Posted on 10/28/2004 6:26:00 AM PDT by OESY
A new study found that if all vehicles were equipped with stability control, an electronic safety technology that the industry has been slow to adopt, some 7,000 lives a year could be saved.
Stability control, which has sensors that determine when a driver is about to lose control of the vehicle and try to correct that course, reduced the risk of being in a fatal single-vehicle crash by 56%, according to the study to be released today by the Arlington, Va.-based Insurance Institute for Highway Safety. That group is the research arm of the insurance industry.
It is the second study released during recent weeks highlighting the effectiveness of stability control in preventing real-world crashes. A government study that came out last month found the technology reduced single-vehicle fatalities by 63% in sport-utility vehicles. SUV single-vehicle crashes fell 67%, while car crashes dropped 35%.
Jeffrey Runge, administrator of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, said in an interview in September that if research continued to show such strong results, he would consider mandating stability control. He compared it with seat belts, which have had a dramatic effect in reducing deaths in all types of vehicle crashes.
Single-vehicle crashes account for more than half of the 28,000 fatal crashes every year; about two-thirds of single-vehicle crashes are rollovers.
Stability control is part of a broader effort by car makers to put more emphasis on preventing crashes from happening rather than focusing exclusively on technologies that minimize injuries in the event of a crash.
Despite the tangible safety benefits, many vehicles, even tippy light trucks, still don't offer stability control....
RELATED ARTICLE: Accident Avoided -- At Least for Now
(Excerpt) Read more at online.wsj.com ...
Just think how many lives we could save if we banned cars like Al Gore wanted to do?
Well, first of all, brakes are individually applied by the system on all four wheels, not just the driving wheels. Second, the system actually monitors the motion and attitude of the car (vehicle speed, individual wheel speeds, yaw rate etc.) while comparing it against position of the steering wheel. Conventional traction control only analyzes forces longitudal to the vehicle's long axis; full stability control also considers the lateral forces. In other words, traction control is only part of the stability system.
Here's a safety device to save twice that many lives...when you are driving a vehicle, any vehicle, concentrate on DRIVING only.
I see. Traction control seems to be most helpful (my car has it) in the snow where the function of transferring power from the spinning wheel to the one with grip can keep the car from getting stuck.
In fact, last winter my driveway with a slight uphill incline had 2 or 3 inches of snow on it, I had no problem driving up it. The traction control was working quite a bit when I did that.
"Here's a safety device to save twice that many lives...when you are driving a vehicle, any vehicle, concentrate on DRIVING only."
Also try looking more than 50 feet in front of you. Pretend you're speeding and looking for cops. That'll work wonders to keep you out of trouble.
Problem is that people don't bother to learn how to drive anymore and the cars are so smooth it seems like they drive themselves.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.