Loughborough University research shows ESC technology could cut UK road deaths by up to a quarter.
New research by Loughborough University has found vehicles equipped with Electronic Stability Control (ESC) are 25 percent less likely to be involved in a fatal accident than those without it. If every vehicle on the road were fitted with ESC, this would equate to approximately 380 fewer fatal accidents each year.
Commissioned by the Department for Transport (DfT), the research was carried out by the University’s Vehicle Safety Research Centre. It found that ESC was especially effective in helping to prevent crashes that involved a vehicle skidding or overturning, with the potential to reduce serious accidents like this by up to 59 percent.
2. A summary of the results is given below:
Accident severity reduction in non-VRU accidents if ESC is fitted*
| (%) | (n) | |
| Fatal | 25 | 383 |
| Serious | 11 | 1,102 |
| Slight | 6 | 6,315 |
| All | 7 | 7,800 |
3. This shows that ESC equipped vehicles are involved in 25 percent fewer fatal road accidents where a VRU was not involved, which equates to a theoretical maximum reduction of 383 fatal accidents, based on 2005 accident figures (relating this to the total number of accidents in 2005 would result in a 16 percent reduction).
4. These figures represent the reductions expected with 100 percent fitment compared to no fitment. However, around 10 percent of vehicles are already equipped and it would take many years to achieve close to 100 percent fitment even if ESC was to be mandated. Nonetheless, for each person who drives an ESC equipped vehicle, their risk of being involved in a fatal accident is reduced by 25 percent, which should be an incentive for vehicle purchasers.
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