Introduction
In 1995, automobile manufacturers introduced ESC systems. Mercedes-Benz, supplied by Bosch, was the first to implement this with their W140 S-Class model. That same year BMW, supplied by Bosch and ITT Automotive (later acquired by Continental Automotive Systems). Volvo Cars began to offer their version of ESC called DSTC in 1998 on the new S80. Toyota's Vehicle Stability Control system (also in 2004, a preventive system called VDIM) appeared on the Crown Majesta in 1995. Meanwhile others investigated and developed their own systems.
During a moose test (swerving to avoid an obstacle), which became famous in Germany as "the Elk test", the Swedish journalist Robert Collin of Teknikens Värld (World of Technology) in October 1997 rolled a Mercedes A-Class (without ESC) at 78 km/h. Because Mercedes-Benz promotes a reputation for safety, they recalled and retrofitted 130,000 A-Class cars with ESC. This produced a significant reduction in crashes and the number of vehicles with ESC rose. Today virtually all premium brands have made ESC standard on all vehicles, and the number of models with ESC continues to increase. The availability of ESC in small cars like the A-Class ignited a market trend so that ESC became available for all models at least as an option. As a consequence the European Union decided in 2009 to make ESC mandatory – all new models must be equipped with ESC since 1. November 2011 and by the end of 2013 all old models without ESC may not be sold anymore. However, some new cars introduced since November 2011 do not have ESP as standard.
Ford and Toyota announced that all their North American vehicles would be equipped with ESC standard by the end of 2009 (it was standard on Toyota SUVs as of 2004, and after the 2011 model-year, All Lexus, Toyota, and Scion vehicles have ESC; the last one to get it was the 2011 model-year Scion tC). However, as recent as November 2010, Ford still sells models in North America without ESC. General Motors had made a similar announcement for the end of 2010. The NHTSA requires all new passenger vehicles to be equipped with ESC by 2012 and estimates it will prevent 5,300–9,600 annual fatalities once all passenger vehicles are equipped with the system.
Read more about this topic: Electronic Stability Control
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