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]
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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Cue luddites complaining about the additional weight.
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.
Adding blockers on the sides of trailer to prevent submarining of cars under the trailers would also be helpful...
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.