Electronic stability control (ESC) is a system that controls a car when it begins to lose traction and skid on the road (which typically while turning in a corner). It prevents cars from straying off their course and prevents rollovers (especially prevalent in SUVs because of their high center of gravity). But ESC is not the newest safety technology. Development of ESC began in the late 1980s and began appearing on cars made by Mercedes, BMW, and Toyota. As of 2012, the NHTSA (national highway traffic safety administration) required that all passenger cars sold in the US have ESC. Even though it is not the newest to be developed, it still took a few decades to have ESC standard on all cars. This is a long time, considering ESC can prevent 33% of fatal crashes. This means that over those 20+ years where ESC was not standard, around 200,000 deaths occurred that could have been prevented.
But how does ESC work? A computer monitors the car. When that computer detects the car slipping and losing traction, it applies the brakes on one side of the car to send it in the correct direction. There are two scenarios where ESC is helpful: oversteer and understeer. Oversteer, which typically happens with rear-wheel drive cars, is when the rear wheels lose traction in a turn and do not follow the same path as the front wheels. Understeer, which typically happens with front-wheel drive cars, is when the front tires lose traction. Both can occur when a car attempts to turn at too high of a speed or when the road is icy or wet. There is also "lift-off" over steer, where oversteer is caused by a shift in weight away from the rear tires caused by the driver reducing the amount of throttle applied.
As shown in the diagrams, ESC can prevent these problems and keep the car driving in the proper direction. ESC can correct a driving error by the driver, if he/she enters a corner too fast, and corrects for poor environment conditions, such as when the roads are slick. Electronic stability control is a great technological safety feature on modern cars, but it is relatively old compared to other features we will cover and only prevent certain types of accidents. In next week's post we will cover some newer safety technologies.
Are there any problems with ESC?
ReplyDeleteIt works very well, but it cannot change physics. At really high speeds, it won't work as well. The tires on the car also must be in good shape to allow ESC to work properly. ESC cannot operate properly with summer tires on an icy winter road.
DeleteWow. Interesting stuff. I had no idea that the little devices like ESC could make such a difference. How did they reach the conclusion that ESC could have saved so many lives? That is, how did they come to that 33% number? Also, if this is such a necessity, why did it take so long to be made standard?
ReplyDeleteThis is the methodology of the study where they got the 33% number: "Fatal crash involvement rates per registered vehicle were compared for otherwise identically designed vehicle models with and without ESC. Comparisons were across model years, so models with ESC were newer than those without. Effectiveness estimates were adjusted to account for these vehicle age differences." As for your second question, government is slow and it probably took a long time to convince everyone it was necessary. The study with the 33% number came out in 2010.
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ReplyDeleteDefinitely learned quite a bit from this post! Just a few questions: how does the ESC regulation apply to used cars? Is ESC a technology that can be retrofitted to old cars? If so, do all used cars up for sale have to have ESC retrofitted?
ReplyDeleteFrom what I found online, there is no regulation on used cars. For all intents and purposes, it cannot be retrofitted to used cars. If you are really dedicated and completely rebuilding an old car, it can be done. So no, used cars do not have to be retrofitted with ESC.
DeleteWow. This is incredible work. This is something that has sparked an interest in my head because I have family members that have been in a car wreck, and I know that with this information, those family members could have been more prepared. Your research seems so deep and it really is easy to read! Do you feel as though ESC needs to be provided in all cars? I cannot wait to follow up on your progress and see what all you have learned throughout this project.
ReplyDeleteTanner,
Lutheran High School, Parker CO
Thanks for commenting! It is great to see non-BASIS people checking out the blogs. Yes, I feel ESC should be on all cars.
DeleteHi, I am Nathan from Lutheran High school. Automobile collisions kill lots of people each year so I believe this research is very important. In your blog you talk mostly about the ESC system in cars. You mentioned that it is not the latest technology on the market, what is and how much more effective is it? Also you mentioned that vehicle safety laws take a long time to be enacted for example it was a long time after the development that ESC was mandated in all passenger vehicles. What are some ways to help get new life saving technologies like ESC to be mandated in cars? Also what are some of the challenges with getting these mandates instituted?
ReplyDeleteThank you for commenting! Future blog posts will discuss newer technologies. One main issue is proving the effectiveness of these systems. So with advancements in computer models and their accuracies, it may get easier and be quicker to get accurate results showing the effectiveness of different systems. After that it up to the government to approve the mandate and I don't know how that could be sped up.
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