ESP now compulsory for new cars and LCVs
New cars and LCVs sold in the EU must now come with anti-skid ESP technology in light of new EU regulations.
Tests show that the inclusion of ESP (Electronic Stability Program) could avoid up to 80% of all accidents caused by skidding and Dr. Werner Struth, President of the Bosch Chassis Systems Control division, has hailed it “the most important vehicle safety system after the seat belt”.
The rule, which took effect from the start of November, is exclusive to new cars and light commercial vehicles for now until 31 October 2014 when all vehicles will be forced to include ESP.
Bosch – which developed the technology back in 1995 – claim that over 50 million systems have been installed around the world and predicts that every other new car produced will feature ESP by 2013.
ESP works by using sensors to check whether the driver’s steering reflects the vehicle’s direction of motion. These sensors check this around 25 times a second.
If the vehicle becomes unstable, the engine’s torque is duly reduced. Should that fail, brakes are applied to individual wheels.
The absence of an ESP system was the cause of much upset for Kia recently when their Picanto tested by Euro NCAP was capped to a four star safety rating [read more on that in the ‘Safety & Security’ section here].
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