Trucking industry applauds NHTSA requirement for electronic stability controls

Starting with the 2017 model year, new Class 8 truck configurations will have to be outfitted with electronic stability controls (ESC) that backers and regulators say will sharply curtail truck rollovers. New buses will be outfitted similarly in 2018.
  
The American Trucking Associations immediately applauded the move by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), saying it’s an example of cost-effective technology that’s proven to save lives and prevent costly truck accidents.
  
“Ensuring the safety of America’s highways has always been ATA’s highest calling,” ATA President and CEO Bill Graves said in a statement. “We’ve long known the positive role technology can play in making our vehicles and our roads safer. Today’s announcement by NHTSA will reduce crashes on our highways and make our industry safer.”
  
NHTSA estimated that such a mandate could prevent more than 1,700 crashes annually.  Already mandated on cars, pickup trucks and SUVs since 2012, the technology is credited with saving about 1,300 lives a year.
  
“Last month, NHTSA reported to Congress that truck rollover and passenger ejection were the greatest threats to truck driver safety,” ATA Executive Vice President Dave Osiecki said. “We can save lives by preventing rollovers with electronic stability control technology, and that’s a positive for our industry. Many fleets have already begun voluntarily utilizing this technology and this new requirement will only speed that process.”
  
Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx called electronic stability control “a remarkable safety success story” that is already saving lives in passenger cars and light trucks.
  
“Requiring E.S.C. on heavy trucks and large buses will bring that safety innovation to the largest vehicles on our highways, increasing safety for drivers and passengers of these vehicles and for all road users,” Foxx added in a statement.
 
Using computers and sensor to detect when either the front or rear of a vehicle is moving inconsistently with the position of the steering wheel, ESC can brake a single wheel to automatically “nudge” a vehicle back on course.
 
While preventing heavy trucks from going off a road, that would help minimize the number of truck rollovers—which is particularly dangerous when an 80,000-pound truck is operating in crowded highway conditions.
  
NHTSA estimated the new technology would cost about $585 for each truck ($269 for buses). The technology is estimated to prevent between 1,400 and 1,800 truck crashes a year, perhaps saving as many as 650 injuries and 50 deaths.