US to mandate auto stability systems

The US government has that all new automobiles come with anti-roll technology as standard equipment beginning in 2009. Sport utility vehicles are more prone than any other model to roll and more than half of new ones are equipped with stability systems as a required feature. Regulators suspect the technology is reducing SUV crashes. But the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) said that the equipment is not standard on most pickups – a vehicle class ranked second for rollover risk and one that saw a sharp rise in those types of crashes last year, safety figures show.

General Motors, Ford and Chrysler – the leaders in SUVs and pickups – have said previously that they plan to accelerate production of stability systems over the next few years. The technology works with anti-lock brakes to sense a potential roll or slide and adjust steering and speed to help bring the vehicle under control.

The cost to manufacturers of installing stability systems on line on models with anti-lock brakes is $895 million (nearly Rs 4100 crore), regulators estimate. NHTSA estimates that stability control will save between 5,300 and 10,300 lives annually. More than 10,000 fatalities – or a quarter of all annual US traffic deaths – occur in rollover crashes, safety figures show. Safety groups praise the anti-rollover technology but say it is hard to predict whether it will save thousands of lives, as the government claims.

Regulators have urged manufacturers to voluntarily add stability systems as standard equipment, prodded by Congress which wanted a NHTSA proposal by October. The insurance industry has also applied pressure for the change. Currently about 30 percent of 2006 models include stability technology as standard equipment, including nearly 60 percent of SUVs, the highway safety agency said.

Consumer and safety groups have said the auto industry has dragged its feet on stability control, largely because of cost. But Gloria Bergquist, an executive with the Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers, a trade group, said that the industry has moved gradually as safety data showed benefits.

Rae Tyson, a NHTSA spokesman, said rollover crashes involving SUVs dropped nearly two percent in 2005. While the agency has not conducted a stability control analysis using last year's crash data, regulators suspect the technology played a role in rollover reduction. Tyson said pickup truck rollovers were up more than seven percent over the previous year.