US mandates ESC for trucks and buses

Life-saving electronic stability control (ESC) will soon be mandatory for all heavy vehicles including large trucks and buses in the US, thanks to new legislation introduced by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA).

According to the NHTSA, 49 lives per year will be saved and 1759 crashes prevented when the introduction of mandatory ESC on trucks and buses is introduced in between two to four years’ time.

It’s also predicted, conservatively, that ESC will cut the number of rollover crashes by as much as 56 per cent and reduce the number of deaths even further.

Industry commentators have already tipped the legislation to have far-reaching effects and, thanks to the economies of scale introduced by mandating the technology, truck and bus makers could make it cheaper, or even standard equipment, potentially impacting models sold in Australia.

According to a government consultation document published back in 2013, more than 2.9 per cent of all vehicles in Australia are considered heavy commercials – but those vehicles rack up well over seven per cent of all the kilometres driven.

Perhaps more startling is that 20 per cent of all fatal accidents Down Under involve trucks or buses weighing more than four tonnes and that in 2011 alone 230 people died from 204 fatal crashes involving heavy vehicles.

Anti-lock braking systems are already mandatory for trucks in Australia (Australian Design Rule 35/04) while heavy trailers must be fitted with either ABS or a load proportioning system (ADR 38/04). Now, under Phase II of its National Heavy Vehicle Braking Strategy, the Government is examining the introduction of mandatory stability control.

Industry sources suggest draft legislation could be tabled by the end of this year, with a staged roll-out over a few years following the publication of the finalised ADR.

Back in 2013 Canberra projected that the introduction of ABS to heavy vehicles would save between 36 and 57 lives over 30 years, along with subsequent costs of between $46 million and $73 million.

Each year road traffic accidents in Australia cost the taxpayer more than $27 billion, stated the report.