson L. Review of child car occupant fatalities in Sweden during six decades. In: Proceedings of the 2013 International IRCOBI Conference on the Biomechanics of Injury. September 11-13, 2013; Gothenburg, Sweden.868-881.
2009	Rizzi M, Strandroth J, Tingvall C. The effectiveness of antilock brake systems on motorcycles in reducing real-life crashes and injuries. Traffic Inj Prev. October 2009;10(5):479-487.