The New Zealand government should follow the lead of Australia and require Electronic Stability Control on all new passenger cars and SUVs, says the car buyer’s Dog & Lemon Guide.
Editor Clive Matthew-Wilson says:
“The evidence is quite clear: Electronic Stability Control (ESC) is the biggest lifesaver since the airbag.”
ESC uses computers to detect when a driver is losing control and selectively brakes the individual wheels and/or reduces excess engine power until control is regained.
Studies by the American Institute for Highway Safety showed that, ESC reduces the risk of fatal single-vehicle crashes by 51% and fatal multiple-vehicle crash risk by 20% for cars and SUVs. ESC effectiveness in preventing rollovers is even more dramatic. It reduces the risk of fatal single-vehicle rollovers by 72% for SUVs and by 63% for cars.
“The Australian federal government and the European parliament have both decided to make Electronic Stability Control compulsory on all new passenger cars and SUVs from 2011. I call on the New Zealand government to stop pussyfooting around and pass the same regulation.”
“Am I the only one who thinks it’s weird that the New Zealand government currently spends millions telling people to buy cars fitted with Electronic Stability Control, yet doesn’t even require that its own departments buy vehicles fitted with Electronic Stability Control?”
Matthew-Wilson adds:
“It’s not merely the current users of these vehicles who would benefit if they were safer. Today’s new vehicle may be tomorrow’s cheap transport for a family in South Auckland.”
Matthew-Wilson does not believe that it is currently practical to require ESC on second hand vehicles imported from Japan, but believes that second hand vehicles without ESC should carry extra customs duty, to give the importers a powerful motivation to bring in safer cars.
