Theone time in the past 30 years that I was in a crash, it was the single-vehicletype that results in about half of the traffic deaths that occur every year.
Itwas also the type of crash that was essentially beyond my control and can nowbe stopped by a widely available technology.
Butwhen that Toyota Tundra pickup went sideways on me a couple of years back whileI was headed across Michigan in the rain, it could quite easily have been a lotworse for the truck and I.
TheTundra simply lost traction while it was going along in a straight line andpirouetted aimlessly about, and nothing I learned in 35 years of driving or incountless crash-avoidance demonstrations on four continents could help me.
Itwas amazing how weird it felt to be in a vehicle that was going in onedirection but facing the other as it left the highway, slid into a ditch, andcame to a stop next to a fence.
Ifthere'd been a curb or a pothole or a steeper ditch, the Toyota could very wellhave flipped over, as many vehicles do in exactly the same kind of situation,usually with very serious consequences.
Asit happened, when the grass and gravel settled, I was unhurt and so was theTundra. It could have been much worse for the both of us, since about half ofall of the fatal passenger vehicle crashes in the U.S. involve a singlevehicle, many of them in similar circumstances.
Thatincident was the only crash I've been in for decades while I was driving, andthere's a good chance it could have been avoided if the Tundra had had theright kind of safety technology.
Thattechnology would be electronic stability control (ESC), which is an extensionof anti-lock brake technology that essentially allows the vehicle to dosomething the driver can't -- apply a single brake at exactly the right timeand to the right degree to stop a loss of traction and the spin and crash thatoften follow.
Itknows when to do this by a set of sensors that measure the driver's intendedpath for the vehicle with the actual path of the vehicle.
ESCoften also over-rides the driver's intent by delivering less power to the drivewheels than the driver is asking for.
Asit happens, ESC is already widely available in a number of models, though it'susually optional. It's almost certainly worth the cost if you're considering anSUV or other vehicle with a high centre of gravity, since they are the onesthat tend to rollover more following a loss of control.
Everyonein the auto industry knows how useful stability control can be in a vehicle,but many of us were surprised to read a recent study by the Insurance Instituteof Highway Safety (IIHS) claiming that the technology could save as many as7,000 American lives a year if it were used in every car or light truck (SUVs,minivans, pickups) on the road today.
Sincemore of Canada gets the kind of winter weather that encourages loss-of-controlcrashes, it's probably safe to extrapolate an even higher life-saving facilityon a per-capita basis, so maybe 1,000 lives a year.
Accordingto the IIHS research, about half of the 28,000 fatal passenger vehicle crashesthat happen every year in the U.S. involve a single vehicle. ''Equipping carsand SUVs with ESC can reduce the risk of involvement in these crashes by morethan 50 percent,'' the IIHS says.
Theeffect of ESC is not so great on multiple-vehicle crashes is not so great, butthey usually involve another set of dynamics so that's not so surprising.
''Formost drivers, ESC isn't likely to activate frequently,'' says Susan Ferguson,the IIHS's senior vice president for research. ''For example, it won't preventmost of the fender-bender crashes that occur so often in stop-and-go traffic.''
ESCis meant to ''help a driver in the relatively rare event of loss of control athigh speed or on a slippery road,'' Ferguson explains. ''When a driver enters acurve too fast, for example, the vehicle may spin out of control. But with ESC,automatic braking is applied to help keep the vehicle under control.''
Itwas also the type of crash that was essentially beyond my control and can nowbe stopped by a widely available technology.
Butwhen that Toyota Tundra pickup went sideways on me a couple of years back whileI was headed across Michigan in the rain, it could quite easily have been a lotworse for the truck and I.
TheTundra simply lost traction while it was going along in a straight line andpirouetted aimlessly about, and nothing I learned in 35 years of driving or incountless crash-avoidance demonstrations on four continents could help me.
Itwas amazing how weird it felt to be in a vehicle that was going in onedirection but facing the other as it left the highway, slid into a ditch, andcame to a stop next to a fence.
Ifthere'd been a curb or a pothole or a steeper ditch, the Toyota could very wellhave flipped over, as many vehicles do in exactly the same kind of situation,usually with very serious consequences.
Asit happened, when the grass and gravel settled, I was unhurt and so was theTundra. It could have been much worse for the both of us, since about half ofall of the fatal passenger vehicle crashes in the U.S. involve a singlevehicle, many of them in similar circumstances.
Thatincident was the only crash I've been in for decades while I was driving, andthere's a good chance it could have been avoided if the Tundra had had theright kind of safety technology.
Thattechnology would be electronic stability control (ESC), which is an extensionof anti-lock brake technology that essentially allows the vehicle to dosomething the driver can't -- apply a single brake at exactly the right timeand to the right degree to stop a loss of traction and the spin and crash thatoften follow.
Itknows when to do this by a set of sensors that measure the driver's intendedpath for the vehicle with the actual path of the vehicle.
ESCoften also over-rides the driver's intent by delivering less power to the drivewheels than the driver is asking for.
Asit happens, ESC is already widely available in a number of models, though it'susually optional. It's almost certainly worth the cost if you're considering anSUV or other vehicle with a high centre of gravity, since they are the onesthat tend to rollover more following a loss of control.
Everyonein the auto industry knows how useful stability control can be in a vehicle,but many of us were surprised to read a recent study by the Insurance Instituteof Highway Safety (IIHS) claiming that the technology could save as many as7,000 American lives a year if it were used in every car or light truck (SUVs,minivans, pickups) on the road today.
Sincemore of Canada gets the kind of winter weather that encourages loss-of-controlcrashes, it's probably safe to extrapolate an even higher life-saving facilityon a per-capita basis, so maybe 1,000 lives a year.
Accordingto the IIHS research, about half of the 28,000 fatal passenger vehicle crashesthat happen every year in the U.S. involve a single vehicle. ''Equipping carsand SUVs with ESC can reduce the risk of involvement in these crashes by morethan 50 percent,'' the IIHS says.
Theeffect of ESC is not so great on multiple-vehicle crashes is not so great, butthey usually involve another set of dynamics so that's not so surprising.
''Formost drivers, ESC isn't likely to activate frequently,'' says Susan Ferguson,the IIHS's senior vice president for research. ''For example, it won't preventmost of the fender-bender crashes that occur so often in stop-and-go traffic.''
ESCis meant to ''help a driver in the relatively rare event of loss of control athigh speed or on a slippery road,'' Ferguson explains. ''When a driver enters acurve too fast, for example, the vehicle may spin out of control. But with ESC,automatic braking is applied to help keep the vehicle under control.''