Electronic Stability Control Required On All Heavy Trucks, Large Buses By 2017

by Cameron Aubernon

Published: June 4th, 2015

electronic stability control required on all heavy trucks large buses by 2017

Two years from now, all heavy trucks and large buses will be required to equip electronic stability control per a new rule from the NHTSA.

The new rule, finalized Wednesday, would affect all trucks and buses exceeding 26,000 pounds in total weight, USA Today reports, and is expected to prevent over 1,700 crashes, 649 injuries, 49 fatalities, and up to 56 percent of rollovers on the road per year once it comes into force in 2017.

U.S. Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx and NHTSA Administrator Mark Rosekind both offered praise for the new rule. Foxx declared ESC “a remarkable success story” in its implementation on cars since 2012, while Rosekind added the technology would be “a win for the safety and convenience of the traveling public and for our economy.”

The rule’s finalization, coming after a 2011 recommendation from the National Transportation Safety Board to mandate ESC’s use in trucks and buses, was announced on the same day three were killed in an accident in Pennsylvania involving a semi-trailer colliding with a bus ferrying Italian tourists. Whether ESC would have prevented the accident remains unknown at this time.

[Photo credit: Bjørn Bulthuis/ Flickr/ CC BY-SA 2.0]

#2017 #Accidents #AnthonyFoxx #Buses #Crashes #ElectronicStabilityControl #ESC #Heavy-dutyTrucks #MarkRosekind #NationalHighwayTrafficSafetyAdministration #NHTSA #U.s.DepartmentOfTransportation #NationalTransportationSafetyBoard #Rollovers

Cameron Aubernon

Seattle-based writer, blogger, and photographer for many a publication. Born in Louisville. Raised in Kansas. Where I lay my head is home.

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8 of 25 comments

Bikegoesbaa on Jun 04, 2015

Cue luddites complaining about the additional weight.

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Big Al from Oz on Jun 04, 2015

This sounds very logical. I wonder why this hasn't occurred before? I do see it an issue with multi-trailer setups. Lou, off road these system seem to do magic for the inexperienced. I don't see how it would affect loggers driving jinkers. All they need to do is run all the wire harnesses through conduits. I do know many off roaders who drive in very harsh conditions, probably harsher than what the jinkers operate in. What do mining equipment manufacturers use? I'd bet they use electronics to the fullest.

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- SC5door on Jun 04, 2015
  
  Why? Because it's very hard to modulate an air brake system. Early ESP units would end up causing trucks to jackknife because the system would end up locking wheels up. But yea everything is easy....it's just 80,000 lbs rolling down the road, just like cars!
  
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- Lou_BC on Jun 05, 2015
  
  @BigAl - truckers lobbied for exemptions for off-road use in BC due to sensors, lines, control modules etc. getting torn off by branches, sticks, rocks et al. Add to that mud, ice, snow, dust and freeze/thaw cycles. Brakes freezing up is common enough especially on trailers. They get loaded onto the truck or folded/collapsed onto themselves for the trip back to the cut block. The fact that they are not rolling makes them vulnerable to freezing up. The truck brakes stay warm because the tractor wheels are always rolling. Air lines do ice up even with water separators. I remember helping my dad a lot of times just keeping the various lights on his trucks working. Even in shielded positions vibration can cause wear and tear. I was with him once when an airline got damaged. His truck came to a rather abrupt stop. Fortunately it happened on flat ground at 10 kph.
  
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Golden2husky on Jun 04, 2015

Adding blockers on the sides of trailer to prevent submarining of cars under the trailers would also be helpful...

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- NoGoYo on Jun 04, 2015
  
  I've seen plenty of trailers with these curved panels underneath that I assume are for aero, so couldn't they just reinforce those and kill two birds with one stone?
  
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- SC5door on Jun 04, 2015
  
  @NoGoYo Weight. Some of those guys get paid by the pound. You think they want to add another 200+ lbs of metal because the pubic can't figure out how to safely drive around big-rigs?
  
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HotPotato on Jun 07, 2015

Buses are equally behind the times. The only North American intercity bus I know of with a full safety suite is the Temsa TS45, which comes with ABS, ATC, ESC, RSC, engine fire suppression system, lane departure warning system, tire pressure monitoring system, brake pad monitoring system and 3 point safety belts...and, thanks to its Turkish maker's limited reach, near-zero chance of ever appearing at your local tourism depot or Greyhound station.

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