The Malaysian government today announced its intention to legislate for the introduction of electronic stability control (ESC) on all new vehicles by June 2018. The move makes Malaysia the first ASEAN country to make ESC mandatory.

The announcement was made by Dato’ Sri Liow Tiong Lai (pictured below), the Malaysian Minister of Transport during the launch of Stop the Crash ASEAN which took place today at the Sepang F1 Circuit in Malaysia.

Speaking at the launch, Dato’ Sri Liow Tiong Lai said: “We are proud that the Malaysian government is taking this important step forward in road safety and to be the first ASEAN country to mandate ESC.

ESC, an anti-skid technology that can prevent loss of control crashes is widely considered to be the most important car safety development since the seat belt. ESC has been mandatory in both the EU and US since 2012 saving thousands of lives.

The announcement took place at Stop the Crash, a Global NCAP led partnership which has been campaigning around the world to promote crash avoidance technologies. The ASEAN event demonstrated ESC to participants which included government officials, policy makers, consumer groups, and fleet managers. Other technologies on display included three forms of Autonomous Emergency Braking (AEB), Motorcycle ABS, tyre safety, and Blind Spot Detection.

Also commenting on the move, David Ward, secretary general, Global NCAP said: “Global NCAP welcomes this announcement. This year, the UN General Assembly recommended that countries legislate to introduce Stop the Crash technologies and Malaysia has responded to the call and we congratulate them for doing so.”

Professor Wong Shaw Voon, director general of MIROS and chairman of ASEAN NCAP said: “We are pleased that the Malaysian government has taken this step. ESC will save thousands of lives in Malaysia. MIROS and ASEAN NCAP urges other countries in our region to follow suit and mandate this life saving technology.”