Thursday 30th June 2005

ESP not speed cameras: report

Autocar finds stability systems saves more lives

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ESP not scameras

Compulsory car safety systems costing as little as £300 could save 2,500 lives per year on British roads, according to a report in Autocar magazine. It would make a much bigger impact on road safety than all the money wasted on speed cameras, said magazine editor, Rob Aherne.

Safety levels could be dramatically improved with sophisticated stability control systems - dubbed ESP – which control speed and braking when a car starts to skid. If every new car in Europe were fitted with such systems as many as 20,000 people could be saved from dying in accidents between now and 2010.

However, ESP is only supplied as standard to upmarket models -- most cars don't have it. "ESP has the potential to save as many lives as the seatbelt" said Aherne. "It's already saved lives on cars that have it fitted. But if the government campaigned for it to be standard equipment on cars, it could save thousands more lives."

A recent US study concluded that stability control could cut accidents by 37 per cent and car manufacturers Toyota believe the system will cut accidents by 35 per cent and head-on collisions by 30 per cent.

Mercedes Benz reported 15 per cent accident reduction rate when it became the first car company to fit it to models. Anti-lock brakes (ABS) were made compulsory in a bid to improve safety levels but, in its latest issue, Autocar reveals that ESP is a more complete and effective system.

Road crashes are the leading cause of deaths and disability in the UK for people aged five to 40 and 33,000 children are killed or injured in traffic accidents every year. More than 3,500 people die on British roads each year – the equivalent of ten deaths each day.

"The Government has been wasting taxpayers' money by throwing cash at speed cameras that are ineffective," said Aherne. "Now they have a golden opportunity to make a massive contribution to the safety of British people by insisting ESP is fitted to all cars.”

[jitsukadave]

Hmm, Whilst I'm not a fan of the scameras in any way, I don't like the idea of everybody having a blanket requirement of ESP or similar systems, unless they come with an off switch.

Or am I just ignorant of how good these systems are these days? ... The last time I used a car with anything like this fitted, it stopped you doing heel-toeing by ignoring the throttle - which could lead to something a little nasty if fitted to an MR car with a driver with fat feet going round a hard corner.

[parrot of doom]

Great, encourage people to drive faster because they have ESP, because ESP is fantastic at avoiding other cars and pedestrians......