The biggest auto manufacturers are pushing the envelope of what’s possible in terms of car safety. The latest advancements include numerous systems designed to prevent accidents, help us stay in control of our vehicles and, ultimately, save lives. One of the more recent car safety advancements is known as electronic stability control, or ESC.
Chances are, your car doesn’t have this miraculous technology, but if you’re shopping for a new automobile, you might want to look for a vehicle that has ESC, which goes by various names like:
- Vehicle Stability Control (VSC)
- Electronic Stability Program (ESP), and
- Vehicle Stability Enhancement (VSE)
- Electronic Stability Control (ESC)
The problem that ESC tries to fix
One of the most significant problems that leads to deadly car accidents relates to losing control of one’s vehicle. Perhaps there’s a dog in the road. Maybe a bicyclist darts out into traffic. Or, maybe someone isn’t paying as close attention as they should and they don’t see an obstacle until it’s too late.
What happens next is the driver tries to take evasive action by slamming on the brakes and swerving to miss the obstacle, and this is when the average driver can easily lose control of his or her automobile. In these circumstances, a normal vehicle can easily spin out of control and as the driver tries to overcorrect, the loss of control gets worse.
The car might go left, and end up in the midst of oncoming traffic. The car might go right and end up in a ditch. Long story short, these situations often result in fatal and catastrophic accidents.
How ESC works
In order to prevent situations like these, ESC uses computer technology to sense the trajectory of your vehicle. It then applies braking strategically to different wheels in order to assist you in keeping control of your car. When you can stay in control, you can better avoid accidents, and this — simply put — saves lives.
ESC won’t prevent all incidents where a driver loses control, but it can help. If you get injured in a crash in spite of having this advanced safety tech, you may want to look into how the accident happened and whether you can pursue a claim for financial restitution in court.