According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Association, Electronic Stability Control (ESC) is a helpful new accessory that is turning up in new car models all over the United States. ESC is designed to assist drivers in maintaining control of their cars when the vehicle has a tendency to hydroplane. ESC can also protect drivers when they make a quick and extreme steering maneuver, such as swerving to miss an item in the road or a drunk driver. ESC has the technology to sense when a vehicle is losing control out on the road. It can guard from spin-outs and plow-outs.

To be specific, the ESC can detect a car that is starting to careen out of control and automatically apply the brakes. Only the brakes controlling one or two of the wheels will be employed, so that the car will right itself. ESC can be essential when a driver is panicking and is not sure how to correct their vehicle. When the car manually overrides, it can keep the driver from overturning the other way or slamming on the gas and only making the spin-out worse. While ESC has the power to save lives and eliminate some accidents, there are certain conditions where even this masterfully engineered system can’t correct a car. If it is stormy outside and the roads are slippery, the NHTSA suggests that you avoid driving regardless of whether or not your car is equipped with ESC.

A recent study shows that vehicles with ESC will reduce single-vehicle crashes by 26 percent and single-vehicle crashes of SUVs by 48 percent. Larger cars often have a higher tendency to spin out when on slipper roads or when the wheel is jerked suddenly to one side. Many times, these swerving cars will move off of the road and hit a barrier, tree, light pole, or another obstacle. In some cases, another car will be involved in the crash. The NHTSA says that the best way to reduce the death rate from rollover crashes is to reduce the amount of single-vehicle crashes from steering and swerving accidents. The ESC system endeavors to make that happen.

The NHTSA has the power to reduce rollover crashes in passenger cars by 64 percent, and SUV rollovers by 85 percent. The ESC can also reduce multi-vehicle crashes with SUVs. Because the ESC system has the power to help in all of these areas and save lives, the Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards not require ESC systems on passenger cars, multipurpose passenger vehicles, buses, trucks, and any vehicle that weighs less than 10,000 pounds. ESC has been a federal requirement since it was issued in 2009, and all vehicles should have had the technology implemented by model year 2012.

ESC is only one of a variety of crash-avoidance technologies that are being placed into cars. These technologies are supposed to reduce the likelihood of a crash by righting the car when it drifts, gets too close to another vehicle, swerves, or does another unsafe action. The Forward Crash Warning monitors the distance between a moving vehicle and the car in front of it. It will warn the driver if he or she is getting too close to the car and will blink an alert when it’s time to apply the brakes. As well, some cars are now outfitted with lane departure warnings which sense lane markings and alert the driver if he or she starts drifting. This can help drivers to avoid potential collisions with vehicles in adjacent lanes. If your ESC did not protect you from a crash, and malfunctioned when on the road, then you need to contact a car accident attorney today. You may have the right to litigate against the car manufacturer if these crash-avoidance accessories are not operating properly.