Electronic Stability Control mandatory from November 1st in Europe

ESC (Electronic Stability Control) has been made mandatory by European Union in all the new cars and light commercial vehicles, effective from November 1st 2014. Electronic Stability Control is also known as ESP - Electronic Stability Program (ESP) or DSC - Dynamic Stability Control. Adding more on this, ESP is already mandatory in all the new cars sold in USA and Canada since 2011. moreover is reports are to believed, autonomous emergency braking system is also likely to be made standard.

What does ECS means?

ECS helps in maintaining the vehicle stability if it loses traction and goes out of control. An on-board computer constantly monitors vehicle movement. If it detects any loss of traction resulting into skidding and loss of steering control, the system automatically applies brakes to respective wheels to counter oversteer or understeer. Bosh is the major supplier of ESC/ESP/DSC safety system across the globe. The company has produced more than 100 million of such systems since 1995. Moreover, this safety feature has saved approximately 190,000 accidents and more than 6,000 lives since its invention nearly 2 decades ago.

See how ESP works?

As the entire world is moving towards safer motoring, we hope Indian government would soon wake-up from its slumber. The recent NCAP tests of some of our favorite cars are an eye opener. You name, Maruti SWift (India’s highest selling premium hatch), to Altos, Nanos and GOs, all have drastic results. But to some positivity, automaker like Volkswagen (Polo, Vento), Ford (Fiesta), Toyota (Etios, LIva) and few others have made airbags and ABS standard despite of no norms.