Brumby bats for ESC

The Victorian government has announced plans to mandate the fitment of electronic stability control (ESC) to all new cars from December 31, 2010 as part of its Arrive Alive 2008-2017 road safety strategy.

The strategy was announced by Premier John Brumby on yesterday (Feb 6) and also includes other measures such as the mandatory fitment of "head protection technology" such as curtain airbags from 2011.

The plan targets to reduce the state's road toll by 30 per cent by 2017.

"Victoria has a proud track record of leading the nation in road safety, with the introduction of seatbelts, the roll out of drink driving technology and random drug testing," Brumby said.

"And we're doing the same with this new life-saving technology. From 2011 all new cars will have electronic stability control. From 2012 all new cars will have head [protection] technology," the state premier stated.

Other measures within the Arrive Alive plan include: immediately suspension of licences for drivers who record a blood alcohol level of 0.10 or above; the introduction of a program to give drivers the opportunity to redeem demerit points by undertaking a road safety training program; banning P-plate drivers from carrying more than one passenger aged between 16-21 for the first year of their licence; and increasing funding for roads by the tune of $230 million over three years.

Victoria's unilateral approach has already raised questions, however. In particular, the state government's ability to mandate ESC and head protection technology has been called into doubt. To date, legislation for vehicle safety systems has generally fallen under the auspices of the national Australian Transport Safety Bureau (ATSB) which administers the Australian Design Rules.

While the statement issued by the Victorian premier's office indicates that the state government's proposal would only be introduced "in the absence of an equivalent national requirement", it may still not be able to be applied without a national ADR.

According to Andrew McKellar, chief executive of the Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries (FCAI) there is provision in the federal Motor Vehicle Standards Act that makes the point that where national standards conflict with "local" standards the national standard takes precedence.

The proposal by the Victorian government is to make the fitment of ESC and head protection a requirement for vehicle registration rather than compliance – the latter is a national standard. McKellar says this move would amount to a local standard that could be overridden.

He says the FCAI had discussions with the Victorian Government prior to its announcement and encouraged it to take the matter to a national level.

"Our firm position to the Victorian government was that while we as an industry do strongly support every effort to encourage greater awareness of the benefits of these safety technologies, the only viable way to regulate vehicle design, in terms of safety features, is to adopt a nationally consistent approach."

McKellar says, where appropriate such Australian standards should also be in harmony with international regulations. He confirmed there is a standard for ESC fitment being developed by the UNECE that is expected to be in place later this year.

According to McKellar, the UNECE position is expected to have a longer implantation timeframe than that proposed by the Victorian government.  McKellar says the FCAI would encourage the Federal Government to look at the international standard and see if it should be applied here.

The FCAI head says, however, that given the current rate of take-up of ESC by consumers, there might be no need to regulate.

This sentiment was echoed by Holden spokesperson, John Lindsay, who told The Carsales Network that the carmaker expected to have its entire range -- both locally built and imported  -- fitted with ESC "as standard" and head protection "available" within the Victorian government's proposed timeframe.

Ford spokesperson Sinead McAlary confirmed the Blue Oval's official view was that DSC and other automotive standards needed to be administered on a national level.

"There are Australian design Rules and there are Australian safety requirements that every vehicle sold here [Australia] has to meet. If there needs to be changes to those, then they need to be done on a national basis," she opined.

Ms McAlary declined to comment on what Ford's stance might be if the Victoria requirements were regulated unilaterally.

"I think we'll wait and see... The industry's pushing for a national approach and that's what we're going to continue pushing for.

"We also believe that the market is driving that [the uptake of ESC, etc]. More and more people are actually aware of what it is now and more and more vehicles are going to have it in the market anyway... So, whether it will be as much on an issue in 2010 [as it is now is debatable]? Just by market forces it could be different altogether," she said.

-- with staff

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