Georgia Injury Law Blog
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration says that electronic stability control systemselectronic stability control systems have reduced car accident wrongful deaths by as much as 18%.The agency studied the effectiveness of these systems that are now popular on so many automobiles, in preventing fatal auto accidents.The researchers studied fatal car accident statistics between 1997 and 2009, to gauge the effectiveness of electronic stability control systems in preventing crashes.
These systems have become very popular, and are now available in a number of standard models.In 2005, less than 20% of automobiles came equipped with electronic stability control systems.Thanks to new legislation, automobiles from the 2012 model year onwards will have to come with electronic stability control systems as standard features. This is a change that personal injury lawyers advocated for many years.
Electronic stability control devices come with sensors that detect when a vehicle is beginning to flip over.When that happens, the system kicks into gear, adjusting breaking power to one or more wheels to allow the motorist to control the vehicle.Electronic stability control systems are designed to reduce the high number of car accident deaths every year that can be traced to rollovers.
Rollovers are some of the most serious of all auto accidents, and often result in deaths or catastrophic personal injuries.Some kinds of vehicles like sports utility vehicles and pickup trucks have a higher center of gravity, and therefore are at a much higher risk of a rollover accident.Passengers in a rollover accident are at risk of being completely or partially ejected from their vehicle with devastating consequences.Additionally, during a rollover, the roof of the vehicle may collapse or be crushed, further exposing occupants to serious head injuries.
The risk of rollover accidents increases during wet weather conditions when the roads are slick and slippery.These accidents are also more likely to occur when a motorist brakes at high speeds, or makes a sudden turn. Electronic stability control systems are so user-friendly they require little driver input to be activated.The systems can be activated automatically when a driver fails to react to a vehicle that is in danger of a rollover.
Now, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has found that 18% of fatal rollover accidents have been prevented since the advent of electronic stability control systems.The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has also found that these systems led to a 6% decline in the overall number of car accidents.In the case of passenger cars, electronic stability control systems contributed to 5% fewer overall accidents, and 23% fewer fatal accidents.In the case of light trucks, there were 7% lower overall accidents, and 20% lower fatal accidents.
What is significant is not just the number of overall auto accidents that were prevented by the electronic stability control systems, but the percentage of fatal accidents that involved loss of control like rollover accidents and side impact crashes, that could be prevented with the use of the systems.
The Atlanta car accident lawyers at the Katz Personal Injury Lawyers represent victims of automobile accidents in the metro Atlanta region across Georgia.